Designer Science: A History of Intelligent Design in America

The history of the intelligent design movement and its legacy Anti-science rhetoric in contemporary American politics has become a preoccupying concern for science educators, politicians, and government employees. But why are so many Americans primed to distrust the scientific establishment? This book offers a history of the intelligent design movement, analyzing the links between the legal contests over United States high school curricula and a radical rejection of contemporary scientific practice. Though closely associated with creationism, the intelligent design movement has its own story. It is related to but different from the various forms of creationism, and it has a unique background in natural theology and conservative politics. Typically perceived today as defunct after its public defeat in the 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover court case, intelligent design did not disappear, and this book makes the case that its legacy is far more significant than we might think. Though it failed to achieve its goal of remaking contemporary science, intelligent design played a crucial role in legitimizing a mindset of suspicion which has taken hold in discussions of climate change, COVID-19, and vaccine hesitancy. In today's post-truth moment, where scientific expertise has become increasingly rejected, the volume showcases that the intelligent design movement's most lasting effects may not be in its challenge to evolution, but in the way it influenced the public's understanding of science and scientists. Designer Science makes the case that we are all grappling today with intelligent design's legacy, and it offers a history of how we got here.

About the Author :
C.W. Howell is a researcher and writer based at Duke University. He holds a PhD from Duke in Religion and has taught at Duke and Elon Universities. He is also the Director of Academic Programs for the C.S. Lewis Foundation. His writing has appeared in Scientific American, Wired, and Le Grand Continent.

Review :
"Deeply informed and substantive, this is a trenchant examination of the contested terrain where science, religion, and politics battle." - Publishers Weekly "Seeks to show where intelligent design fits alongside more established frameworks for relating the Bible's account of Creation with the findings of modern evolutionary science ... Howell's book is insightful in suggesting reasons why intelligent design hasn't left a more enduring mark on scientific or religious thought." - Christianity Today "A significant contribution to the history of American religion and popular culture as well as the long-standing disputes over science and religion in the American context. One of the great virtues of this work is that its author is eminently fair in his treatment of the book's most notable figures, drawing the reader's attention to both their academic accomplishments and shortcomings. Because the public disputes over evolution in the American context have often been marked by vitriol and ridicule, with a tendency to label and dismiss, Howell's presentation is a breath of fresh air. There is simply not a better historical account of the modern Intelligent Design movement." - Francis J. Beckwith, Professor of Philosophy and Church-State Studies, Baylor University. "A must-read for anyone wanting to understand the development of Intelligent Design Theory and its political and cultural relevance. This is an excellent comprehensive account the movement and its thought. It will be required reading for anyone interested in ID." - Bethany Sollereder, Associate Professor in Science and Religion, University of Oxford "C. W. Howell's brilliant treatment of the Intelligent Design movement is a must-read for anyone interested in the particular and peculiar way science and religion interact in the United States. This book is much more than meets the eye - Howell presents a cultural and political analysis through the historical lens of ID's emergence and denouement. The reader learns that the anti-expertise threads in American culture have been more recently woven into "designer science," yet they represent an old yarn." - Greg Cootsona, author of Negotiating Science and Religion in America "Howell not only pioneers new ground with his treatment of ID (Intelligent Design) but also embeds the study in a much larger story. This book is written with lapidary clarity, without a trace of religious studies or science jargon, and spiced with memorable quotations from the primary sources…. Both specialists and non-specialists in the study of religion and science will gain a working knowledge of the main intellectual issues at stake in the combat between creationists and ID folk. The word 'brilliant' is overworked in book reviews and blurbs, but sometimes no other word will do." - Grant Wacker, Duke Divinity School