Speakers
Theme two, day 2
Understanding the controversy between Darwinian science and religious reactions
Speaker: Professor Edward J. Larson, The University of Georgia, USA: Darwinism and the Victorian soul
Professor Edward J. Larson is the Talmadge Chair of Law and Russell Professor of American History at the University of Georgia and the recipient of the 1998 Pulitzer Prize in History. His areas of expertise include health care law, science and technology law, bioethics, property law and legal history.
An author of six books and over 100 published articles, Larson writes mostly about issues of law, science and medicine from a historical perspective.
His first book, Trial and Error: The American Controversy Over Creation and Evolution (1985, expanded editions 1989 and 2002), chronicles the legal battles over teaching evolution in American public schools. His second book, Sex, Race, and Science: Eugenics in the Deep South (1995), examines the legislative history of eugenics. For his 1997 book, Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion, Larson became the first sitting law professor to receive the Pulitzer Prize in History.
Larson continues to lecture and speak in the areas of history, law and bio-science for academic, professional and public audiences. He has been invited to give endowed or funded lectures at 40 colleges and universities. He is frequently interviewed by broadcast and print media, including multiple appearances on major programs for PBS, the History Channel, Court TV, CNN and C-SPAN.
