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In interviews with townspeople, scientists and lawyers who participated in the historic 2004 trial, Kitzmiller, et. al. v. Dover School District, et. al.
, in Dover, Pennsylvania, NOVA captures the emotional conflict over evolution.
One of the latest battles in the war over evolution took place
in a tiny town of Dover in eastern Pennsylvania. In 2004, the local
school board ordered science teachers to read to their high school
biology students a statement that suggested there is an alternative
to Darwin's theory of evolution. Called Intelligent Design, the
idea is that that life is too complex to have evolved naturally and
therefore had to have been designed by an intelligent agent. The
science teachers refused to comply with the order; alarmed parents
filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing the school board of
violating the separation of church and state. Suddenly, the small
town of Dover was torn apart by controversy, pitting neighbor
against neighbor. NOVA captures the emotional conflict in
interviews with the townspeople, scientists and lawyers who
participated in the historic six-week trial, Kitzmiller, et.
al. v. Dover School District, et. al., which was closely
watched by the world's media. With re-creations based on court
transcripts, NOVA presents the arguments by lawyers and expert
witnesses in riveting detail and provides an eye-opening crash
course on questions such as "What is evolution?" and "Does
Intelligent Design qualify as science?" For years to come, the
lessons from Dover will continue to have a profound impact on how
science is viewed in our society and how it's taught it in the
classroom.