Edward John Larson is a North American historian

Historian

A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

 and legal scholar. He is University Professor of history and holds the Hugh & Hazel Darling Chair in Law at Pepperdine University

Pepperdine University

Pepperdine University is an independent, private, medium-sized university affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The university's campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean in unincorporated Los Angeles County, California, United States, near Malibu, is the location for Seaver College, the School of...

, he was formerly Herman E. Talmadge Chair of Law and Richard B. Russell Professor of American History at the University of Georgia

University of Georgia

The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...

. He continues to serve as a Senior Fellow of the University of Georgia's Institute of Higher Education.

He received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for History

Pulitzer Prize for History

The Pulitzer Prize for History has been awarded since 1917 for a distinguished book upon the history of the United States. Many history books have also been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction and Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography...

 for his book Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion. The book argues that "Inherit the Wind

Inherit the Wind

Inherit the Wind may refer to:* Inherit the Wind , a 1955 play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee* Inherit the Wind , directed by Stanley Kramer; starring Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, and Gene Kelly...

" (both play and movie) misrepresented the actual Scopes Trial

Scopes Trial

The Scopes Trial—formally known as The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes and informally known as the Scopes Monkey Trial—was a landmark American legal case in 1925 in which high school science teacher, John Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act which made it unlawful to...

. Unlike in that play and movie, in which reason and tolerance triumph over religiously-motivated, unsophisticated anti-evolutionists, Larson's book portrays the trial as an opening salvo in an enduring twentieth-century cultural war involving powerful national forces in science, religion, law and politics. "Indeed," he concludes in the book, "the issues raised by the Scopes trial and legend endure precisely because they embody the characteristically American struggle between individual liberty and majoritarian democracy, and cast it in the timeless debate over science and religion."

Larson was born in Mansfield, Ohio, and attended Mansfield public schools. He graduated from Williams College

Williams College

Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...

 and received his law degree from Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 and his Ph.D. in the history of science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison

University of Wisconsin–Madison

The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...

. In 2004, Larson received an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Ohio State University. He held the Fulbright Program's John Adams Chair in American Studies in 2000-01 and participated in the National Science Foundation's 2003 Antarctic Artists and Writers Program. He was a founding fellow of the International Society for Science and Religion. Larson has lectured on topics in the history of science, religion and law at universities across the United States and in Canada, China, Britain, Australia and South America. The author of books and articles dealing with voyages of scientific exploration, he has also given lectures at natural history museums and on cruise boats. His articles have appeared in Nature, Scientific American, The Nation, American History, Time, and various academic history and law journals. Larson is married and has two children, Sarah and Luke.

In 2005, he was interviewed by Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian...

 on The Daily Show

The Daily Show

The Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...

 on evolution alongside William Dembski and Ellie Crystal. Frequently interviewed on American television and radio, Larson has also appeared multiple times on C-SPAN

C-SPAN

C-SPAN , an acronym for Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, is an American cable television network that offers coverage of federal government proceedings and other public affairs programming via its three television channels , one radio station and a group of websites that provide streaming...

, including as a featured guest on Booknotes

Booknotes

Booknotes is an American television series on the C-SPAN network hosted by Brian Lamb, which originally aired from 1989 to 2004. The format of the show is a one-hour, one-on-one interview with a non-fiction author. The series was broadcast at 8 p.m. Eastern Time each Sunday night, and was the...

; Public Broadcasting Service

Public Broadcasting Service

The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....

, including as a historian on Nova (TV series)

NOVA (TV series)

Nova is a popular science television series from the U.S. produced by WGBH Boston. It can be seen on the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States, and in more than 100 other countries...

 and American Experience

American Experience

American Experience is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service Public television stations in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American history...

; NPR

NPR

NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...

, including as a featured guest on Fresh Air

Fresh Air

Fresh Air is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States. The show is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its longtime host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated to 450 stations and claimed 4.5 million listeners. The show...

 with Terry Gross

Terry Gross

Terry Gross is the host and co-executive producer of Fresh Air, an interview format radio show produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia and distributed throughout the United States by National Public Radio....

, The Diane Rehm Show

The Diane Rehm Show

The Diane Rehm Show is a National Public Radio call-in show based in the United States. In October, 2007, The Diane Rehm Show was named to Audience Research Analysis’ list of the top ten most powerful national programs in public radio – the only talk show on the list...

, and Talk of the Nation - Science Friday

Talk of the Nation - Science Friday

Science Friday is a weekly call-in talk show that is part of NPR's Talk of the Nation radio program. SciFri is hosted by award winning science journalist Ira Flatow and was created and is produced by ScienceFriday, Inc. . The program is divided into two, one-hour programs...

; and History (TV channel). He has a course on the history of the theory of evolution with the The Teaching Company

The Teaching Company

The Teaching Company is a Chantilly, Virginia company that produces recordings of lectures by university professors and high-school teachers. It sells the courses in CD, DVD, MPEG-4, and MP3 formats.- Background :...

. Larson received the Richard Russell Teaching Award from the University of Georgia and was a charter member of the university's Teaching Academy.

Dr. Larson is a former Fellow at Seattle’s Discovery Institute

Discovery Institute

The Discovery Institute is a non-profit public policy think tank based in Seattle, Washington, best known for its advocacy of intelligent design...

 but according to an article in the New York Times by Jodi Wilgoren, “…left in part because of its drift to the right.” According to science writer Chris Mooney

Chris Mooney

Christopher Cole Mooney is a U.S. journalist and academic who focuses on science in politics.-Biography:Mooney was born in Mesa, Arizona, and grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana...

, Larson joined the institute "prior to its antievolution awakening." At the time, Larson lived in Washington state and the Seattle-based Discovery Institute dealt with Northwest regional issues. In a talk at the Pew Forum entitled , Larson said "Behe

Michael Behe

Michael J. Behe is an American biochemist, author, and intelligent design advocate. He currently serves as professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania and as a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture...

has never developed his arguments for intelligent design in peer-reviewed science articles."

Books

• An Empire of Ice: Scott, Shackleton and the Heroic Age of Antarctic Science, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011.
• A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America’s First Presidential Campaign. New York: Free Press, 2007.
• The Creation-Evolution Debate: Historical Perspectives. Athens: Univ. of Georgia Press, 2007.
• Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory. New York: Random House, 2004, 2006 (with new afterword).
• Evolution’s Workshop: God and Science on the Galapagos Islands. New York: Basic Books and London: Penguin, 2001.
• Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion. New York: Basic Books, 1997, 2006 (with new afterword).
• Sex, Race, and Science: Eugenics in the Deep South. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995.
• Trial and Error: The American Controversy Over Creation and Evolution. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985, 1989 (expanded edition), 2003 (updated edition).

External links

• Edward Larson interview on Counterpoint Radio with Marcus W. Orr Center for the Humanities at the University of Memphis.
• Lectures in History: The Presidential Election of 1800 Pepperdine University School of Law (American Legal History seminar), February 14, 2011.
• Pepperdine University biography
• University of Georgia biography