Today in Science History - Quickie Quiz

John T. Scopes

(3 Aug 1900 - 21 Oct 1970)

American teacher and geologist whose was the defendant in the infamous Scopes Monkey Trial (10 Jul 1925). The trial was to challenge the constitutionality of the Butler Act, a Tennessee law (signed 21 Mar 1925) to prohibit the teaching of evolution in the state’s schools.

Short biography of John T. Scopes >>

Butler Act

Tennessee House Bill No. 185 (1925)

An Act prohibiting the teaching of the Evolution Theory

PUBLIC ACTS
OF THE
STATE OF TENNESSEE
PASSED BY THE
SIXTY - FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1925

CHAPTER NO. 27
House Bill No. 185
(By Mr. Butler)

AN ACT prohibiting the teaching of the Evolution Theory in all the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of Tennessee, which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, and to provide penalties for the violations thereof.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That it shall be unlawful for any teacher in any of the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of the State which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, to teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals.

Section 2. Be it further enacted, That any teacher found guilty of the violation of this Act, Shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction, shall be fined not less than One Hundred ($100.00) Dollars nor more than Five Hundred ($500.00) Dollars for each offense.

Section 3. Be it further enacted, That this Act take effect from and after its passage, the public welfare requiring it.

Passed March 13, 1925

W. F. Barry,
Speaker of the House of Representatives
L. D. Hill,
Speaker of the Senate

Approved March 21, 1925.

Austin Peay,
Governor.

Text from Public Acts of the State Of Tennessee: Passed by the Sixty-Fourth General Assembly: 1925 (1925), 50-51. (source)

John T. Scopes quote: I furnished the body that was needed to sit in the defendant's chair.

(source)

John T. Scopes quote: I believe that the Dayton trial marked the beginning of the decline of fundamentalism.

(source)

See also:

Science Quotes by John T. Scopes.
3 Aug - short biography, births, deaths and events on date of Scopes's birth.
Butler Act Repeal - Tennessee House Bill No. 48 (1967)
17 May - short biography, births, deaths and events on date of repeal of the Butler Act.
21 Mar - short biography, births, deaths and events on date of enactment of the Butler Act.
Center of the Storm: Memoirs of John T. Scopes, by John Scopes. - book suggestion.
Booklist for Scopes Monkey Trial.

Nature bears long with those who wrong her. She is patient under abuse. But when abuse has gone too far, when the time of reckoning finally comes, she is equally slow to be appeased and to turn away her wrath. (1882) -- Nathaniel Egleston, who was writing then about deforestation, but speaks equally well about the danger of climate change today.

Carl Sagan: In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion. (1987) ...(more by Sagan)

Albert Einstein: I used to wonder how it comes about that the electron is negative. Negative-positive—these are perfectly symmetric in physics. There is no reason whatever to prefer one to the other. Then why is the electron negative? I thought about this for a long time and at last all I could think was “It won the fight!” ...(more by Einstein)

Richard Feynman: It is the facts that matter, not the proofs. Physics can progress without the proofs, but we can't go on without the facts ... if the facts are right, then the proofs are a matter of playing around with the algebra correctly. ...(more by Feynman)