Edward Larson

• Born: 1953

Edward J. Larson, the recipient of the 1998 Pulitzer Prize in History for his work, Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion, is the first sitting law professor to receive that award. An expert in health care law, science and technology law, bioethics, property law and legal history, Larson is the Talmadge Chair of Law and Russell Professor of American History at the University of Georgia.

An author of five books and over 60 published articles in such publications as Nature, Atlantic Monthly, Scientific American, The Wilson Quarterly, The Nation, Wall Street Journal, Michigan Law Review, Virginia Law Review and British Journal for the History of Science, Larson is currently editing a volume of Clarence Darrow’s writings for the Modern Library and researching a book on early American patent law.

The Fulbright Program named Larson to the John Adams Chair in American Studies for 2001 and he received the 2000 George Sarton Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Larson lectures and speaks on history, law and bio-science and is frequently interviewed by broadcast and print media, including PBS, the History Channel, Court TV, CNN and C-SPAN.

Having received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1979 and a PhD in the History of Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1984, Larson was associate counsel fo the US House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor and counsel for the Office of Educational Research and Improvement. He also practiced law with a major Seattle WA law firm. In 2004, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in humane letters by The Ohio State University.

Most Famous Works

• Trial and Error: The American Controversy Over Creation and Evolution (1985)
• Sex, Race, and Science: Eugenics in the Deep South (1995)
• Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion (1997)

This biography of a living person does not cite any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately.(December 2007) Find sources: (Edward Larson – news, books, scholar)

Larson delivering a talk at Yale University

Edward John Larson is an American historian and legal scholar. He is University Professor of history and holds the Hugh & Hazel Darling Chair in Law at Pepperdine University, he was formerly Herman E. Talmadge Chair of Law and Richard B. Russell Professor of American History at the University of Georgia.^[1]

He received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for History for his book Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion.^[1] The book argues that "Inherit the Wind" (both play and movie) misrepresented the actual Scopes Trial.

Larson was born in Mansfield, Ohio, and attended Mansfield public schools. He graduated from Williams College and received his law degree from Harvard University and his Ph.D. in the history of science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. 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. Larson is married and has two children, Sarah and Luke.

In 2005, he was interviewed by Jon Stewart on The Daily Show on evolution alongside William Dembski and Ellie Crystal.^[2].

In a talk at the Pew Forum entitled "The Biology Wars: The Religion, Science and Education Controversy". http://pewforum.org/events/?EventID=93. , Larson said "Behe has never developed his arguments for intelligent design in peer-reviewed science articles."

Books

• 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).

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Smith, Loran (February 5, 2004). "Larson's outstanding legacy as a Bulldog will not evolve". Athens Banner-Herald. Morris Communications. http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/020508/living_20080205012.shtml. Retrieved 2008-04-02. 
2. ^ "Evolution, Schmevolution - Panel". The Daily Show. September 14, 2005. http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=124491&title=Evolution,-Schmevolution---Panel:-Edward-J.-Larson,-William-A.-Dembski,-Ellie-Crystal. Retrieved 2007-02-19. 

External links

• Pepperdine University biography
• University of Georgia biography

Persondata
NAME	Larson, Edward
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Larson, Edward John, Larson, Ed
SHORT DESCRIPTION	American lawyer, historian, author and academic
DATE OF BIRTH
PLACE OF BIRTH	Mansfield, Ohio
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH

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