The Struggle Over Expert Testimony
Expert scientific testimony was a focal point of the Scopes Trial. The defense hoped to use expert witnesses to show that evolution was widely accepted and that it was not incompatible with Christianity. The only witness permitted to testify, Professor Maynard Metcalf, a professor of zoology and an engaged Christian, testified only after the jury was removed from court. Judge Raulston later determined to exclude expert testimony from the courtroom entirely, though experts were allowed to prepare statements for the record for use during appeal.
In the scientists’ statements, the view of evolution as widely-accepted science was upheld through extensive descriptions of comparative anatomy, fossils, and rock and soil evidence. The defense team also recruited beyond the scientific community, finding religious experts who would defend the contention that religion and science remained in harmony after Darwin.
The Law Library holds six typescript statements submitted by the scientific experts at the trial.
Excerpt of Statement by Rabbi (Dr. ) Herman Rosenwasser, read into the record by Arthur Garfield Hays.
“In the [English] translation of the Hebrew Bible, from which the King James Protestant version is derived, there are many errors, none of them basic. The word ‘create’ purports to be a translation of ‘bara.’ This word, ‘bara,’ is used with reference to both inorganic and organic creation, man as well as animals and plants. The word ‘bara’ is used to represent the whole cosmic scheme. The correct translation is ‘to set in motion.’ From the incorrect translation into English in the King James Version great confusion has resulted.”
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“In the first chapter of Genesis, the word ‘Adam’ is used. The word ‘Adam’ means a living organism containing blood. If we are descended from Adam, we are descended from a lower order … [i]f that is a lower order of animal, then Genesis itself teaches that man is descended from a lower order of animals.”
Issued by Defense Counsel, State of Tenn. vs. John T. Scopes: Statement by Professor Horatio Hackett Newman (1925).
Zoologist Horatio Hackett Newman (1875-1957).
Hackett Newman (1875-1957), a zoologist at the University of Chicago, was considered an ideal choice as an expert witness to defend evolution. He had published a textbook on evolution, genetics, and eugenics — the latter, regrettably, often endorsed by contemporary scientists — and defended Darwin’s theory and Darrow in print. Newman later credited the Scopes Trial with increasing popular interest in evolution.
In his statement, Newman gave his view plainly: “No other explanation of biological phenomena that in any sense rivals the evolution principle has ever been offered to the public.”
Issued by Defense Counsel, State of Tenn. vs. John T. Scopes: Statement by Professor Kirtley F. Mather (1925).
In 1925, Mather (1888-1978) was the new chair of geology at Harvard, with a reputation as a voice for academic freedom. In his statement, he discussed the prehistoric fossil record, the development of early animals, and the evolution of humans from earlier species.
Mather also supported the compatibility of evolution and religion, declaring that theistic evolution was adhered to by many scientifically-trained men and women. In Mather’s view, God was the creator and remained the administrator of the natural world. He rejected the argument, favored by William Jennings Bryan and the prosecution, that evolution attempted to displace God.
Issued by Defense Counsel, State of Tenn. vs. John T. Scopes: Statement by Wilbur A. Nelson (1925).
Issued by Defense Counsel, State of Tenn. vs. John T. Scopes: Statement by State Geologist Wilbur A. Nelson (1925).
Nelson (1889-1969) was State Geologist of Tennessee at the time of the Scopes Trial. He joined the Geology Department at the University of Virginia in the same year, where he served as chair before retiring in 1959. Nelson noted in his statement the rich fossil record in Tennessee. He observed that the remains of coral fossils and primitive fishes could be found even at the western edge of Dayton, just as local Tennessee coal deposits and limestone sedimentary layers contained evidence for the evolution of plant and animal life over millions of years. He argued, like others, that it was impossible to teach geology in Tennessee or anywhere else without evolution.