Daily Archives: May 12, 2009

James Reid, Ella Thea Smith and G. G. Simpson

Textbook HistoryBy Ronald Ladouceur May 12, 2009 1 Comment

May 12, 2009 James M. Reid, an editor at Harcourt Brace from 1924 to 1960, played a crucial role in the history of biology textbooks in the United States. In his 1969 autobiography, An Adventure in Textbooks, Reid discussed how he helped Ella Thea Smith bring her homemade textbook, complete with its thorough discussion of…

“Darwin and the Textbooks” (1966) by Peter D. Miller

Textbook HistoryBy Ronald Ladouceur May 12, 2009 3 Comments

May 12, 2009 Judith Grabiner and Peter Miller’s seminal article on the treatment of the topic of evolution in American high school textbooks, “Effects of the Scopes Trial” (1974), was based partially on Peter Miller’s 1966 Harvard honors thesis, “Darwin and the Textbooks.” Miller’s thesis is interesting as it was among the first papers to…