Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education, provides a reference for high school students and up, examining the creationism and evolution controversy from historical, legal, educational, political, scientific, and religious perspectives. The first few chapters of the book, on science, evolution, creationism, and religion, are intended to provide the background information necessary to understand the controversy. The second section, on the history of the controversy, includes a new chapter on testing intelligent design and evidence against evolution, targeting recent court cases. The third section presents selections from the literature, on both sides of the controversy, with excerpts from the creationist literature as well as rebuttals. However, because many creationist authors refused permission for excerpts to be reprinted in this book, some of the creationist writings are summarized, and references to the original literature are provided, with many readily available on the Internet. In this second edition, new excerpts from creationist literature are included from court briefs and other legal documents that, being part of a court's record, are in the public domain. The final chapter, new to this edition, looks at media treatments of the controversy and at public opinion polls. While the author seeks to write for the high school level and up, the book's dense layout, with few b&w illustrations, will not have immediate appeal to young adult readers. The price of this second edition is the same as the first edition. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)