The Species Maker ~ Supplementary Material

The Species Maker: A Novel (available from University of Alabama Press on October 26, 2021) tells the story of a naturalist confronting the relationship between science, politics and religion in the United States in the years leading up to the famous Scopes Trial of 1925. The story was inspired by my years teaching the history of science at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. This site contains supplementary material for the novel.  The stances that appear in The Species Maker are all rooted in the historical record. Under “Historical Background on Themes” you will find information on the historical context used to build characters’ stances and the novel’s historical events and debates. All images are from Wikimedia Commons unless otherwise indicated. Please feel free to send comments and questions – you can find my contact info here.

Diagram from p. 194 of George William Hunter’s high school biology textbook, Civic Biology.

The Species Maker was composed
on the ancestral lands
of the Coast Salish people and the
homelands of the Puyallup Tribe.