Lock for these look for these titles in bookstores this coming week and watch for many of the authors in the near future on booktv on cspan2. And so now im very please today introduce tonights author presenting his acclaimed new book, the book that changed america. Randall fuller works at the university of tulsa as well as the author of from battlefields rising. His work has appeared in the new york times, the wall street journal and other publications. Professor fuller is a winner of phi beta kappas award for best literary criticism. The book that changed america how darwins theory of evolution ignited a nation, explores how five luminaries gained new perspectives on the origin of the species in the leadup to the civil war. Thank you very much for the nice introduction. Thanks for coming out on what to oklahoma feels like a chilly night. I realize it is not really that cold. I am really glad to have been invited by the harvard bookstore. I have spent many hours over my professional li
[inaudible conversations] good morning. Good morning. I would like to welcome you all to word salad or word solid. My name is josh wheeler, im the director of the Thomas Jefferson protection of the Free Expression and the sponsor of this Mornings Program. Its a source of great pride for us at the Thomas Jefferson center that we have been involved in every one of the 23 virginia festival of books in one way or another. Often, you only think about free speech when you think about speech we dont like that we hate actually, but we forget sometimes that free speech also allows us the great kind of expression that we can find in the arts and science everywhere. Its the height that can only be achieved when we are free to explore any idea seen or subject and thats why we are so proud to be part of the festival, virginia festival book, where else is there a better example or examples of the heights that can be reached by virtue of having free speech where authors can work out any fear of retri