The Book Prize Index

Of Moths and Men: An Evolutionary Tale

Judith Hooper

In this revelatory work, Judith Hooper uncovers the intellectual rivalries, petty jealousies, and flawed science behind one of the most famous experiments in evolutionary biology. Bernard Kettlewell's 1953 experiment on the peppered moths of England made him a media star on the order of Jonas Salk -- but also an unlikely tragic hero. As Hooper recounts in this rollicking scientific detective story, the truth can be subverted when the stakes are very high. Book jacket.

ScienceScience · medium confidenceScience81 signalsLlm Classifier: Science -> ScienceGoogle Books: Nature -> Nature & EnvironmentKeyword Classifier: Business & Economics -> Business & EconomicsScience & DiscoveryEnvironment, Conservation & Pollution

Award History

0 wins · 1 total

AwardYearResultCategory / Notes
Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Science and TechnologyMajor2002FinalistSecondary source
View all award history (1)
Experimental book profileGenerated by GPT-5.4 nano · may contain inaccuracies

This is an unverified interpretation of the catalog description, offered as an opt-in discovery experiment—not as bibliographic fact.

  1. 01 Central figures

    • Bernard Kettlewell85%

  2. 02 Central places

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

    These suggestions did not meet the normal display threshold and are more likely to be wrong.

    • England55%

  3. 03 Suggested argument

    No argument inferred with sufficient confidence.

    This suggestion did not meet the normal display threshold and is more likely to be wrong.

    The 1953 peppered moth experiment’s publicized evolutionary conclusions were subverted by flawed science amid high stakes.

    Model confidence 38%

  4. 04 Reading orientation

    35 / 100 academic

    Serious trade

    An estimate of intended readership and scholarly apparatus—not quality or importance.

Confidence percentages are the model's own estimates. Profile confidence: 58%.