“An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral. And the advance of man’s knowledge is more of a miracle than any sticks turned to snakes, or the parting of waters!”

A science teacher in a small Southern town defies the law when he teaches the theory of evolution to his students. His case prompts a renowned fundamentalist politician/lawyer, Matthew Harrison Brady, to offer his services as the prosecuting attorney. To combat this, Brady’s idealistic rival, Henry Drummond, arrives in town to defend the teacher and to inadvertently ignite a media frenzy.

Inherit the Wind is a fictionalized account of the 1925 Scopes “Monkey” Trial, which resulted in John T. Scopes‘ conviction for teaching Charles Darwin‘s theory of evolution to a high school science class, contrary to a Tennessee state law.