When I started writing this book, I had a lot of questions about creationism in the United States, and I think that by the time I finished my research, I was able to give some possible answers. I had been somewhat dissatisfied with theories that see creationism as part or even as a mere symptom of a broader political or religious resurgence, because I felt that these do not sufficiently explain why the conflict developed exactly the way it did. When I reviewed the history of the conflict, I found there to be several mutual adaptations of creationists and of their opponents to each other. Most importantly, I found that these mutual adaptations led to splits on the creationist as well as on the anti-creationist side. So rather than speaking of a broad conflict between two sides, it appeared to me that there is a whole range of different groups, and each is in some conflict with all others for various reasons.