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Science and Creationism (Galaxy Book, Gb 721)
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Average Rating:  out of 13 Reviews
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Price: $37.50
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Sale: $8.80
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Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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EAN (European Article Number): 9780195032529
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Number of Items: 1
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Binding: Hardcover
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Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
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Dewey Decimal Number: 575
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Publication Date: 1984-01-12
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Reading Level: 320
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Description: "One of the most substantial and scholarly counterattacks against creationism to date....The myths which creationsists present to the public as historical fact are systematically debunked....This carefully chosen collection should appeal to informed general readers"--Library Journal. "One of the strongest, most enlightened sources for understanding the present dispute and its dangerous portents"--Kirkus Reviews. In this volume, Stephen Jay Gould, Isaac Asimov, and others provide a powerful rebuttal to "Creation Science," and offer insights into the teaching of science.
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Customer Reviews
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Review Summary: Interesting read |
Date: 2006-08-30 |
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Details: Essays by multiple authors against creation as a science. Whether it should be taught along with evolution. Many thought provoking ideas, but I think lacking in their own science.
Not one of us can admit to knowing all there is to know, so that leaves us with agnostics and believers. I find the individual who mocks a creator, after observing the enormous complexities that make up life is a fool. Open your eyes and use your God given brain. Are you willing to take the risk? The only risk on earth will be believing there is something outside of the material world. It is really the only explanation. God created science didn't he? Do the evolutionists teach "hard science" or do they let there dogmas get in the way of the truth? Is not evolution a faith also? Let's stop teaching a theory in our schools as gospel. Evolution and Creationism are both faiths, only one makes sense. |
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Review Summary: A superb and powerful book |
Date: 2005-04-21 |
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Details: This is an excellent book. It begins with a summary of the story of Arkansas' Act 590. Next is an introduction by Ashley Montagu, who points out that the creationists "are in no sense scientists." After that is a superb article by Kenneth Miller. Miller shows how radioactive dating shows the age of the Earth's minerals. And he explains that had the Earth really been created 10,000 years ago, radioactive dating would prove it. He mentions that if the Universe was only 10,000 years old, we'd also see only 10,000 years of bombardment of the lunar regolith, and the most distant star in the night sky would be no more than 10,000 light years away. And he makes the excellent point that if we, right now, are not smart enough to think of a mechanism that explains life or existence, we need not give up and say that some complex creator is responsible. For all we know, not too many decades from now, we will think of such a mechanism. And even if we do not, that doesn't prove much.
Robert Root-Bernstein then has a fine article on what a scientific theory is. George Marsden explains the nature of fundamentalist views of science. And Stephen Jay Gould has two short articles, where he explains that evolution is indeed a fact. By contrast, the precise mechanisms for evolution, including the exact role of natural selection are still being debated. Laurie Godfrey's article shows the amount of distortion in creationist arguments.
Isaac Asimov has an excellent article on why creationism is indeed a threat. As he puts it, "there are numerous cases of societies in which the armies of the night have ridden triumphantly over minorities in order to establish a powerful orthodoxy which dictates official thought. Invariably, this triumphant ride is towards long-term disaster." If it happens here, American science will wither, and "we will inevitably recede into the backwater of civilization."
Sidney Fox has a superb article on evolutionary protobiogenesis. It has some reasonable and detailed ideas on how life may have arisen on Earth. In addition, there is mention of the creationist view that life could not have arisen by chance. Fox quotes Thomas Hunt Morgan here, who in 1932 pointed out that we are dealing with large-scale processes that are effectively deterministic, and "we get a picture of necessity rather than chance."
L. Beverly Halstead studies fossils professionally, and has a powerful article showing how the fossil record does indeed support the theory of evolution. And the rest of the articles are extremely good as well.
One interesting point is the nature of debates about evolution. Here, one person related "The debates I have had were not debates. The creationists come with a script they present come hell or high water." I think that's worth reflecting on. Genuine debates ought to have some standards associated with them, including some semblence of academic honesty and no falsification of facts. They ought not be totally ad auditores attempts to have lies accepted as truth. Unless such standards are met, I think we're dealing with something other than debates here.
I highly recommend this book. |
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Review Summary: A Demolition of Dogma Masquerading as Science |
Date: 2003-02-26 |
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Details: "Science deals with the world of nature, the discovery and ordering of the world of facts and their relations, with concepts that have been tested by the facts. What the creationists attempt to do is to measure the facts by their conformity to Genesis, and this is absurd." --Ashley Montagu, Introduction, Science and Creationism The late Ashley Montagu (1905-99) was a British-American anthropologist who earned his Ph.D. in 1937 from Columbia University. He was also a prolific and popular science writer of over 60 books. He is well known for discrditing the notion of race in the editions of his book, Man's Most Dangerous Myth: The Fallacy of Race (1942, 6th ed. 1998). His selections of essays for Science and Creationism range from the philosophical to the legal, historical and scientifically technical. The essayists in this collection include such academic luminaries as Isaac Asimov, Stephen Jay Gould, and others. The essays highlight the opposite methodology of scientists and creationists. Scientists collect and investigate data and then attempt to formulate explanatory theories. Those theories are always subject to revision or even replacement in the face of new data. They often publish their research in peer-reviewed scientific journals, and their data, hypotheses, and theories are subject to independent verification and replication. Crationists, on the other hand, have an entirely different methodology. They start first from their desired dogma that the Bible must be inerrant, infallible, and then work backwards to the data. They engage in campaigns of propaganda and political lobbying to pass legislation that either censors objectionable scientific theories or mandates "equal time" for "scientific" creationsim whenever objectionable theories are taught in the science curricula of public schools. Their dogma that the Bible is inerrant and infallible is not subject to revision or replacement in the face of disconfirming data, and they neither do any real science nor publish in peer-reviewed science journals. Thus, contrary to their claims, their dogma and their agenda are religious rather than scientific. The essays also refute many creationists' errors. For example, creationists claim that the second law of thermodynamics, the law that says systems run "downhill," proves that biological evolution is impossible. However, as explained in Asimov's essay, "The 'Threat' of Creationism," the second law applies to "closed systems." The earth, however, is an open system inundated by energy from the sun. As the sun runs "downhill," it provides the energy necessary to allow the relatively small subsystem of earth to evolve life in the "uphill" direction. Thus, evolution does not defy the second law because it is not a process running "uphill" in a closed system. Moreover, as far as we know, the only closed system is the universe as a whole. Although this book contains an excellent collection of essays, it lacks a description of the credentials of its contributors and an index. Obviously, an index would augment the utility of this otherwise superb volume. |
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Review Summary: please please please |
Date: 2002-12-01 |
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Details: creationists are not all Religious and no creationist I'v met are crazy fanatics doing all they can to destroy the Theory of Evolution by just lying. Evolution is being fought because it has no evidence and that is the only reason. Do you put your trust completly in a person because they have a PHD, no. If you do then you are extreamly niev. About transitional fossils which all creationists claim not to exist. THEY DONT. If you doubt this then why has this new theory come up-Proteins have been Discovered which fix mutated proteins produced by mutant genes however Scientists say these proteins can only fix a certain number so when a certain number of genes mutate becomes to high(after millions of years)a large change takes place ie a large evolutionary step takes place. Scientists say this theory will help explain the LACK OF TRANSITIONAL FOSSILS. But yet you say this book claims that hundreds have been found. My experience
tells me not to trust evolutionists because when ever an arguement comes up it all they allways turn it into a personnal thing. Look at the anti-evolutionist books reviews and they are full a highly personnal negative statments telling people not to read the book without when they have not done so themselfs. The coments are allways along the same line dont read this because is just a fanatic preacher talking BS and has no scientific bases at all. How can you call yourselfs Evolutionists if you don't look at the whole story. You dont buy a computer just because it looks good on the outside do you. |
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Review Summary: Evolution brings out the big guns |
Date: 2001-08-25 |
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Details: If you're looking for a book boasting big names and eqally big answers to the never-ending debate between rationality and dogma (namely evolution vs creationism), then you have found it. The late Ashley Montagu has assembled a force to be reckoned with in this volume containing 20 essays by some of the biggest names in Science to date. Just to name a few we have: Ken Miller (of _Finding Darwin's God_ fame), Stephen Jay Gould, Isaac Asimov, Laurie Godfrey and the list goes on. The purpose of such an assembly of genius? To refute the largest hoax in history: the movement of the "Scientific" Creationsts. At the time that this volume went to press there was a lot of controversy and heated debate surrounding creationism. Many creationists wanted to get their theory taught alongside evolution in public science classrooms. It is no surprise that this decision was overturned in a district court in 1982. This volume contains the landmark decision by Judge William Overton as well as numerous essays defining science, comparing it to creationism as well as debunking common myths perpetuated by the creationist movement. There are many books available that similarly debunk creationism _The Blind Watchmaker_, _Abusing Science_, _Sciene on Trial_ etc., however this book is a necessary volume in anyone's library as it contains insights from many brilliant minds on all aspects of the debate. It is therefore an excellent starting point for anyone who wants to get an introduction to this topic. For those who are still seeking more, each essay contains an extensive list of references to articles and books that will quench the curiosity of the most academically inclined reader. |
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