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The Counter-Creationism Handbook
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Average Rating:  out of 23 Reviews
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Price: $21.95
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Sale: $14.18
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Manufacturer: University of California Press
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EAN (European Article Number): 9780520249264
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Number of Items: 1
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Binding: Paperback
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Author: Mark Isaak
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Publisher: University of California Press
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Edition: 1
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Dewey Decimal Number: 231.7652
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Publication Date: 2007-01-12
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Reading Level: 362
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Description: Those opposed to the teaching of evolution often make well-rehearsed claims about the science that sound powerful and convincing. And many people who support the teaching of evolution--students, teachers, parents, administrators--do not have the background to respond. They know that scientists have thoroughly dismantled these arguments, but they don't have a handy way of responding to these attacks. The Counter-Creationism Handbook is a one-stop resource for addressing over 400 of the most prevalent claims made by creationists. Each claim is followed by a succinct and scientifically valid rebuttal, and the book includes print and on-line resources for further reading and information.
The Counter-Creationism Handbook:
* Covers claims made about the disciplines of philosophy, biology, paleontology, geology, astronomy, physics and mathematics, history, and more.
* Addresses the claims of Biblical creationism, intelligent design creationism, and some creationism based on non-Christian religions.
* Includes an introduction on how to address creationists in different venues, how to deal with novel claims, and why accurate science is important.
* Is organized thematically, with extensive cross-referencing.
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Customer Reviews
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Review Summary: Great book, but the Kindle version is a bit strange. |
Date: 2008-10-29 |
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Details: This is not so much a review of the content, which has already been covered well by other reviews. I'm giving the book five stars on that merit. However, those purchasing the Kindle version might wish to know that the typesetting is going to be a bit different than most of the books I have come across. The font is different, and in my opinion a little hard to read. It looks as though the pages were just scanned in from a poorly typeset book. The baseline jumps up and down in the middle of words sometimes, and a few of the characters in the font appear as though the thinner parts did not fully scan in. I'm not sure how this is possible, because otherwise it acts like normal text. You can clip to your clipping file, do word look-ups, and so on, despite the fact that it looks like a picture of words. It also seems to take just a little bit longer to load the book than is typical.
If you really want the material, it is not a large enough problem to avoid purchasing the Kindle version. Despite the oddities, it is certainly easier than accessing TalkOrigins via WhisperNet and the Kindle web browser. |
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Review Summary: Not prose, just refrence |
Date: 2008-09-07 |
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Details: The format of this book is an outline. It's a sourcebook to argue against creationism. Of course, ultimately the best argument against creationism in the classroom is that creationism isent science, therefore science teachers should not teach it. (Just like they shouldn't teach literature or politics) |
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Review Summary: An excellent resource by which to answer anti-science propaganda |
Date: 2008-07-13 |
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Details: The growth of Creationism and its equally ill-conceived offspring, Intelligent Design (ID) has been particularly prevalent in the United States. This modern day manifestation comes out of various fundamentalist religious outlooks that go back five centuries to the extent adherence to biblical literalism is almost a tradition. Intelligent Design differs to Creationism only in so much its claims are centred around trying to show that God was the designer of life, the entity that designed DNA in all creatures and then made its workings happen. At its heart is a mendacious attempt use pseudoscience to pervert real science and then use the result to promote their concept of the Christian God. Both Creationism and ID are financially supported by religious contributions and have a well resourced publications arm. In the US it is their intention to lever this disguised theology into the science classroom, attempts which so far have failed. At stake is the future of science education.
Science is the principal arena of human discovery that has made our modern world what it is. Everything we take for granted from medicine to televisions are the result of endeavours of scientists. It is easy to forget that the beginnings of modern science came out of the Dark Ages and mediaeval thinking dominated by strict adherence to religion and biblical literalism. Slowly, and in the face of much hostility and church sponsored violence, scientific enquiry progressed. Galileo's trial at the hands of the Inquisition is one of the most examples, whilst the Scopes Monkey Trial in 1925 in the US a more modern example. Both however share the same problem at their heart and that is the attempt by the religious to prevent science contradicting their long cherished beliefs that God made the universe and everything in it and that we all should bow down and worship this God in grateful thanks. It should be remembered as well that the current Pope said in 2007 that he thought Galileo had been given a fair trial and it is Vatican policy to oppose contraception as a means to counter the spread of AIDS.
The method at the heart of scientific enquiry is essentially a simple one: to explain how nature works on nature's own terms without recourse to supernatural explanations. This immediately removes God-did-it scenario from the answers. Consequently, in the eyes of the highly religious, modern science has been cast as an atheist discipline with liberalism at its heart, dedicated to disproving God assumed existence.
The defeat of modern science therefore has for these people become an imperative. Many of them are totally ignorant about science but they have been told by their church that their religion is under threat. Since the option of the Inquisition is no longer available in western society, they make all manner of well rehearsed and apparently convincing, but frequently baseless arguments against science, disparage the work of scientists that conflicts with their religious ideas, and when all else fails, openly lie and misrepresent scientific arguments to make it look like the arguments favour religion. Uppermost for condemnation in the minds of creationists is the work of Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution. The ideas that humans evolved from apes, that all life had a common ancestor and that there is no purpose or reason for our existence come in for their scorn and attempts at ridicule.
This book is an excellent resource against the myriad of anti-scientific and pseudoscience arguments put forward by creationists. It is organised into ten sections, Philosophy and Theology; Biology; Palaeontology; Geology; Astronomy and Cosmology; Physics and mathematics; Miscellaneous Antievolution; Biblical creationism; Intelligent Design; Other Creationism. The most common arguments and statements that are employed against science are numbered and categorised in a simple to use list and then each is followed by a succinct and scientifically sound rebuttal. There is also a web resource provided where the latest mutations of creationist arguments are dealt with in a similar way.
This book will not replace a good science education, but it will offer the means to prevent the worst and most glib-sounding antiscience arguments and biblical arguments having an unopposed ride. At stake is your child's education, their future career choices and just possibly, the future course of medicine and scientific research.
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Review Summary: Slam Dunk the Creationists |
Date: 2008-04-14 |
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Details: This book is a must have for anyone that engages in arguments against I.D./Crestionism. It presents the most common arguments for Creationism by the creationist and gives well reserached answers to their non-sense. |
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Review Summary: An interesting resource on creationism versus evolution |
Date: 2008-04-09 |
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Details: This is an interesting resource regarding the creationism-evolution "debate." It might usefully be read in conjunction with Eugenie Scott's "Evolution vs. Creationism," which provides quotations from major works from each sphere, to allow readers to compare arguments. This book has a perspective: it contends that standard arguments by creationists and intelligent design advocates are off the mark.
I would doubt that creationists/intelligent design advocates would even read this. However, it might be worthwhile, to engage substantive discussion. Champions of Darwinism will find this a good piece of work, a source of many counterarguments to contentions by creationists. However, this might be best of all for those who are uncertain, confused, have not thought about the issues involved.
The book's structure is quite straightforward. The author, Mark Isaac, organizes his book along a number of thematic lines (e.g., Philosophy and Theology, Biology, Geology, Physics and Mathematics, Other Creationism). He notes assertions from advocates of creationism/intelligent design. Then, he engaged in a demolition project. For the most part, his comments are not emotionally charged and are worded fairly neutrally. He says (Page xxiii): "The book replies to more than 400 of the most common claims that creationists make. Each creationist claim comes with a brief rebuttal showing faults with and, often, counterevidence against the claim."
Let's take a look at a few examples, to give a sense about this volume.
Page 9: "Fairness demands that evolution and creation be given equal time." His response? That's an erroneous equation. Evolution is a scientific approach; creationism has no scientific grounding (in its research or methodology).
Page 18: "Evolution is only a theory." Duh! A theory is a terrific thing. Those who make this assertion simply do not understand science. A theory is special, because it helps to explain facts. Only a theory? Only someone innocent of an understanding of science would assert that.
Page 191: "The second law of thermodynamics prohibits evolution." I have read this assertion many times. It's a head scratcher to me. And Isaak points out that this statement is simply inaccurate--and creationists often make statements that violate the second law.
Page 242(Young-Earth Creationist statement): "Man and dinosaurs coexisted." Isaak notes that this is simply incorrect. Moreover, for this to be true, we would have to trash theories and findings from multiple scientific disciplines, such as paleontology, chemistry, physics.
Anyhow, this is an interesting volume, laying out what the disputes are (although not exhaustive, I am sure) and what science says. Of course, if someone does not believe in the scientific method, his points will not be taken seriously. Whatever one's views, this is a useful volume in directly addressing key points in the "debate."
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