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The Triumph of Evolution: and the Failure of Creationism
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Average Rating:  out of 42 Reviews
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Price: $17.00
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Sale: $6.90
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Manufacturer: Holt Paperbacks
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EAN (European Article Number): 9780805071474
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Number of Items: 1
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Binding: Paperback
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Author: Niles Eldredge
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Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
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Dewey Decimal Number: 500
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Publication Date: 2001-12-01
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Reading Level: 224
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Description: Is evolution a religious belief? Is Genesis a scientific report? These are two of the tacks taken by "scientific creationists" to reach their goal of stopping the teaching of evolution in public schools, a goal paleontologist Niles Eldredge claims is purely political. In The Triumph of Evolution and the Failure of Creationism, Eldredge exposes the deep flaws in creationists' arguments and calls for those who love and respect the scientific process of gathering knowledge to engage their opponents in the culture war wholeheartedly. This brief but powerful book by one of our leading evolutionary theorists is careful not to dehumanize the intellectual and political adherents of "intelligent design theory." It focuses on the importance of teaching all children in our society how science and technology work. To do this, he tells us that we must not muddy the waters by agreeing that science and religion have overlapping domains. Skillfully explaining the theory and the most popular arguments against it, Eldredge arms the reader for battle with creationists. Three appendices offer information on recent court decisions and means to get involved in the continuing struggle for proper science education. It's time to take the creationists seriously, and The Triumph of Evolution and the Failure of Creationism is a great place to start. --Rob Lightner
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Customer Reviews
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Review Summary: Burying creationism (again) |
Date: 2007-11-27 |
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Details: As I observed in 1999, in an essay titled "Creationism rules(?)") a large percentage of American adults -- possibly 80 percent -- think it is okay to teach creationism alongside evolution in public schools. Niles Eldredge is here to explain why that is misguided in the extreme. He does so authoritatively and conclusively. No one who wants quality education for our children can refute his arguments from reason. Politics is a whole nuther ball of wax, as the author is well aware. Eldredge, a Curator in the Department of Invertebrate Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History, is well equipped by intellect and education to pierce the propositions of the artifice known as "creation science," and inside their hollow balloon he perceives this: At root, pro-creationismists (I made that one up) believe that all morality is grounded in our being fashioned in God's image. They are certain that if we aren't divinely inspired, all Hell will break loose, for what other basis do we have for upright behavior? Therefore, it is supremely urgent to these believers that the biblical account be accepted as true -- geology be damned! This, of course, is a political argument, not science. But, in order to gain acceptance in the syllabus, apologists dress up their politics in scientific drag. While the courts usually recognize the difference when it comes to a decision (and creation science has been tossed out by judges in several states), the damage Eldredge describes is more insidious. He notes that recent editions of many elementary text books have dropped mention of evolution to avoid a fight. Teachers often teach around it. Thus the classroom battles are being lost even as the policy war is won. Evolution represents the best scientific understanding of how we and the living world came to be. It is intrinsic to today's debates about genetically modified foods, cloning, and stem-cell research. If we want our children to become participatory citizens they need to understand the issues and the science behind them. Thus, it is NOT okay to teach myths as science, it is utterly wrong. Niles Eldredge can tell you why. |
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Review Summary: A Sober Warning From One Of Our Finest Evolutionary Biologists About America's Scientific Future |
Date: 2007-05-21 |
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Details: In this relatively terse book, distinguished American Museum of Natural History paleobiologist Niles Eldredge has set out two objectives that he does accomplish well. First, he offers yet another eloquent rebuke of "Intelligent Design" and other variants of creationism, noting that creationism isn't science because it neither tests nor makes appropriate corrections of its ideas; both are fundamental features of genuine science, not the pseudoscience known as "Intelligent Design". Second, his book serves as a sober warning about America's scientific future, noting that American preeminence in science since World War II has depended on offering quality science education at all grade levels. Such excellence is gravely at risk by those who would foist their own religious agenda upon an unsuspecting American public in the guise of "Intelligent Design/Scientific Creationism", by urging "balance" in classroom teaching of science, demanding that "Intelligent Design" should be taught alongside evolution.
Some other reviewers have complained that Niles Eldredge does not offer as much concrete evidence in support of evolution, as, for example, my old friend Ken Miller has done in his superb "Finding Darwin's God". But I think they've missed the raison d'etre of Eldredge's book; presenting a terse, yet quite eloquent, cogent explanation on behalf of the scientific validity of evolution, emphasize the religious origins of "Intelligent Design" and other flavors of creationism, and warn us that America's future success in science and technology is gravely at risk if "Intelligent Design" advocates succeed (For those interested in seeking such concrete examples from Niles Eldredge, then they need look no further than to read his superb "Darwin: Discovering the Tree of Life", the magnificient companion volume to the AMNH-originated "Darwin" exhibition - currently on tour through North America, and then finally, Great Britain, in time for the bicentennial celebration of Darwin's birthday on February 12, 2009 - which he curated.). Without a doubt, "The Triumph of Evolution and the Failure of Creationism" is one of the best written books on this subject, and a sober warning from a distinguished American evolutionary biologist about America's scientific future. |
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Review Summary: And we thought this issue had been decided in the Scopes Trial. Not hardly! |
Date: 2006-10-15 |
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Details: Since the 1980s a concerted political assault on the teaching of evolution in the American school system has led to numerous court cases, intense debate in the public sphere, and difficult confrontations in museums and other public educational institutions. This book, written by a diligent and thoughtful anti-creationist, offers its perspective in the title. It is a relatively short, accessible introduction to the subject, and its findings are never in doubt. Eldredge skewers scientific creationism, and its more recent guise of intelligent design, as a non-scientific theory masquerading as science. In seven chapters he discusses the following major themes: (1) religion, science, and politics; (2) science as a way of knowing; (3) the fossil record; (4) the development of evolutionary theory; (5) how the creationists attack in the context of scientific style and the age of the Earth; (6) their attack on the origins and history of life; and (7) the place of this evolution/creationism debate in the broader culture. This book will give aid and comfort to those convinced of evolutionary theory, but it will probably not offer a persuasive argument for those in the creationist/intelligent design camp.
Eldredge argues that creationism/intelligent design/whatever other term might be used to describe it is not a scientific theory. It does not aid in helping to understand the nature of this planet, its life, and its development over time. It is a concept that is not testable, a critical element of any scientific knowledge. Alternatively, Eldredge asserts that evolution is a credible explanation of life's origins and development, which it is backed up by considerable scientific data, that while there is yet to be further modification to the concept and more details to be filled in it has been remarkably robust as an explanation of life and its development on Earth. It is much more than a theory, at least in its vernacular definition, it represents the only serious explanation of how life emerged on Earth and has developed over time.
Eldredge asserts that there are useful roles for religion, and he does not question its place in helping to define moral, ethical, and spiritual conceptions, yet he does not endorse any finding from it as explanation for what has taken place in the natural world. He also fears that efforts to replace religious ideology for science education is a serious challenge for the future of the United States. The nation has led the world in most areas of science and technology since World War II in part because of efforts in the educational system to be second to none. Eldredge sees the attempt to supplant evolution with creationism in science classes as a threat to that leadership.
This book operates at two levels. The first is a straightforward debunking of creationism/intelligent design through a discussion of the origins and development of evolutionary biology. The second is a sustained critique of the efforts to overthrow evolution in the classroom with creationism/intelligent design, including a modest discussion of court cases and political maneuvering. A relatively short book, it is a useful but not particularly detailed discussion of the subject. |
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Review Summary: Eldredge Weighs in on Creationism |
Date: 2006-05-06 |
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Details: While I generally like Niles Eldredge's writing style his "The Triumph of Evolution... And the Failure of Creationism" is not as good a book on the subject as those by Pennock and perhaps a few other authors. Nor is it as interesting as his own "Why We Do It." For one thing he confronts creationism as if it were monolithic in much of his book and he never mentions Intelligent Design.
That said, the book is by no means dull, it is aimed (as nearly as I can tell) at the intelligent undecided or wavering reader (not at true believers or the already converted, which would certainly be a waste of time) and in many sections he is dead on in his criticism of creationist techniques of argument. Thus the book does have a readership, although possibly a very small one. It is not meant as either a scientific tome or a book to try and convert the creationists to the scientific view.
I did find several very insightful observations in Eldredge's book. For example, I very much agree with Eldredge in his statement on p. 17 that absolute belief or unbelief is "implying one can know something that is in principle unknowable." This pretty much encapsulates my own thinking on the subject.
I gave the book four stars because I think that it could have been better and possibly because there is a glut of books like this (on both sides of the issue!) Thus Eldredge has to compete with some really top-notch writers. It is not that the book is really badly written, but that it falls somewhat short of the best.
If you want a pre-intelligent design anti-creationist book and are unsure of how you stand on this, Eldredge's book will be well worth the reading. If you are a evolutionary scientist, there are better sources for information on the subject. |
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Review Summary: Niles' "anything-goes-methodology" |
Date: 2005-12-06 |
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Details: I really don't know what may lead someone like Niles Eldredge to proclaim the triumph of evolution and the failure of creationism when the truth is that: 1) the origin of the Universe is still a mistery; 2) the origin of the stars and galaxies is still a mistery; 3) the origin of the solar system is still a mistery; 4) the origin of the Earth and the Moon is still a mistery; 5) the origin of the oceans is still a mistery; 6) the origin of comets is still a mistery; 7) the origin of life is still a mistery; 8) the origin of genetic information is still a mistery; 9) the location of the intermediate forms in the fossil record is still a mistery; 10) the origin of sexes is still a mistery; 11) the origin of human language is still a mistery; 12) the reason why there are more living fossils and polistratic fossils and not intermediate fossils is still a mistery; 13) the reason why Niles thinks he deserves to be taken seriously is still a mistery.
It is obvious that Niles Eldredge can only be addressing those who they are convinced that chance and randomness lead their own thought processes and are thus ready to accept a "anything goes" methodology when it comes to reasoning and inference. This is not only the failure of evolution, which doesn't bother me much, but above all the disgrace of reason and thought.
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