- ISBN13: 9780805083064
- Condition: New
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and eloquent about the spirituality of science . . . An invaluable primer.”
—Los Angeles Times Book Review
The Case for Evolution and Against Intelligent Design 5 out of 5
Evolution has been one of the most hotly debated ideas in Western civilization over the last century and a half, and in this volume, Michael Shermer presents the case for evolution and against intelligent design.
The author recounts his own journey from creationism to Darwinism in the 1970s, and goes on to present the most important arguments in favor of evolution.
One of these most important arguments is, as Shermer states, that so many independent lines of evidence, including evidence from geology, paleontology, botany, zoology, herpetology, entomology, biogeography, comparative anatomy and physiology, and genetics, all point to the conclusion that life evolved.
Perhaps the most convincing argument is the genetic evidence uncovered in just the last ten years. Shermer discusses the evolution of blood hemoglobin over the last half billion years and how only evolution could explain it. One recent discovery he does not mention is that humans share DNA errors with other primates, such as the error that results in humans and closely related primates having to have vitamin C in their diets or take supplements for it. Other mammals, such as dogs and cats, do not have this error and can make their own vitamin C. As biologist Kenneth Miller points out, our sharing this exact DNA error and other DNA errors with other primates is akin to students in a college course turning in term papers with words that are misspelled in exactly the same way. This is incontrovertible evidence for common descent.
The author also notes concerning the fossil record that geological strata consistently reveal the same sequence of fossils, and also discusses vestigal structures--whales have been born with hind limbs, and many humans have been born with tails. Shermer lists ten human characteristics that we inherited from our non-human ancestors.
Shermer talks about the debates between science and religion, about why conservatives should accept evolution, and closes by discussing the current unsolved problems in evolution.
This book was an integral part of my own very reluctant change of mind on this issue. Shermer notes how difficult it is for people whom he terms "True Believers" to accept evolution, but with this powerful book he is certain to have helped convince many more people than just me of the truth that mankind evolved from lower forms of life.
Good book on why intelligent design is irrelevant 5 out of 5
A highly readable book that precisely discusses the current debates around evolution, intelligent design, why people belief in God and why Darwin matters. Shermer knows exactly what the issues are and presents them in a straightforward way. I'd definitely recommend this book for anyone interested in this topic, whether believer or skeptic.
Why Shermer is clueless 1 out of 5
This is just a start as I have just started reading the book.
However before the first chapter is finished Shermer already made several errors.
1- Creationists do NOT argue for the fixity of species
2- Shermer's example of wolves "evolving" into dogs is perfectly acceptable for young earth creationists. They call it "variation within a Kind".
3- Shermer then conflates Creation with Intelligent Design proving he doesn't understand ID.
Effective if somewhat politically correct 4 out of 5
I have liked every book Shermer has written, and this is no exception. He is an eloquent voice for science, surpassed today perhaps only by Neil Tyson. I also recommend his magazine, Skeptic. Why Darwin Matters does a good job of explaining to a non-scientist why evolution is true and intelligent design is nonsense. My only caveat about the book is that Shermer is too soft on religion. He protests--a little too much--that evolution (and science in general) are compatible with Christianity. I simply don't agree with this assumption; I think he tries too far to accomodate superstition (i.e. religion) in this book. Notwithstanding this flaw, I highly recommend Why Darwin Matters.
Kindle Version is Unreadable 1 out of 5
If you are thinking of buying this book for the Kindle, don't. At least if you have a 1st generation Kindle.
This book is formatted in the new Amazon "topaz" formatting that allows for fonts to be embedded in the book, rather than using the default system font. And the font chosen for this book is hard to read on my Kindle-1. It appears fainter than the default system font, and letters and words often have gaps, making them appear split.
The other big flaw, is that the endnotes aren't linked. Every other e-book I own links the note number with the actual note, allowing me to jump to and read the note and then return to my place in the book. Not this book. You can see the note numbers, but they're not linked, just pretty little superscripts sitting there with nothing to do. How in the world does Amazon expect me to read the endnotes without taking five minutes to go to the table of contents, find the label for endnotes, link to the beginning of the notes, page through until I find the note I want, read it, and then backtrack to the page I am reading. And don't forget that if you can't remember the title of the chapter you are currently reading (it's not displayed on the kindle), then you have to page back to the beginning of the chapter before you can go find the note.
Overall, the flaws with the font and endnotes made this book unreadable on my Kindle-1. I returned it and bought the book in paperback from my local B&N.
