By Design: Science and the Search for God [Hardcover]

Larry Witham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 25, 2003

At the heart of By Design are two inter-related movements. One is the science and religion dialogue, which stretches from the laboratories of Nobelists to inner sancta of the Vatican. This dialogue attempts to build bridges between two worlds formerly thought to be implacably hostile and incompatible. The other is the intelligent design movement, which by reviving a natural theology of design in nature has challenged the Darwinian strongholds in science and public education. Larry Witham introduces some of the most colorful characters in these movements, and summarizes the scientific developments that have made this dramatic new dialogue possible.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a follow-up to his recent Where Darwin Meets the Bible, Washington Times reporter Witham surveys the ongoing dialogue between scientists and theologians about the relationship between science and religion. Drawing on interviews with key partners in the conversation, Witham provides a helpful guide to the major issues in this dialogue. While the controversy between creationists and evolutionary biologists has occupied a great deal of the public's attention, Witham points out that scientists and theologians have been dealing with other matters just as weighty and as provocative. He covers topics ranging from the anthropic principle (which argues that the universe's design implies that human life is its intended goal) and genetic engineering to astronomy and intelligent design. In the discussion of intelligent design, for example, Witham talks to one of its major proponents, Michael Behe. Behe is a religious scientist who accepts the workings of evolution as they apply to animals and plants, but who believes that the complexities of human molecular design (the way that blood clots, for instance) can be explained only by the work of an intelligent designer. Through his conversations with a wide-ranging group of scientists and theologians, including John Polkinghorne, Kenneth Miller, Allen Sandage, George Ellis and Paul Davies, Witham adeptly charts the course of the science and religion dialogue as the participants continue to search for common ground.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The late twentieth century has witnessed the emergence of a surprising coalition of biochemists, physicists, neurobiologists, and information theorists determined to bring science and religion together. Ironically, while orthodox scientific materialists continue to struggle to explain such phenomena as how a fine-tuning of stellar mass and cosmic expansion made possible the appearance of intelligent life, or how a primate brain first acquired human consciousness, the advocates of this new synthesis of reason and faith have found these same conundrums surprisingly tractable. Adumbrated by theorists such as chemist Charles Thaxton, and astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez, this new science accommodates much more data simply by acknowledging intelligent design in the architecture of the universe. Witham invites nonspecialists to scrutinize the central tenets of this new-style science and to reflect upon the social effects of a growing dialogue about this science sponsored by such institutions as the Vatican and the Templeton Foundation. A very helpful guide for readers trying to make sense of the science-religion debates breaking out anew on college campuses and in state legislatures. Bryce Christensen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 236 pages
• Publisher: Encounter Books; 1 edition (April 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893554643
• ISBN-13: 978-1893554641
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,749,993 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book, May 17, 2004

By 

Seth Aaron Lowry (Olean, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: By Design: Science and the Search for God (Paperback)

When I started reading this book I was a little disappointed because it focused on the development of the Intelligent Design(ID) movement, and did not cover much of the science behind Intelligent Design. Nevertheless, after finishing the book I was very surprised and pleased with the content of the book. Beginning with the Darwinian centennial of 1959, Witham begins by showing how science exuded confidence and hubris over the fact that science was apparently on the verge of solving the mystery of life's origins. Yet, even before the centennial celebration cracks in Darwinian theory were already beginning to appear; From Francis Crick's discovery of the complex double helix structure of DNA, to new findings in molecular biology, to the anthropic principle in astronomy, new discoveries seem to be casting doubt on the principle that we live in a purposeless universe and that man is nothing more than a cosmic accident residing in a backwater location in the universe. Moreover, Witham covers the growth and development of the ID movement from the Templeton foundation to various academic establishments attempting to break into mainstream science. All of the major players are mentioned including: Behe, Johnson, Dembski, Polkinhorne and others. It is quite sad that these men remain on the outside looking in in regards to the scientific establishment because they have a lot to say and raise some interesting questions. Yet, as Witham notes the scientific establishment gets to make it's own rules and disregard anyone who doesn't abide by their rules, and the Darwinian majority seems to be wed to Darwinian theory because they are afraid or unwilling to consider purposeful design. They are like the medieval astronomers who continued to accept Ptolemaic astronomy even though it had developed into a great monster. Hopefully, the ID movement will continue to press on and make inroads into mainstream science where their theories and ideas can be evaluated critically and not rejected outright as fundamentalist creationism.

31 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars God and Science: Together at Last, May 21, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: By Design: Science and the Search for God (Hardcover)

This book is an intriguing look into one of the most significant debates of our time: God and Science. Except that Witham shows it to be not so much an argument as a conversation. He shows how the stranglehold of Darwinism (the last of the three great 19th century intellectual pillars standing after the fall of Freudianism and Marxism) on our intellectual world has begun to weaken as men and women of science have found evidence of "design" not explained by the Darwinian paradigm. This book provides a look at one of the cutting edges of contemporary science which happens to be about the possibility of a Creator. Highly recommended.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What a Marvelous Book!, April 20, 2004

By 

Shannon Richie (Northumberland, PA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: By Design: Science and the Search for God (Hardcover)

This is a fantastic book for anyone looking to begin investigation of the Intelligent Design Movement. Most sections are well-written, and the technical detail is held to a minimum for the beginning reader on the topic. Much of the content from the book comes from interviews with the major players on both sides of the intelligent design-creation/evoltuion divide (although this particular book does not deal much with young earth creationists).

The book's strength is its readibility and its author's creativity in expositing the key elements in the current debate in just a little over 200 pages (no mean feat, there). Not limited to the biological realm, the book also discusses the design debate in the cosmological and physics contexts as well-a real positive.

An excellent item for the semi-sophisticated person who wants to start out with a broad overview on this topic. There is a sufficient source list at the end of the book for those who wish to explore Witham's sources further.