Customer Reviews

Evolution: The Grand Experiment

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Evolution: The Grand Experiment is a gem of a book. Unfortunately many books on this subject cover much the same material and contain more then the average number of errors for science books. This work is refreshingly different. It contains several hundred color photos that effectively illustrate the point the author is making. Although the author, a child prodigy who received his 4 year medical degree when he was just 23 (normally students are just starting medical school at around 22), clearly favors the design position, he does a good job of presenting the other side. Most books on this subject present a detailed review of the evidence for creation but, in contrast, this book relies heavily on illustrations, charts, boxed quotes, tables, and limited text. Dr. Werner lets the illustrations etc. present his case, and this they do very well. This large coffee table book is a pleasure to pick up and read select sections at a time that are of interest. He covers in some detail the fossil record, a subject often ignored by creationists in spite of the fact that this area is one of their strongest evidences. The section on whale evolution is excellent, one of the best I have read on this now popular proof of evolution. It was also this section that I read first. The authors wife, gifted in her own area, did most of the photographs, which are not only excellent in photographic quality, but very informative. Even the quotes used photographs of the person being quoted, which helped the quotes to come alive. Many top scientists were quoted on both sides. This book would be a great gift for Christmas or Hanukkah, one that would be read in contrast to the typical creation book which is almost entirely page after page of solid text.

This is an excellent, well-researched presentation. How refreshing to have a scientific look at the "other side" of the story. Interviews with a wide range of scientists, both believers in the theory, and those who are not. I appreciate the opportunity to have some opposing research to the theory of evolution presented. If we don't have the opportunity to see both sides of an argument, how can we come to our own conclusions? Truth never fears investigation.

I was very impressed with both the book and video. The video was very professional and accurate. I have been studying evolution for the last 20 years and what Dr. Werner has shown is the truth. As a scientist that is what we all should be striving for. Ultimately critical thinking and the arrow of evidence will overpower conformational bias.

Dr. Carl Werner has done us a huge favor in writing this book. You learn a lot from it really. There is so much basic information here that people should be aware of in the Evolution debate. His references are very helpful and his writing is pretty fair. He really does do a grand experiment and even has a discussion with leading scientists to get their personal take on their areas of expertise.

For example, on the discussion on one of the supposed ancestors of whales, Rodhocetus, throughout evolution he interviews the discoverer of the Rodhocetus fossil, Phil Gingerich, to see if he himself believed that this was an ancestor of whales like most macroevolutionists believe and he said no. The tail and legs are missing and yet museums still draw in a tail that resembles that of a whale when there is no evidence at all for assuming their tails to be similar to a modern whale's tail.

Also he interviews Dr. John Long, who has written wonderful evolutionary works like The Rise of Fishes: 500 Million Years of Evolution on prehistorical fish and is definitely an authority on ancient prehistoric fish. Dr. Long admits to there being lots of "mystery" to the rise of fishes when Werner asks some important but tough questions on the evolution of fishes. This is very revealing and enlightening.

I personally am amazed at how he interviews more non-creationists than creationists and gets some strange answers to some tough questions on macroevolution from macroevolutionists.

Very well balanced book and lots and lots of pictures from museums all around the world. Also he does do a few experiments that even you can try at home such as spontaneous generation, which in the end, does not happen at all. In this sense this book is a bit interactive with it's readers. There is also a bit of detailed discussions on living fossils, evolution of dinosaurs, and other good things.

There is also a DVD set going to come out at some point and also another volume specifically on Living Fossils Evolution: The Grand Experiment: Vol. 2 - Living Fossils.

A Living fossil is just a creature that lived in the distant past and has not evolved much at all (in terms of micro and macro speciation) and is found alive today. Coelacanths are one example of living fossils what did not evolve during their 300 million years (from the Devonian Period) or so of existing even though biologists like Richard Dawkins believe that humans ultimately evolved from them. Read Dawkins' The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution to see what I mean. Also Take a look at Lamarck's historical work on evolution via acquired characteristics due to environment changes, it has a ring of truth for many who believe all species macro evolved and is still prevalent today believe it or not (through concepts like "memes" and also when people talk teleologically on why certain attributes evolved or when they talk about "benefits" of evolutionary change) and God or purposeful mind was in the picture in Lamarck's evolutionary theory: Zoological Philosophy, An Exposition with Regard to the Natural History of Animals and also look at Alfred Russel Wallace's (the "co-discoverer" of "natural selection" with Darwin) Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection: A Series of Essays.

Here is a synopsis of the book by Chapter:
1. Options for the Origins of Life
2. Spontaneous Generation
3. Acquired Characteristics
4. Natural Selection and Chance Mutation
5. Similarities of Species
6. The Fossil Record and Darwin's Prediction
7. The Fossil Record of Invertebrates
8. The Fossil Record of Fish
9. The Fossil Record of Bats
10. The Fossil Records of Sea lions and Seals
11. The Fossil Record of Flying Reptiles
12. The Fossil Record of Dinosaurs
13. The Fossil Record of Whales
14. The Fossil Record of Birds : Archaeopteryx
15. The Fossil Record of Birds : Feathered Dinosaurs
16. The Fossil Record of Flowering Plants
17. Formation of DNA
18. Formation of Proteins
19. Formation of Amino Acids
20. Evolution: Points of Controversy

Overall, Bravo for Carl Werner! He truly is an honest seeker of truth and a well organized scientist too. This book deserves to get a wide audience.

Micro and macro evolutionists (general "evolutionists" including "creation evolutionists") and micro evolutionists (all "creationists". Yes everyone believes at least in micro evolution [how do you get the varieties of humans i.e. Latinos, Africans, Middle Easterners, Asians and Caucasians from one couple? Or even varieties of finches?]) should read this book and question their beliefs to see it their view of origins of and evolution of life are plausible and warranted by natural evidence and nature alone.

"Read against the grain"

Also another book on evolution that I think is nice and interesting yet annoying when the author goes on a rant about creationists (seriously why can't paleontologists, biologists, and zoologists just state their evidence and stop giving low blows on creationists when they write books to general audiences? Even creationists don't believe half the stuff some authors accuse them them of believing.) is Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters. For a biochemical discussion on the synthesis and plausible, but empirically deficient theories on how life first started please read: The Emergence of Life: From Chemical Origins to Synthetic Biology. For more details on the rapid diversification of body plans and phyla of species, which contradicts Wallace-Darwinian predictions, please read The Cambrian Fossils of Chengjiang, China: The Flowering of Early Animal Life.

For information on the new evolutionary theory that is going to go beyond Darwin's purposed mechanism and how molecular data has challenged the Wallace-Darwinian gradual evolution by interviews with molecular evolutionary biologists and astrobiologists that feel the need to propose a newer evolutionary synthesis, please read The Altenberg 16: An Exposé of the Evolution Industry and Evolution – the Extended Synthesis.

And also look at the reassessment of the status of evolutionary theory in light of information from the genome in these papers published in journals from the National Institutes of Health where they keep data on genomes from many different species:

"SURVEY AND SUMMARY Darwinian evolution in the light of genomics" and "The Origin at 150: is a new evolutionary synthesis in sight?" both by Eugene V. Koonin. They shed light on what has been both right, wrong and outdated material used in evolutionary biology in light of recent massive molecular data from genomes.

This Book and DVD was a great presentation of a counter point to the evolution theory. I've always wanted to share both points of creation and evolution and finally this gives me something concrete to use. Love it!!!

In the past several years I have collected DVD's and books on the subject of Evolution from the standpoint of recognition that it is not science. This DVD, "Evolution, the Grand Experiment", is a good source of information to show that the spontaneous generation of new species is scientifically impossible. The complexity of even the smallest of organisms is nearly impossible to understand and the idea that they came into being by chance - regardless of eons of time - is a real leap of faith.

The Wagtv DVD, "Evolution, Fact or Belief", analyzes the known arguments in favor of evolutionary change from the standpoint of the primary scientific disciplines via interviews with scientists in those fields and concluded that there is no proof for evolution. It is stated that evolution is a philosophy not science. It takes more faith to believe in evolution than in intelligent design.

It is time that more people looked seriously at this theory that some scientists say doesn't even qualify as a good hypothesis.

I prepare curricula in geological subjects for grades preK-12. I add the kits to the textbooks and in this case add a number of fossils for study as a student is going through the text. I have thoroughly read this book and in my opinion it is one of the best thought-provoking textbooks I have ever seen for upper grades. Everything is well documented and beautifully laid out. The photos are superb and the printing is of the highest quality. If you are thinking of preparing your student for college biology, you could not find a better book. The teacher's supplement makes it easy for Mom or Dad to tackle this book with their children. The book does a great job of challenging currently held beliefs about origins and is laid out in such a way as to encourage the student to search out the issues raised. It is a breath of fresh air in the textbook business. I highly recommend this book.

What a refreshing review of the historical evidence (the fossil record)that bears on our origins. Truthfully presents the evidence as it is, all of it, so one can draw reasonable conclusions and get a clearer picture of what the evidence really is! Thank You!

Fact or Fiction ~ Truth or Myth. It's not always easy to determine what is truth, what is partial truth, and what is flat out wrong. Sadly, when lies and theories are spoken of often enough, people start to believe they are true - even after they have been proven wrong. This is exactly what has taken place with the theory of evolution.

In Evolution: The Grand Experiment, Dr. Werner takes readers through a step-by-step analysis of Darwin's theories. Through careful analysis, readers will see how many of the theories upon which Darwin based is writings/theories have been proven false by science over the years. Yet, many of these false theories are still quoted by those who believe in evolution today. While top scientists may no longer believe in certain aspects of Darwin's theories, these theories are still be quoted in textbooks today even though they are false.

When the book arrived, I started looking over the various, full-color, beautiful illustrations throughout the high-quality, heavy-weight glossy pages of the book. I only was able to read a chapter or two prior to Munchkin claiming the book as her own. While meant to be a textbook, Munchkin chose to read it as a regular book. She was fascinated by everything within the pages of the book. Every now and then, she would come running to tell D and I what she was learning about in her reading.

If you want to use this in a classroom (homeschool) setting, you can purchase the Evolution: The Grand Experiment Teacher's Manual, the Evolution: The Grand Experiment Presentation Cd, and the Evolution: The Grand Experiment Episode 1 to supplement the Evolution: The Grand Design text. Whether you decide to use this as a textbook in the classroom or just read it, you will come away with a better understanding of Darwin and his theory of evolution. Through a careful analysis of the theories, you will see the inaccuracies of evolution being revealed through science.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from Master Books/New Leaf Publishing to help facilitate the writing of this review. All opinions are my own.

Dr. Wernre's book, Evolution: the Granf Design is an outstanding dissertation on the points of controversy in the support of evolution. The author gave due respect to facts both for and against evolution and leaves it to the reader to draw his/her own conclusion based on facts, not emotion or agenda. I highly recommend this book for any seriuos student of this subject.