Evolution and the Myth of Creationism: A Basic Guide to the Facts in the Evolution Debate [Hardcover]

Tim M. Berra (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 198 pages
• Publisher: Stanford University Press (September 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804715483
• ISBN-13: 978-0804715485
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,952,355 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Tim M. Berra is Professor Emeritus of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology at The Ohio State University. He received the Ph.D. in Biology from Tulane University in 1969. He is a three-time recipient of Fulbright Fellowships to Australia in 1969,1979, and 2009. He taught at the University of Papua New Guinea before joining the faculty of OSU in 1972. Over the last 40 years he has spent over 8 years doing fieldwork in Australia.

He is the author of over 75 scientific papers and 6 books including Evolution and the Myth of Creationism published by Stanford University Press in 1990. His book A Natural History of Australia (Academic Press, 1998) features 200 of his color photographs, 220 line drawings and maps, and over 500 references. Freshwater Fish Distribution featuring 169 maps, 324 fish drawings and 1,700 references was published by University of Chicago Press in 2007. His latest book, Charles Darwin: The Concise Story of an Extraordinary Man, was published by Johns Hopkins University Press in 2009 and features 60 b/w illustrations and 16 color plates.

In 1992 he was visiting professor at the University of Concepcion in Chile, and in 1996 he was visiting professor at the University of Otago in New Zealand. He took early retirement from The Ohio State University in July 1995 to devote full time to research and writing.

Dr. Berra is the former editor of The Ohio Journal of Science and was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium where he also served on the Conservation and Collection Management Committee. He was also the ichthyological book review editor of Copeia, the journal of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. He resigned these positions at the end of 2000 to pursue fieldwork supported by the National Geographic Society and the Columbus Zoo in Australia in 2001.

He is a member of the Board of Governors of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists and Research Associate at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Darwin, Australia where he spent most of 2001 working on the life history of the nurseryfish. He returned to Darwin in 2003, 2004, and 2005 to continue his nurseryfish research. He was back in Darwin to keynote the bicentennial celebrations of Charles Darwin's birthday at Charles Darwin University in Sept. 2009. He is University Professorial Fellow at Charles Darwin University and a Fellow of the Linnean Society. Dr. Berra's paper in BioScience (May 2010) on inbreeding in the Darwin/Wedgwood families attracted international media attention including a story in the NY Times and NPR interview.

Customer Reviews

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30 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Case Against "Scientific " Creationism, June 6, 2005

By 

The Spinozanator "Spinozanator" (Harlingen, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Evolution and the Myth of Creationism: A Basic Guide to the Facts in the Evolution Debate (Paperback)

My son passed this book on to me when he was in a Catholic University. It was part of required reading in a Biology class, along with a copy of a book by Morris advocating the other viewpoint. Morris's book pretty much said, "the Bible says blah blah, blah, therefore, science is wrong." Berra's superb book began in the preface with a scathing indictment of the agenda behind Scientific Creationism - that agenda being enforcement of religious views on our educational system. In the process, Creationists misinterpret science wherever they like in order to make it fit the Bible.

As applied to Scientific Creationism, "Scientific" is a misnomer. In order to qualify as science, first , data is gathered. A "Hypothesis" based on the data is formulated. The hypothesis is tested and results are published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. The hypothesis, if it passes muster so far, is subjected to retesting by other scientists with verification of the results. The hypothesis describes "how" a process works, but says nothing about "why." A "Theory" may eventually be developed which explains "why", and has a stronger meaning in science than the usual dictionary definition. To become a theory indicates general acceptance by the scientific community, may be the end result of decades or even centuries of groundwork, and is always susceptible to modification or even rejection if new data demands it. This is the scientific method that helped to bring us out of the Dark Ages. Any theory that is not subjected to these procedures does not belong in science class.

Research for Scientific Creationism consists of careful perusal of the scientific literature, hoping to isolate quotes, ideas, or disagreements amongst scientists which can then be misinterpreted to support Creationist arguments. This is not hypothesis testing. There is no testing in Creationism, but then religion is supposed to be about faith, whereas science is about evidence.

Berra gives us several chapters outlining the very basics of evolution. Starting on page 126, he lists 16 assertions that Creationists hang their hat on, which are contradictory to basic sciences in geology, physics, biology, or chemistry. These are given in only a sentence or two, and Berra's rebuttals are almost as brief. He has a chapter about the politics of this sad situation, all in very blunt prose, not mincing words.

Fortunately, Scientific Creationism's assertions are easily dealt with and you don't have to be a serious scholar to be convinced. Unfortunately, about the time Berra wrote this great little book, a new tactic arose called Intelligent Design. Briefly, the most liberal brand of the ID movement accepts a 4.5 billion year old earth and most of evolution, as the way God created man...however, at some unspecified crossroads in evolution, an unidentified "designer" intervened. This "had to be" because certain aspects of biochemistry/the eye/the flagellum are "irreducibly complex."

The spectrum of ID belief runs the gamut of belief from close to Scientific Creationism to close to complete belief in all of evolution, beginnings of life from primordial sludge and the Big Bang. For the more liberal versions, there are perhaps 5 times as many who would vote for the concept to be taught alongside evolution in high school as there were for Scientific Creationism. This is sort of OK with a lot of the more conservative IDers because it gives them a "wedge" of entry. Later on, the agenda can be broadened to exclude "materialistic and sinful" theories such as evolution from the curriculum altogether. Willingness to obtain by legislation, judicial decree, or the sword that which cannot be obtained by evangelism has a long history within our species.

Back to the book, it is excellent. It is without peer for its day, due to its brevity & clarity, but it needs an update. I urge Dr. Berra to write an up to date version, edited to satisfy some of the complaints in these reviews, and to give the major portion of the book over to rebuttal of Intelligent Design. The chameleon has undergone a transformation and needs to be slapped back down again.

35 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good, brief intro to the facts..., August 20, 2002

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M. Nichols (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Evolution and the Myth of Creationism: A Basic Guide to the Facts in the Evolution Debate (Paperback)

I recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in creationism and evolution. As the book succinctly states, there is no debate about the validity of evolution-- just a sad indictment on the scientific education of the average American. Creationists never claim to use science as the basis of their argument, because science isn't the basis of their argument, the inerrancy of the Bible is. The framework of the debate, therefore, has nothing to do with the facts.

This book is written for the non-scientist, and its brief length and heavy illustrations (fascinating ones) make it at times feel like a long article from a nature magazine. I read it in one sitting, and thought it ably covered the facts of evolution. The author makes no excuse for the fact that the fossil record is incomplete, and that much still needs to be learned about evolution. This book, for instance, was written before the recent discovery of a hominid skull in central Africa, which has lead paleontologists to believe that human life may not have originated along the Rift Valley, as previously believed. But, such additional discoveries hardly add credence to creationist claims; there is no significant discovery that has negated evolutionary theory. The facts have shifted, but never the theory.

It is important to note, as the author does, that the majority of Christians don't deny evolution-- the Pope, for instance, says it's fine for Catholics to believe in evolution, as long as they believe that God inserted the immortal soul into humans at some point. Such adaptablility is refreshing -- and it would seem necessary.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Statement of The Facts and Exposing Creationism, March 20, 2006

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Scientific Mind (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Evolution and the Myth of Creationism: A Basic Guide to the Facts in the Evolution Debate (Paperback)

I purchased this book two weeks ago. This is a very interesting book which outlines the scientific method step by step. The book also discounts the arguments presented by creationists. Dr. Berra's book is very insightful and shows the logical progression/evolution of all life on the planet earth.