Scientists Confront Creationism [Paperback]

Laurie R. Godfrey (Editor)

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (April 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393301540
• ISBN-13: 978-0393301540
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 4.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,432,711 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A bit heavy in technical talk, but a good reading, June 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Scientists Confront Creationism (Paperback)

I've tried to take as much of an unbiased stance in the creation or evolution argument, and reading this book did draw out alot of problems that are found in creationist circles. I find it unfortunate that so many creationist arguments appear well-founded when in reality there is often a much larger picture many creationists do not see. This book does a good job in showing more of the picture, albeit it is not a perfect book and it is a little technical (but what do you expect when trying to learn scientific findings or terminology?) Of particular interest is the chapter by George Abell concerning problems with common creationist arguments for a Young Earth, as well as the chapter 'Creationism and Gaps in the Fossil Record' by Laurie Godfrey. Anyone who is TRULY interested in learning more about the two sides debate should read this with an open mind. It does not have all the answers you'll ever want but has compelling arguments from which one can learn a lot.

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Creationism didn't stand a chance, August 22, 2001

By 

"myerb" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scientists Confront Creationism (Paperback)

Laurie Godfrey has compiled essays by some of the biggest names in evolution and science in the world today: Stephen J. Gould, C. Loring Brace, Russel Doolittle, Stephen Brush, Frederick Edwords and David Raup just to name a few. Some readers may only recognise the first name in the list, however be assured that the others are not only top scientists in their respective fields but also have experience in debating and refuting creationsts.

As other reviewers have noted, some of the articles in this volume get quite technical. Nonetheless, readers are treated to a feast of information that annihalates some of the most common creationist arguments. This book was written in 1984, around the time of great creationist upheaval. It served its purposes quite well, however readers should be aware that much has changed in the creationist arsenal and it may be wise to examine some of the latest offerings debunking creationist claptrap i.e. _Tower of Babel: The Evidence Against the New Creationism_. Having said this, the current book should still be considered as an authoritative book when dealing with the Creation-Evolution phenomenon.

21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brass-Tacks Refutations of Creationism Aping Science, March 5, 2003

By 

Jonathan L. Widger (Ocean View, DE United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scientists Confront Creationism (Paperback)

"They [the 'scientific' creationists] pretend that biblical literalism is the logical alternative to evolution. They mold the 'facts' of science according to their needs. They distort the meanings of 'fact' and 'theory.' Cloaked in scientific jargon but uninformed by the scientific developments of the past one hundred fifty years, the arguments of the scientific creationists demand a response." --Laurie R. Godfrey, Preface, Scientists Confront Creationism

The editor of this collection of 15 essays, Laurie R. Godfrey, also contributed the essay, "Scientific Creationism: The Art of Distortion," in a similar book, Science and Creationism (New York: Oxford UP, 1984), that was edited by Ashley Montagu. Godfrey is a professor of anthropology at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. She received her Ph.D. from Harvard University. The relatively successful lobbying of creationists compelled the generation of books of this kind.

In Epperson v. Arkansas (1968), for example, the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional Arkansas' 1928 statute making the teaching of evolution unlawful. Thus, the eventual failure of creationists to censor evolution from public schools via legislation resulted in efforts to mandate "equal time" in science curricula for creationism. However, District Court of Arkansas Judge Overton, in a well-written ruling, struck down as unconstitutional an "equal time" law in McLean v. Arkansas (1982). The Supreme Court also struck down a Louisiana "equal-time" law in Edwards v. Aguillard (1987), four years after the publication of this book. In addition to activism via litigation and legislation, creationists specialize in knocking down straw-man versions of science.

Dr. Steven D. Schafersman's essay, "Fossils, Stratigraphy, and Evolution: Consideration of a Creationist Argument," refutes a creationist allegation that geologists engage in the fallacy of circular reasoning. Creationists assert "that geologists use fossils to date rocks and rocks to date fossils and that this is circular reasoning because it assumes the truth of evolution (by using a fossil sequence of simple to complex to date rocks) while it purports to provide evidence for the existence of evolution (by using the rock sequence thus constructed to demonstrate an evolutionary sequence of simple to complex organisms through time)."

However, the fossil sequences (biostratigraphy) are completely independent of any evolutionary presumption. Biostratigraphy is determined from three laws that are entirely independent of the theory of evolution. These three laws are (1) "sedimentary strata are initially deposited horizontally," (2) "younger undisturbed strata invariably overlie older undisturbed strata," and (3) "fossils in the strata will always occur in the same sequence, regardless of geographic location." Thus, fossil sequences derive from the rocks; not the rock strata from imposed fossil sequences derived from an evolutionary presumption. Geologic thrusting and overturning of strata account for the relatively few out-of-order fossil sequences. The sequence of undisturbed strata is consistent and reliable. Thus, index fossils "help determine the age of a given rock formation, but only by correlation from a type section of rock that is first defined to be a certain age, so no attribute of theirs, including evolution, is necessary to date a rock." In addition, radiometric rock dating is independent of biostratigraphy. Agreement between the two independent methods corroborates both, and both are independent of evolution. Thus, contrary to creationists' claims, the fallacy of circular thinking grounded in presumed evolutionary theory is no part of geology as a whole because evolution has nothing to do with dating rocks or fossils!

The other 14 excellent essays in this book deal with other aspects of creationism history and nonsense. Having an index, a list of the contributors with their credentials, and helpful introductory paragraphs to the essays in the table of contents also enhances the utility of this book.