Customer Reviews

Scientists Confront Creationism

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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.

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.

"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.

This book gives a good overview of the creationists and their brand of pseudoscience.

It includes chapters the history of creationism and the Scopes trial and then has chapters written by different scientists discussing various creationists claims. The writing style varies of course from chapter to chapter and some are easier to read than others. Each chapter does a fairly good job of refuting and debunking creationism. The best part of this book is the references found at the end of each chapter. This is where the real wealth of information is at and allows anyone to research the scientific data themselves and easily debunk creationism.

The next to last chapter was my favorite where it compared the psuedosciences of creationism to people who believe the Earth is flat (yes there are some people who still believe this). It listed quotes and tactics of the two groups and the similarities were amazing. Psuedoscience is psuedoscience no matter how normal or rediculous it sounds.

The last chapter gives the real message of this book. Creationism does not belong in the science classroom. It is theological not scientific and either 1) belongs in churches and homes or 2) belongs in a comparative religion class along with other creation myths.

While I admit that this book is not for the laymen, as it contains heavy usage of technical terms and concepts, it does do what it is intended to do - debunk the Creation lie. The scientists participating in this book have done a very good job of ensuring that every major creationist claim is answered and cast back into the dark ages from where it came. Though the book is dated at this point, confronting a concept as ridiculous as Creationism need not rely on even the most modern evidence. Creationism is an ancient belief.

Godfrey et al make light work of special creationist pseudoscience in this work. Time and again, creationist claims about radiometric dating, paleontology, thermodynamics, molecular biology and other topics are examined against the evidence, and are found to be severely lacking in both logic and empirical justification. This should come as no surprise, of course, since this is par for the course as far as scientific special creation is concerned, with only a very few exceptions.

On the other hand, I wouldnt recommend this book. It's simply too dated (17 years old now), and therefore fails to address many of the 'new' arguments promoted by creationists today. For those interested in a book of this sort, I would recommend Strahler's "Science and Earth History" or Kenneth Miller's "Finding Darwin's God."

This book does an excellent job of giving the reader an understanding of the creationist's arguments, methods, and goals. It exposes the fallacies of the creationist position, reducing it to an ancient myth with no scientific basis. The book contains point-by-point rebuttals to the most famous of creationist's claims against evolution. The book is technical in some chapters, but generally easy to comprehend. It definitely belongs on the bookshelf of anyone who recognizes the risk of including a myth in science classrooms

Its great to finally see a direct response to all the creationist stuff I've been hearing for years. Sure its technical at times (if it wasn't, it would be too general). And yes, some of these guys have chips on their shoulders. I'd like to see a real thoughtful creationist rebuttal on a lot of this material. Probably won't happen.

I found this book to be quite fascinating, and not difficult to read. I definetly recommend reading this book! There are no smoke and mirrors here, just scientific fact. The credentials of those who contributed to the book are outstanding.

I read this book almost 20 years ago now and found it utterly convincing. You will quickly notice that the arguments against this book won't come from a scientific viewpoint but from a religious one. As with the reviewer here who describes the book as "full of logical errors", yet can't produce a single example and insists that "there are creationist scientists", the arguments are based on ignorance. Actually I doubt most of the critics got more than a few pages into the book. They no doubt would find the abolutely overwhelming mass of evidence from virtually every branch of science inconvenient and uncomfortable.

For open minded folks though wondering why virtually every practicing scientist today accepts the basic theory of evolution (all life evolved from simpler life forms), in spite of the fact that it seems to defy common sense, it would be difficult to find a better book. Certainly its arguments leave no room for doubt.
The book does not disprove God or a creator, however its clear that honest seekers wishing to tie the origins of life to a human understanding of God will conclude that what is taught by today's Christian fundamentalists is absurd nonsense.