Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent book, which a previous review has misrepresented , July 18, 2005
I read this book years ago and recommend it to people highly as an example of how people use and misuse facts and language, especially by quoting out of context, to push their point of view. I find it bizarre that people are interested in convincing others of a point that the evidence is against, by misrepresenting that evidence. In many cases, as shown in Plimer's book, they themselves do not believe the evidence - their understanding of it can be quite sophisticated - but it is useful for them to make a point, even if it IS wrong. I therefore was surprised to see Taylor Adams' review on this page - I had not noticed these bizarre errors he mentioned - so I dug out my copy and looked them up.
What I found was that Adams has, for whatever reason, misrepresented many of the points in the book in his review.
Plimer does incorrectly state that sulphur is solid up to 444 degrees, but the fact that it is solid at a much lower temperature actually makes his argument even stronger.
He does NOT state that "nuclear reactors are powered by alpha-decay" (p. 25), merely that the physics of alpha decay is the same physics of fission reactions. Nor does he state that the sun is powered by nuclear fission (he refers to it as a giant nuclear reactor - which it is, albeit a fusion reactor).
Plimer did make the claim (p12) that "no item in science or technology has been developed by creationists" and it is true that Raymond Damadian developed the mri. But this scientific development was derived from orthodox science - the point he is making is that no useful technological development has arisen from creationism per se. MRI technology does not arise from creationism - it derives from an internally-consistent scientific understanding of the world - which is incompatible it seems, with creationism's claims.
The criticism re: PI ("Plimer claimed that Pi is 3.14159 (p. 18) when this is still an approximation") is valid, although he does say "even schoolchildren know it is 3.14159" - and I think that any reader with any maths past year 8 at school knows it is an irrational number.
But the irony of his last criticism is just bizarre!
"my all-time favorite blunder continues to be when Plimer stated categorically that the english alphabet contains 23 letters (p. 224)"
This is a complete misreading of the text. Plimer is writing about a sentence: "Methinks it is like a weasel" which has 23 letters in it. His sentence "a random selection of the 23 letters of the alphabet", may well be a typo and should read "26", but perhaps it should read "of the 23 letters _from_ the alphabet". His next sentence does NOT go on to repeat the error as Adams claims, but is specifically about the number of letters in the target sentence which is, as it states, 23.
This is a fascinating book, which causes you to wonder on the true motivations and psychology of people in general, and the absurdities that arise consequent to the creationist arguments are just a delight. One of these is that if the creationist theory were correct that all of continental drift had occurred in the last 4,000 years, that amongst other bizarre effects, there would have been a giant bow wave off the coast of each major continent as it ploughed its way through the oceans.
Certainly the book could have been improved by some tighter editing and proofreading, but the examples given are not evidence of anything more substantial than that. In particular, none of the "errors" actually are with the underlying themes of the book, nor with his representation of creationism.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Important book, May 9, 2004
By A Customer
This is a great book for anyone interested in facts ! Don't worry about the few fanatical reviewers who are attempting to bring the everage rating of the book down.
This book is brave in the way it calls a spade a spade and demasks the so-called "scientists" who preach Creationism without offering credible evidence.
It's time for intelligent people all over the world to stand up to lies. Remember, silence is usually taken as assent. If we're not careful, we'll be returning to the dark ages and science will be replaced in school by creationism.
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26 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Religion" versus "science"- a study., January 7, 2001
This book is not an easy book to review. The subject matter- that of the perennial and arguable debate between religion and science-strikes deep within the human pysche. (Of course there are some who argue that there is no debate between the two, but that itself is what this book professes-that "religion" which sets itself againsts science is, in fact, not religion, but something else altogether). The book is essentially about one scientists (a geologist) experiences with some extremist religious groups. Peculiar yes, but nevertheless intriguing. There exists in our society, whether good or ill, what is called "creation scientists"-those who argue for a change in educational policies and directions regarding science, and a return to "Biblical foundations", as provided by some forms of literal interpretations of some parts of the Bible. This book is basically about scientists, by accident almost, encountering the methods and lifestyles of such people. The book, if you might have gleaned thus far, is a little peculiar. "Rationalism ecnountering "religious extremism". Be prepared for some emotive arguments, and some rather peculiar thinking and debates-from both sides, about matters and historical processes that is plain, most people do not understand. In my view, the value in this book is that it attempts to take on an extremist form of thinking squarely;- there isn't too many examples of this in our "tolerant" world. "Tolerance" of course has two sides-it can invite deception and exploitation, especially of the young. This book seeks to warn readers of not only cultic mentalities and their agendas, but also subterannean battles within both society and the human psyche, much of course which has already been fought in western history. In some ways then, this book is about the past, and how some forms of "religion" became, and become, perverted. To me the book is more inspiring in its anecdotal matter-great stories, but is perhaps a little weak on substance. Some have said that the book is written in a style that is itself extremist and emotive, but in fairness the author maintains that this is largely the point-to fight extremist thinking it is sometimes necassary to be extremist in opposition. I'll let readers be the judge. For those readers who know a little about geology and are interested in the field, it provides a good overview of general principles. The author is a geologist with many years field experience, and it is a useful text for those interested in this field, especially those interested in alternative arguments to "creation science", from a geological perspective. As an aside there is also some humour-those who organise expeditions to find Noahs Ark on Mount Ararat, for example. But this becomes less funny when they return home and claim, fraudulently or by simple self-deception, that they have in fact found the 'lost Ark'. For those who wish to know a little about "religion", it provides less substance. It is not a book which seeks to explain religion. Nevertheless it does highlight what goes in some forms of religion, which most people simply aren't aware of. For those who want to learn more about human nature, this book does provide just a small window, albeit a rather unusual one.
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