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

~ Tim Berra (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Berra's brilliant exposition offers a refreshing, lucid, and insightful view of one of the most important ideas in the history of science. After readingthis superb book, anyone with prior qualms about the scientific validity of evolution should be convinced that evolution is the explanation for the diversity of life on the planet. This is not an anti-religion book, but a very successful attempt to assist us all in understanding the scientific basis for evolution.' Donald C. Johanson, Institute of Human Origins

Product Description

This clear, candid, and generously illustrated book is written for the open-minded reader who does not understand the technical issues of evolution, but would like to, who sees everywhere the signs of a bitter political, philosophical, and educational debate, but does not know what to make of it or who to believe. It tells how science proceeds, what evolution is, how science knows that it has occurred and continues to occur, and what biologists can point to, in fossils and in the living world, as hard evidence of evolution. For its content and foundations, the book draws on zoology, botany, genetics, embryology, geology, geophysics, cosmology, astronomy, astrophysics, history, religion, and science education - everything expressed with a clarity that enables the general reader without a science background, as well as high school students and their teachers, to understand the argument.

Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: Stanford University Press; 1 edition (June 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804717702
• ISBN-13: 978-0804717700
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #341,050 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

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

By	The Spinozanator (Waco, Texas) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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.

34 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

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

By	M. Nichols (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but dated, January 5, 2007

By	Darby M'Graw (Treasure Island) - See all my reviews

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

I found Berra's presentation to be solid and straightforward. However, as Berra himself noted, the scientific outlook changes to incorporate new evidence. Since the publication of this book, science has indeed marched onward. The Origins of Life section seems particularly dated, since it does not cover the "RNA World Theory" which is now widely accepted based on evidence of the last decade or two. Science has advanced in other ways as well, with more transitional fossils (Tiktaalik, for example) and plenty of molecular evidence, all of it compatible with and supporting the theories of evolution.

Meanwhile, even Creationism has evolved. Berra took on "Creation Science," the religion pretending to be science of the 1970s and 1980s. Since the 1987 supreme court decision of Edwards v. Aguillera, Creationism has been repackaged as "Intelligent Design." Basically, Intelligent Design leaves out the overtly Biblical bits such as a 6000 year old universe and the flod of Noah, and dresses up other bits in new clothing, such as Behe's "irreducible complexity" and Dembski's "complex specified information" numerology, which are both re-upholstered versions of Paley's watch. If you are looking for refutations of ID, you should find a newer book.

This is a fine book, and the outdated material is my only reason for downrating it.