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Darwin's Doubt: The Explosive Origin of Animal Life and the Case for Intelligent Design Paperback – June 3, 2014
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Stephen C. Meyer
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Print length560 pages
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LanguageEnglish
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PublisherHarperOne
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Publication dateJune 3, 2014
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Dimensions1.6 x 6 x 9 inches
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“Darwin’s Doubt represents an opportunity for bridge-building rather than dismissive polarization―bridges across cultural divides in great need of professional, respectful dialogue―and bridges to span evolutionary gaps.” -- Dr. George Church, professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School and author of Regenesis
“Meyer writes beautifully. He marshals complex information as well as any writer I’ve read....a wonderful, most compelling read.” -- Dean Koontz, New York Times bestselling author
“Darwin’s Doubt is by far the most up-to-date, accurate, and comprehensive review of the evidence from all relevant scientific fields that I have encountered in more than forty years of studying the Cambrian explosion.” -- Dr. Wolf-Ekkehard Lonnig, senior scientist emeritus (biologist) at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research
“Meyer demonstrates, based on cutting-edge molecular biology, why explaining the origin of animals is now not just a problem of missing fossils, but an even greater engineering problem at the molecular level....An excellent book and a must read.” -- Dr. Russell Carlson, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Georgia and technical director of the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center
“Darwin’s Doubt is an intriguing exploration of one of the most remarkable periods in the evolutionary history of life.... No matter what convictions one holds about evolution, Darwinism, or intelligent design, Darwin’s Doubt is a book that should be read, engaged and discussed.” -- Dr. Scott Turner, professor of biology at the State University of New York and author of The Tinkerer's Accomplice
“It is a tour de force…This book is well informed, carefully researched, up–to–date and powerfully argued. It confronts Darwin’s doubt and deals with the assumptions of Neo–Darwinism. This book is much needed and I recommend it to students of all levels, to professionals and to laypeople.” -- Dr. Norman C. Nevin OBE, BSc, MD, FRCPath, FFPH, FRCPE, FRCP; Professor Emeritus in Medical Genetics, Queen's University, Belfast
“Darwin’s Doubt is another excellent book by Stephen Meyer. Stephen Meyer has clearly listened to the arguments of those who are sceptical about intelligent design and has addressed them thoroughly. It is really important that Darwinists read this book carefully and give a response.” -- Dr. Stuart Burgess, Professor of Design and Nature, Head of Mechanical Engineering at Bristol University
“I spend my life reading science books. I’ve ready many hundreds of them over the years, and in my judgment Darwin’s Doubt is the best science book ever written. It is a magnificent work, a true masterpiece that will be read for hundreds of years.” -- George Gilder, Technologist, Economist, and New York Times bestselling author
“The issue on the table is the mechanism of evolution―is it blind and undirected or is it under the control of an intelligence with a goal in mind? In Darwin’s Doubt, Stephen Meyer has masterfully laid out one of the most compelling lines of evidence for the latter.” -- Dr. William S. Harris, Professor, Sanford School of Medicine, University of South Dakota
“Dr. Meyer has written a comprehensive and up–to–date analysis on the massive scientific evidence revealing the total failure of the neo–Darwinian explanation for life’s history. Darwin’s Doubt is important, clearly written with sound arguments, excellent illustrations and examples that make the topic easily understandable even for non–specialists” -- Dr. Matti Leisola, Professor, Bioprocess Engineering, Aalto University, Finland (emeritus); Editor-in-chief, Bio-Complexity
“Meyer makes a case for intelligent design as the only viable scientific theory for the origin of biological novelty. Meyer’s challenge to naturalism will no doubt be strongly resisted by those committed to a materialist worldview, but provide food for refection for those who are searching for truth.” -- Dr. Donald L. Ewert, Molecular Biologist, Associate Member (retired), Wistar Institute
“Stephen C. Meyer’s Darwin’s Doubt is a truly remarkable book. Within its 413 pages of text are four tightly woven interrelated arguments. Using 753 references, he presents evidence associated with the serious weaknesses of materialistic theories of biological evolution, and positive evidence for the theory of intelligent design.” -- Dr. Mark C. Biedebach, Professor Emeritus, Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Long Beach
“A great book on the origin of animal life and crises of Darwin evolution; very clear, factual, comprehensive, logical, and informative. An enjoyable reading for both non–expert and expert.” -- Dr. Change Tan, Molecular biologist/developmental biologist, Associate Professor, University of Missouri-Columbia
Steven Meyer gives an insightful and thoughtful treatment to the history of life. Justice Louis Brandies taught us that, ‘Sunlight is the best disinfectant,’ and Dr. Meyer lets the sun shine in. -- Dr. Stephen A. Batzer P.E., forensic engineer Dr. Stephen A. Batzer, P.E., forensic engineer
“Steve Meyer’s book is a much–anticipated bombshell that details the swarm of problems of Darwinian evolution and also presents the case for intelligent design. Ask yourself: how often does a book of this kind receive a warm welcome from leading geneticists and paleontologists? Never, until now! ” -- Dr. Tom Woodward, Research Professor, Trinity College, Tampa Bay, Author of Darwin Strikes Back: Defending the Science of Intelligent Design
“Stephen C. Meyer is brilliant and his latest book, Darwin’s Doubt is a must read.” -- David Limbaugh, Syndicated columnist and author
“Stephen Meyer’s new book, Darwin’s Doubt, is a fascinating and rigorous study demonstrating not only that biologists and paleontologists do not have an adequate explanation for the Cambrian Explosion, but that there is an alternative view that makes more sense.” -- Dr. Richard Weikart, Professor of History at California State University, Stanislaus; Author of From Darwin to Hitler
“Meyer is a talented writer with an easygoing voice who has blended interesting history with clear explanations in what may come to be seen as a classic presentation of this most fundamental of all debates.” -- Terry Scambray, New Oxford Review
From the Back Cover
The Evidence That Darwin Could Not Explain
Charles Darwin knew there was a significant event in the history of life that his theory did not explain. In what is known today as the "Cambrian explosion," many animals suddenly appeared in the fossil record 530 million years ago without apparent ancestors in earlier layers of rock. In Darwin's Doubt, Stephen C. Meyer tells the story of the mystery surrounding this explosion of animal life and makes a compelling case for the theory of intelligent design as the best explanation for the origin of the Cambrian animals and the biological information necessary to produce them.
With a new epilogue responding to critics
About the Author
Stephen C. Meyer received his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge in the philosophy of science after working as an oil industry geophysicist. He now directs the Center for Science and Culture at the Discovery Institute in Seattle, Washington. He authored Signature in the Cell, a (London) Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year.
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Product details
- ASIN : 0062071483
- Publisher : HarperOne; Revised ed. edition (June 3, 2014)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 560 pages
- Item Weight : 1.68 pounds
- Dimensions : 1.6 x 6 x 9 inches
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#46,209 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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- #15 in Creationism
- #19 in Paleontology (Books)
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Top reviews from the United States
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Darwin's Doubt may be described as both a companion to and a follow up of Meyer's prior book, Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design (hereafter Signature). Although not quite as hefty as Signature, it does come in at a little over 400 pages of text which are divided into three parts and twenty chapters, with an additional hundred or so pages for notes, index, etc.
The book is similar in topic and scope to Signature, except in this case it's about the Cambrian explosion, rather than the origin of life and the evidence for intelligent design. There is a lot of repetition both within the pages of this book as well as between Darwin's Doubt and Signature. And like Signature some of the early coverage related to the Cambrian, it's diversity and even some of its complexities are well written and beneficial. Much of my comments regarding the issue of biological information will be the same as that from my review of Signature.
Overview
Meyer's essential claim is that the rapid diversity that occurred during the so-called "Cambrian Explosion" cannot be explained by normal evolutionary mechanisms and hence the best explanation is that of intelligent design. Unfortunately, as many reviewers with a scientific background especially in paleontology and biology have indicated, Meyer is highly selective and often leaves out critical information.[1]
The Cambrian Explosion
Approximately 540 million years ago a rapid expansion of multicellular life occurred when most of the animal phyla appeared in the fossil record. Despite claims by Meyer, diversification began during the Ediacaran through the Early Cambrian period. The Cambrian itself is divided into several parts or stages of which Meyer seems to only discuss the third stage as if its the only one and down playing the others as if they are unimportant.
Meyer's view is that the rapid diversification occurred in only a couple of million years (not enough time for evolution to occur) while mainstream science argues that the evidence indicates that it was in the time frame of 20-25 (or more) million years which is plenty of time for evolution.
There are a number of topics that Meyer never brings up that have a bearing on the entire discussion concerning the biodiversification during the early Cambrian. Absent are the "small shellies" and the changing ecologies that opened up new environmental niches leading to new innovations.
The material of the Cambrian and the complexities of the discussion and Meyer's various and mostly unfounded claims and omissions would require a lot of space to respond to. Rather than go into many details, especially since so many good books and articles have been published during and since Meyer's book came out, I highly suggest perusing the books and articles in the Recommendations section listed at the end especially the book by Erwin and Valentine on the Cambrian Explosion which came out the same year as Meyer's book.
The question of information
For Meyer, the heart of his argument, whether it be related to the origin of life (see Signature) or the Cambrian explosion (Darwin's Doubt) is really all about the concept of information. Information for which he considers to be evidence of an intelligence that cannot have been the result of natural processes. Let's now discuss the issue of information.
There are a number of concepts related to information which can be broadly divided into four categories: Thermodynamics, Capacity, Syntax, and Semantics[2]. When most people think of information theory what usually comes to mind is Shannon information and/or Kolmogorov information (these fall into the Syntax category). The ID movement argues that their view of information: functional information (which falls into the Semantics category) or specified complexity, is neither Shannon or Kolmogorov information.
Although the idea of "specified complexity" goes back to origins of life researcher Leslie Orgel it seems that creationist advocates Charles Thaxton and Walter Bradley[3] took it up and gave it their own particular twist which was then adopted by William Dembski and subsequently by Stephen Meyer. There is nothing inherently wrong with idea of "functional information," there have been a number of papers published on it and in fact there is a paper by origins of life researchers Robert Hazen, Jack Szostak, et. al. entitled "Functional Information and the Emergence of Biocomplexity"[4] that would be worth reading.
Here's how Meyer describes the ID understanding of "specified" information and its relation to intelligence:
"Although we don't know of a material cause that generates functioning digitcal code from physical or chemical precursors, we do know-based upon our uniform and repeated experience-of one type of cause that has demonstrated the power to produce this type of information. That cause is intelligence or mind."[5]
The key to understanding the relationship between intelligence and information is concept of abstraction. If abstraction is part of information then we can be assured that intelligence was most likely involved, if no abstraction then there's no reason to involve intelligence. Information in DNA is based on its physical properties related to chemistry and physics, and not abstraction.
To further illustrate, Randy Isaac argues that "functional information" in the way Meyer and others describe it requires that there be an "abstract relationship" as we see for example with computer code, language, phone numbers, engineering designs, etc. whereas biological systems do not have such a relationship, hence, do not require an intelligent mind. Isaac argues that biological systems such as reproduction, mutations, etc. generate new information but do not require an intelligent mind.
- abstract reasoning is a defining hallmark of intelligence
- functionality in human-designed systems is determined by abstract relationships
-> intelligence is required
- functionality in biological systems is determined by offspring survival and success in reproduction
-> no intelligence is required[6]
Meyer is also pretty adamant that new information cannot be created by natural processes. Rather than going into any detail I'll point the interested reader to two articles (and the literature discussed) that get into some of the weeds of the question but firmly answer that new information can and does originate by natural processes and doesn't require an intelligent mind.[7]
Conclusion
Meyer is adept at writing voluminous works defending intelligent design. Mainstream science has and continues to counter his claims. Darwin's Doubt is no different than Signature in the Cell which end up being gap-of-the-gaps attempts at rejecting evolution in favor of design. Meyer once again fails to deal substantially and honestly with the current data but rather he spends all of his time exploiting the various open questions and current debates of mode and mechanisms of evolution as if these somehow diminish evolutionary theory. As a former ID proponent I no longer buy his line of reasoning and neither should the careful and thoughtful reader.
Notes
[1] Charles R. Marshall, "When Prior Belief Trumps Scholarship." Science 20 Sep 2013: Vol. 341, Issue 6152, pp. 1344.
[2] Randy Isaac, "Information, Intelligence, and the Origins of Life," Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 63, no. 4 (2011): 219–30.
[3] The Mystery of Life's Origin: Reassessing Current Theories by Walter L. Bradley, Charles B. Thaxton, Roger L. Olsen, Foundation for Thought and Ethics, 1984.
[4] "Functional Information and the Emergence of Biocomplexity" by Robert M. Hazen, Patrick L. Griffin, James M. Carothers, Jack W. Szostak in In the Light of Evolution, Volume 1: Adaptation and Complex Design edited by John C. Avise, Francisco J. Ayala, National Academies Press, 2007. Pages 25-43.
[5] Darwin's Doubt, p. vi.
[6] Taken from slides by Randy Isaac entitled "In Defense of Theistic Evolution."
[7] Jonathan K. Watts, "Biological Information, Molecular Structure, and the Origins Debate," Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 63, no. 4 (2011): 219-230; Stephen Freeland, "The Evolutionary Origins of Genetic Information," Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 63, no. 4: 240-254.
Recommendations
The Rise of the Animals: Evolution and Diversification of the Kingdom Animalia by Mikhail A. Fedonkin, James G. Gehling, Kathleen Grey, Guy M. Narbonne, Patricia Vickers-Rich. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007. 327 pages.
The Cambrian Explosion: The Construction of Animal Biodiversity by Douglas H. Erwin, James W. Valentine. Roberts and Company, 2013. 406 pages.
The Cambrian Fossils of Chengjiang, China: The Flowering of Early Animal Life, Second Edition by Hou Xian-guang, David J. Siveter, Derek J. Siveter, Richard J. Aldridge, Cong Pei-yun, Sarah E. Gabbott, Ma Xiao-ya, Mark A. Purnell, Mark Williams. Wiley-Blackwell, 2017. 328 pages.
The Fossil Record of the Cambrian "Explosion": Resolving the Tree of Life by Keith B. Miller, Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 66, no. 2 (2014): 67-82.
At the Origins of Animals: The Revolutionary Cambrian Fossil Record by Graham E. Budd, Current Genomics, Sep 2013: 14(6), pp. 344-354.
The "Cambrian Explosion": A Challenge to Evolutionary Theory? by David Campbell and Keith B. Miller. Chapter 8 in Perspectives on an Evolving Creation edited by Keith B. Miller, Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 2003, pages 182-204.
I highly recommend reading this book. it isn't an easy read, but very interesting and well worth reading with an open mind.
When Darwin wrote his famous 1859 treatise on the Origin of Species, there were two issues he glossed over: 1.) The origin of the first living cell, and 2.) The so-called Cambrian, or Silurian, explosion of complex animals. At the time, he, and scientists in general, knew nothing about the details of the functioning of a biological cell, but believed that life somehow originated in the chemical soup that supposedly existed early in the earth’s history. He also acknowledged that the sudden emergence of the Cambrian era animals cast great doubt on his theory of evolution through random mutations and natural selection over long periods of time. However, he expected that later discoveries of fossils would show ancestors of the Cambrian animals in earlier geological strata.
Since Crick and Watson deduced the structure of DNA in 1953, based on then-recent work of many biological scientists, science has come to understand that the work of DNA, RNA, and other molecular structures in a living cell is based on highly complex functionally specific code. In his earlier book, “The Signature in the Cell,” Dr. Meyer, citing the work of many modern biological scientists, mathematicians and others, showed that for such complexity to have arisen by chance arrangement of the nucleotide building blocks of life would have required many times the number of available chances in the life of the universe. The post log to the latest edition addresses the criticisms that have been written on that earlier work.
In this book Dr. Meyer addresses Darwin’s Cambrian doubt and builds on his earlier book by pointing out the even greater complexity (by many orders of magnitude) of the specified information required to arrange cells into complex animal body plans, such as the 20 or so new phyla found in the Cambrian layers. Even with deep sea drilling, deep drilling on land and in other forms of exploration, scientists have yet to discover any significant fossils of the supposed ancestors of the Cambrian animals. Dr. J.Y. Chen, a Chinese paleontologist and an expert on the Cambrian era fossil deposits discovered in China, was once asked when presenting his findings at the University of Washington if he wasn’t worried about contradicting Darwin, quipped, “in China we can criticize Darwin, but we can’t criticize the government. In the United States, you can criticize the government, but you can’t criticize Darwin.”
As Dr. Meyer points out in this book, “Scientists attempting to explain the origin of life must explain how both information-rich molecules and the cell’s information-processing system arose.” As he further notes, “Whenever we find functional information—Whether embedded in a radio signal, carved in a stone monument such as the Rosetta Stone, etched on a disk, or produced by an origin-of-life scientist attempting to engineer a self-replicating molecule — and we trace that information back to its ultimate source, invariably we come to a mind, not merely a material process.”
In “Darwin’s Doubt” Dr. Meyer examines the various theories that attempt to explain the geologically sudden emergence of so many new, fully formed animal body plans, and shows that each theory, however subtly, postulates pre-existing information-rich sources of data upon which their theory is based. For example, scientists have discovered entities called developmental gene regulatory networks (dGRNs) that play a key role in the development of a grown animal from an embryo. Studies have determined that simple random individual changes in the dGRN will destroy the organism. Any changes in one part must be coordinated with changes in the other parts, which again requires an enormous infusion of new information. After examining the many theories that scientists have proposed and demonstrating essentially the same flaw in each of them (i.e., the supposition of a pre-existing source of the complex information required), Dr. Meyer concludes that intelligent design is the only explanation that meets the necessary scientific criteria to truly explain the origin of life and the complex form in which all life exists today. In arriving at that conclusion, he uses the same scientific method used by Charles Darwin and most other scientists trying to understand historical events; that is, the abductive method of inference to the best explanation based on currently known processes. In this case, the known process is that complex, functionally specified information is, in our everyday experience, created only by an intelligent agent. Since no scientific theory has yet been proposed that shows any means other than design by an intelligent agent, Dr. Meyer argues that intelligent design is the best, most scientific explanation available today. This is especially true since all of the other purportedly materialistic naturalistic theories that have been proposed start off by assuming the prior existence of the vast amounts of complex specified information necessary to the existence of any life form. They fail to explain where that information came from in the first place. Intelligent design, and only intelligent design, explains the origin of vast amounts of functionally specified information.
Top reviews from other countries
This book shows not only is Evolution rooted in speculation but that there is evidence for ID in the cambrian due to the lack of pre-cambrian transitional fossils.
It's good if you want to see alternatives besides creationism and evolution as it seems that's what everyone mentions when the subject is brought up.
He then argues that only Intelligent Design, not Darwinian mutations, explain the great variety of new life forms that appeared in the Cambrian Explosion 500 million years ago.
His argument is mathematically unassailable: evolution is statistically incapable of generating the multiple simultaneous changes to genetic and epigenetic information needed to create significantly new life forms.
He presents the counter-arguments of his critics fairly and in detail: I found none of remotely them convincing. Their common thread is that Intelligent Design is inherently impossible.
Since in Physics we now accept the concept of a Big Bang creation of our universe 17 billion years ago, I don't see why we can't accept a similar event in biology.
Well worth a read if you are open minded and not afraid to have your worldview challenged.











