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The Design Inference: Eliminating Chance through Small Probabilities Hardcover – November 16, 2023
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A landmark of the intelligent design movement, The Design Inference revolutionized our understanding of how we detect intelligent causation. Originally published twenty-five years ago, it has now been revised and expanded into a second edition that greatly sharpens its exploration of design inferences. This new edition tackles questions about design left unanswered by David Hume and Charles Darwin, navigating the intricate nexus of chance, probability, and design, and thereby offering a novel lens for understanding the world. Using modern concepts of probability and information, it exposes the inadequacy of undirected causes in scientific inquiry. It lays out how we infer design via events that are both improbable and specified. Amid controversial applications to biology, it makes a compelling case for intelligent design, challenging the prevalent neo-Darwinian evolutionary narrative. Dembski and Ewert have written a groundbreaking work that doesn't merely comment on contemporary scientific discourse but fundamentally transforms it.
- Print length584 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherDiscovery Institute
- Publication dateNovember 16, 2023
- Dimensions6 x 1.25 x 9 inches
- ISBN-101637120338
- ISBN-13978-1637120330
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Well argued and eminently readable... I don't see how any open-minded scientist can ignore this important book."- Sergiu Klainerman, Higgins Professor of Mathematics, Princeton University, member of the National Academy of Sciences
"Clearly written, rigorous, and intellectually compelling. A work of genuine genius."- Stephen C. Meyer, Director of Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture, author of Signature in the Cell, Darwin's Doubt, and Return of the God Hypothesis
"A compelling refutation of the neo-Darwinian narrative; it will be a gamechanger in the discourse on whether or not life has been designed." - Muzaffar Iqbal, Founder-President of the Center for Islamic Sciences, past Director of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences
"Prepare to be dazzled. This new edition of The Design Inference is a tour de force of thinking and explaining-a veritable feast. If you are serious about understanding fundamental reality, evidence, and reasoning, read this book."- Gale Pooley, Associate Professor of Business Management, Brigham Young University-Hawaii, co-author of Superabundance
"In this superb new edition of The Design Inference, Dembski and Ewert set design science on a solid scientific foundation and provide scientists with the opportunity to test their theories for and against design using objective quantitative methods."-Michael Egnor, Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook University
"The second edition of The Design Inference makes a compelling case that the 'design' in nature is real and can be scientifically inferred. As they show, the specified complexity of the information contained in DNA and RNA... cannot plausibly be attributed to unguided natural processes; logically and causally, it requires an intelligent designer."- Timothy P. Jackson, the Bishop Mack B. and Rose Stokes Professor of Theological Ethics, Candler School of Theology, Emory University
"This second, and expanded, edition benefits greatly from the significant advances in understanding the design inference over the last twenty-five years... The Design Inference shows how meaningful events can be, and indeed are, recognized using a simple criterion: specified complexity. In this second edition, Dembski and Ewert carefully explain this criterion, showing how it... extends the reach of science." - Fred Skiff, the Harriet B. and Harold S. Brady Chair in Laser Physics, University of Iowa
"This book is another important step along the way to validating intelligent design as a mainstream and scientifically robust alternative to Charles Darwin's nineteenth-century philosophy of natural selection."- Andrew Ruys, Professor of Biomedical Engineering (Retired), University of Sydney
"A pleasure to read... [and] worthy of attention and respect."- Christopher P. Grant, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University
"In this second edition of The Design Inference, Dembski and Ewert present a formidable probabilistic and information-theoretic method for determining whether design, rather than chance, was the cause of an observed event."- Terry Rickard, PhD, Engineering Physics, University of California, San Diego
"I highly recommend you give this book a serious read."- James P. Keener, Distinguished Professor of Mathematics, University of Utah
About the Author
Winston Ewert is a software engineer and intelligent design researcher. He received his PhD from Baylor University in electrical and computer engineering. He specializes in computer simulations of evolution, genomic design patterns, and information theory. A Google alum, he is a Senior Fellow of the Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence at Discovery Institute.
Product details
- Publisher : Discovery Institute
- Publication date : November 16, 2023
- Edition : 2nd ed.
- Language : English
- Print length : 584 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1637120338
- ISBN-13 : 978-1637120330
- Item Weight : 2.08 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 1.25 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,488,394 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #33 in Information Theory
- #324 in Probability & Statistics (Books)
- #739 in Evolution (Books)
About the authors

A mathematician and philosopher, William A. Dembski is Research Professor in Philosophy at Southwestern Seminary in Ft. Worth, where he directs its Center for Cultural Engagement. He is also a senior fellow with Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture in Seattle. Previously he was the Carl F. H. Henry Professor of Theology and Science at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, where he founded its Center for Theology and Science. Before that he was Associate Research Professor in the Conceptual Foundations of Science at Baylor University, where he headed the first intelligent design think-tank at a major research university: The Michael Polanyi Center.
Dr. Dembski has taught at Northwestern University, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of Dallas. He has done postdoctoral work in mathematics at MIT, in physics at the University of Chicago, and in computer science at Princeton University. A graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago where he earned a B.A. in psychology, an M.S. in statistics, and a Ph.D. in philosophy, he also received a doctorate in mathematics from the University of Chicago in 1988 and a master of divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1996. He has held National Science Foundation graduate and postdoctoral fellowships.
Dr. Dembski has published articles in mathematics, engineering, philosophy, and theology journals and is the author/editor of more than a dozen books. In The Design Inference: Eliminating Chance Through Small Probabilities (Cambridge University Press, 1998), he examines the design argument in a post-Darwinian context and analyzes the connections linking chance, probability, and intelligent causation. The sequel to The Design Inference appeared with Rowman & Littlefield in 2002 and critiques Darwinian and other naturalistic accounts of evolution. It is titled No Free Lunch: Why Specified Complexity Cannot Be Purchased without Intelligence. Dr. Dembski has edited several influential anthologies, including Uncommon Dissent: Intellectuals Who Find Darwinism Unconvincing (ISI, 2004) and Debating Design: From Darwin to DNA (Cambridge University Press, 2004, co-edited with Michael Ruse). His newest book, The End of Christianity, differs markedly from his others, attempting to understand how the Fall of humanity can be real in light of modern science.
As interest in intelligent design has grown in the wider culture, Dr. Dembski has assumed the role of public intellectual. In addition to lecturing around the world at colleges and universities, he is frequently interviewed on the radio and television. His work has been cited in numerous newspaper and magazine articles, including three front page stories in the New York Times as well as the August 15, 2005 Time magazine cover story on intelligent design. He has appeared on the BBC, NPR (Diane Rehm, etc.), PBS (Inside the Law with Jack Ford; Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson), CSPAN2, CNN, Fox News, ABC Nightline, and the Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
[Photo by Laszlo Bencze]

Winston Ewert is a software engineer and researcher with a passion for applying his skill as a computer scientist to uncovering the mysteries of life. He obtained a Bachelor's of Science in Computer Science degree at Trinity Western University, a Master of Science degree in Computer Science at Baylor University, and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Baylor University. He works primarily in the field of intelligent design, exploring the implications of computer simulations of evolution, developing the theory of specified complexity, and understanding genomes as examples of sophisticated software.
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2024I have 60+ books on science. This is the best book I have concerning the science-of-existence which has been objectively analyzed by way of the rigid tenants of mathematics. Sure, the math can be daunting, but Dr. Demski is a master of putting 'descriptive flesh' on a skeleton of numbers. Philosophical wrangling is put in its place (the back row, so to speak), and convincing calculations and conclusions stand proudly in the spotlight.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2024The book stands overshadowing all materialistic fabrications! The commited and hardend false teachers of evolution are now struggling to revise their Myths >>>> in their pathetic resistance to the clear evidence of Devine Genius in the macro and the sub-micro and physical devices used to make it all work and be self sustaining.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2024Extremely important book. The inclusion of conservation of information in this new edition is key, as it dismisses natural selection as a valid “probability amplifier“ and thus challenger to the design inference.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2024Compelling, much needed, well written, critical to understanding Intelligent Design book.
- Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2023This is a must read!!!
- Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2023Excellent resource.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2024If you are into statistics and math probabilities you will like this.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2025I am a layman with an interest in evolution and intelligent design. I found this book to be compelling and well-written with enough laymen-level writing to allow me to get through the more technical parts without too much difficulty. This is an important book for those who want to understand the current state of the battle between Darwinists and ID proponents. I came away with a deeper appreciation for the meaning of the term "specified complexity" and the hurdles that Darwinists face in providing support for their theory. I look forward to their honest and principled rebuttals to what is written here. I also look forward to Dembski's next book on his theory of conservation of information. This book is well worth the time and effort it takes to work through it.
Top reviews from other countries
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Celio João PiresReviewed in Brazil on March 6, 20245.0 out of 5 stars Excelente livro! Recomendo!
Trabalho fantástico! Dá o que pensar sobre nossas origens! Principalmente quando confrontamos as cosmovisões naturalista ateia x Design Inteligente teísta, sendo esta ultima a melhor inferência sobre os dados observados.
Virei fã do autor.
Celio João Pires
THE70000Reviewed in Australia on January 30, 20245.0 out of 5 stars Indeed - Scientific Progress
The authors of this book have produced a work greater than the sum of their contributions. I have learnt new ways to understand many statistical concepts, including randomness? This book has extended conventional statistical theory beyond pre-specification, also avoiding the possibility of false positives. It is pure genius to include specification, probabilistic resources, and inadvertently ‘hijack’ the term ‘specified complexity’. But there’s more, Bio-imperative irreducible complexity is at another level, and I am now even more sceptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life. Special pleading has no place in science, and this book has reinforced the misnomer of ‘Apparent Design’. Academy of Sciences are on notice, this 2nd edition progresses genuine scientific enquiry and certainly does not stymie the scientific enterprise.
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FrancescoAReviewed in Germany on July 20, 20243.0 out of 5 stars Hatte mir mehr erwartet
Wiederholende mathematischer Stoff.
Terry RogersReviewed in the United Kingdom on December 28, 20235.0 out of 5 stars Moves the narrative forward.
Excellent treatise that moves all the arguments forward. Okay Bill Dembski’s maths left me behind fairly early on, but you don’t need the maths to prove the arguments really. That’s something extra for the naysayers to chew on and try to disassemble. But the main arguments have enough weight to make the points even before we get to the theorems and algorithms. Loved the fact that I learned something new: the actuality of high density information packing in DNA was new information (page 367). I went back to the original paper on this. Utterly fascinating. And more study for Mr Dawkins et al to do.
I also loved that fact that there is more to come in a further volume. And that the challenge was thrown out for others to work on specific areas of study and research, maybe for their dissertation. Get new, young, inbiased brains on this and see what realities they can find.
This book is excellent in presentation of argument and in teaching the support knowledge and understanding to enhance appreciation for those arguments. You don’t have to read it cover to cover. The support sections stand alone. The discussion sections are highly readable, and the Epilogue well encompasses the current state-of-play and points to the future rise of ID understanding. Brilliant!






