January 2005

This month's choice is "The Triumph of Evolution and the Failure of Creationism" by Niles Eldredge. Niles Eldredge, along with Stephen Jay Gould, is one of the mavericks of punctuated equilibrium, and as such is often the focus of many creationist attacks and criticisms (although not nearly as much as Gould). Being the prominent evolutionist that he is, it only made sense to write a book about evolution and what creationists are trying to do to thwart it. This book is sort of an update, written to bring the reader up to date on the struggle of teaching evolution, and Eldredge doesn't disappoint. This isn't a long or a difficult read, but it has some good information. The first chapter deals with how science has been portrayed in the "real" world, with religious people and politicians.

In the Beginning: Religion, Science, ... and Politics

Like it or not, science, religion, and politics will always be in contact, at least at some point, with each other. Here, Eldredge opens up with the ways that science has been put at odds with religion, and sometimes through politics. Whether we like it or not, science is being attacked, and the weapons to fight against it are growing. Arguments are getting more scientific sounding, which only convinces some people that science, especially evolution, is failing, and that there are more and more people saying so. Evolution itself is being attacked on two fronts (well, at least two sides of the same coin). The first is your run of the mill creationism, which is used by many Christian and religious groups, but the second calls itself Intelligent Design (ID). Run-of-the-mill creationism hasn't changed much since the 19th century; the same arguments about pretty much the same things. ID, on the other hand, is a suped-up version of the old argument, taking an old argument, sprinkling it with scientific sounding words, and repackaging it to the masses as a "new" argument. Eldredge uses this chapter to show some of the beliefs and positions other people have taken with regard to science, religion, and politics, and ends the chapter discussing how he fell victim to someone trying to take advantage of his position in science to infer that he disagrees with his own claims.

Telling the Difference: Science as a Way of Knowing

The crux of the debate concerning creationism and evolution, or even the rest of science, rests in what science is. Eldredge uses this chapter to show why there is so much disinformation going around. One of his first examples concerns Ronald Reagan, and his statement regarding evolution:

"Well, it is a theory, a scientific theory only, and it has in recent years been challenged in the world of science and is not yet believed in the scientific community to be as infallible as it once was believed."

Here we have a popular, at least marginally educated, public and political persona telling us that evolution is only a theory. Unfortunately, this is a complete misapplication of the term 'theory,' and Eldredge spends a little time trying to explain what a theory is; I won't go into that here. After telling us what theory is, he takes us through how theory is used, and ultimately how science itself works. Building on that, he continues with how evolution works as a theory, and ends the chapter with predictions on what we should see if evolution is indeed a well-supported theory.

The Fossil Record: Evidence of the Evolutionary History of Life

One of the important aspects to evolution is the fossil record; without it, we might not have figured out that our planets has had a rich history of life. Eldredge takes us on a very brief history of life on Earth in this chapter, from the formation of our planet, up to the present. Nothing new is presented here, but nothing new is implied; he's simply providing the evidence that some people claim is lacking regarding the evolution of life. He includes the Cambrian "Explosion," mass extinction, and finishes this chapter with the story of us. For people who are already well-informed about the history of life, there isn't much to soak in from this chapter.

What Drives Evolution? The Evolution of Evolutionary Theory

Some people think that evolution was something dreamed up by Darwin, and even that he did so because he didn't believe in God. The truth of the matter is, as Eldredge points out in this chapter, is that evolution as a concept and theory has a rich history, too, and goes back beyond Darwin. This chapter is more of a history lesson of how evolution as a concept was conceived, revised, dismissed, and reborn throughout the history of science. From Lamarcke to Dobzhanksy, Eldredge brings us up to date with his chapter. Included with the history is a concise explanation of the concepts that drive evolution itself.

Creationist Attack: I : Scientific Style and Notions of Time

The first part of this book developed and refined the idea of evolution; now Eldredge takes up to the front lines and confronts the issues that creationists have problem with. He starts out by explaining what creationists are saying, what their "theories" are, and shows how that they say isn't reflective of what actually happens. For example, he introduces a statement by Duane Gish, that implies that evolutionists only accept evolution because they are materialistic (something Eldredge has described before by Phillip Johnson twenty years later, as mentioned in a previous chapter). Eldredge takes on many of the more popular arguments used by creationists as well, such as Adam and Eve as written of in the Bible, or Noah's Flood. Again, people familiar with this discussion won't find anything new here; it's just another way of saying what has been said many times in the past. The real difference here is in the approach, not the content. Eldredge brings up the topics, just to shoot them down, and he has done it in a methodical, if not already overused, process.

Creationists Attack: II The Origin and History of Life

This chapter is used to address the creationists claims about evolution as it applies to living things. Eldredge discusses the creationist use of the biblical "kind" and how it fails as a scientific term, and the claim that there are gaps in the fossil record. As with the last chapter, there isn't any new material here, just a different approach to the same arguments. He takes on a bit more in this chapter, and shows just how the claims presented do not wash validly.

Can We Afford a Culture War?

The argument over evolution, as Eldredge has shown throughout this book, isn't really an issue of science, but of culture. No matter what explanation is offered, or disproof of a creationist claim is given, the true believer will not accept evolution. It very much indeed is a culture war, a battle that people think they're fighting for to win people for God. Creationism is not science, it's religious belief, and creationists are misusing and abusing the legal system to try and force religious beliefs on to other people. Furthermore, they're really trying to get kids to believe that scientists really don't know how to do science, unless they agree with certain literal interpretations of the Bible. Creationism wants creation taught in school, yet they don't want all creation stories to be taught; only their version is acceptable, even when it is no more sound or verifiable than any other religious concept of creation. Eldredge asks us in this chapter, Is this really necessary? Eldredge includes the many legal battles concerning evolution versus creationism with this chapter. If one hasn't been following the legal issues regarding it, this can be a useful chapter to read.

Summary

Although the previous section was the last chapter of the book, Eldredge has included several appendices to this book, which are well worth the read. The book, overall, is pretty decent. My only issue with it, as one can probably tell throughout my synopsis, is that there isn't really anything new here. Eldredge is quite the prolific author (see a list of his books here), and he writes in clear enough language for the average reader to understand. One nice aspect of this book, though, is that it is well annotated, and the notes are included in the back of the book as one of the appendices. They give a bit more insight into some of the ideas, concepts, and arguments presented throughout the book. If you're looking for a good weekend reader, this will work out nicely; the subject matter isn't very difficult, and the book itself isn't very long. If you collect books by Eldredge, and you don't already have this one, you should pick it up as well. But, if you're looking for Eldredge to bring something new to the discussion, this isn't the book for you. While he explains things very well, it's the same material you've likely read in other books.