FZ, I don't mean to sound disrespectful but, as citations go, this is a pretty weak one. The arguments provided here remind me of something that might be on a Freshman-level Biology exam with the caption "Opponents of evolution have used these principles to attempt to debunk evolutionary theory. Use the basic principles we have learned in this class to show the error in their rationale."
FZ, I don't mean to sound disrespectful but, as citations go, this is a pretty weak one. The arguments provided here remind me of something that might be on a Freshman-level Biology exam with the caption "Opponents of evolution have used these principles to attempt to debunk evolutionary theory. Use the basic principles we have learned in this class to show the error in their rationale."
I was speaking towards the refution of the Evolutionist claims (I believe there were 5), but really it's all been done before. I doubt anything in those thousands of pages deviates too far from the "Second Law contradicts evolution, where are the transitional forms?, how did life begin?" crap that's been weakening for the last 30 years. I'm guessing such a collection of Christian literature would even guide me in other aspects of my life as well, such as informing me that abortion is murder and global warming is a fallacy.
And in response to the various posters saying this is a never-ending debate, I have to disagree. In 100 years there will be no debating the theory of evolution, and the concept of a big guy in the sky will have to move further away from our understanding of the physical world.
If the universe where to magically restart 1000 times:
a) We'd come up with 1000 different configurations of Gods (which we would believe in largely depending on our regionality)
b) We'd eventually come to the theory of evolution 1000 times.
I'm excited. I didn't realize Michael Behe has a new book out.
Though, I wonder if his credentials will be pooh-poohed by the
darwin sycophants on here (rofl).
Biography
I am Professor of Biological Sciences at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. I received my Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Pennsylvania in 1978. My current research involves delineation of design and natural selection in protein structures. In addition to teaching and research I work as a senior fellow with the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture.
In addition to publishing over 35 articles in refereed biochemical journals, I have also written editorial features in Boston Review, American Spectator, and The New York Times. My book, Darwin's Black Box, discusses the implications for neo-Darwinism of what I call "irreducibly complex" biochemical systems and has sold over 250,000 copies. The book was internationally reviewed in over one hundred publications and recently named by National Review and World magazine as one of the 100 most important books of the 20th century.
His classic book "Darwin's Black Box" :
Virtually all serious scientists accept the truth of Darwin's theory of evolution. While the fight for its acceptance has been a long and difficult one, after a century of struggle among the cognoscenti the battle is over. Biologists are now confident that their remaining questions, such as how life on Earth began, or how the Cambrian explosion could have produced so many new species in such a short time, will be found to have Darwinian answers. They, like most of the rest of us, accept Darwin's theory to be true. But should we? What would happen if we found something that radically challenged the now-accepted wisdom? In "Darwin's Black Box, " Michael Behe argues that evidence of evolution's limits has been right under our noses -- but it is so small that we have only recently been able to see it. The field of biochemistry, begun when Watson and Crick discovered the double-helical shape of DNA, has unlocked the secrets of the cell. There, biochemists have unexpectedly discovered a world of Lilliputian complexity. As Behe engagingly demonstrates, using the examples of vision, bloodclotting, cellular transport, and more, the biochemical world comprises an arsenal of chemical machines, made up of finely calibrated, interdependent parts. For Darwinian evolution to be true, there must have been a series of mutations, each of which produced its own working machine, that led to the complexity we can now see. The more complex and interdependent each machine's parts are shown to be, the harder it is to envision Darwin's gradualistic paths, Behe surveys the professional science literature and shows that it is completely silent on the subject, stymied by the elegance of the foundation oflife. Could it be that there is some greater force at work? Michael Behe is not a creationist. He believes in the scientific method, and he does not look to religious dogma for answers to these questions. But he argues persuasively that biochemical machines must have been "designed" -- either by God, or by some other higher intelligence. For decades science has been frustrated, trying to reconcile the astonishing discoveries of modern biochemistry to a nineteenth-century theory that cannot accommodate them. With the publication of "Darwin's Black Box, " it is time for scientists to allow themselves to consider exciting new possibilities, and for the rest of us to watch closely.
Michael J. Behe, a biochemist at Lehigh University, presents here a scientific argument for the existence of God. Examining the evolutionary theory of the origins of life, he can go part of the way with Darwin--he accepts the idea that species have been differentiated by the mechanism of natural selection from a common ancestor. But he thinks that the essential randomness of this process can explain evolutionary development only at the macro level, not at the micro level of his expertise. Within the biochemistry of living cells, he argues, life is "irreducibly complex." This is the last black box to be opened, the end of the road for science. Faced with complexity at this level, Behe suggests that it can only be the product of "intelligent design."
Now he has a new book out :
The Edge of Evolution: The Search for the Limits of Darwinism
By Michael J. Behe
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="OVERFLOW: hidden" vAlign=top>
</TD><!-- ---><TD vAlign=top><TABLE id=bibdata><TBODY><TR><TD>By Michael J. Behe</TD></TR><TR><TD>Published 2007
Free Press
</TD></TR><TR><TD>Genetics
</TD></TR><TR><TD>320 pages</TD></TR><TR><TD>ISBN:0743296206</TD></TR><TR><TD>Add to my library </TD></TR><TR><TD>Write review </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0.8em"><TBODY><TR><TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Buy this book</TD></TR><TR><TD class=btblinks><NOBR>Amazon.com</NOBR></TD></TR><TR><TD class=btblinks><NOBR>Barnes&Noble.com</NOBR> - $28.00</TD></TR><TR><TD class=btblinks><NOBR>Books-A-Million</NOBR></TD></TR><TR><TD class=btblinks><NOBR>BookSense.com</NOBR></TD></TR><TR><TD class=btblinks><NOBR>Google Product Search</NOBR></TD></TR><TR><TD style="LINE-HEIGHT: 0.6em"></TD></TR><TR><TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Borrow this book</TD></TR><TR><TD class=btblinks>Find this book in a library</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
When Michael J. Behe's first book, Darwin's Black Box, was published in 1996, it launched the intelligent design movement. Critics howled, yet hundreds of thousands of readers -- and a growing number of scientists -- were intrigued by Behe's claim that Darwinism could not explain the complex machinery of the cell.Now, in his long-awaited follow-up, Behe presents far more than a challenge to Darwinism: He presents the evidence of the genetics revolution -- the first direct evidence of nature's mutational pathways -- to radically redefine the debate about Darwinism.How much of life does Darwin's theory explain? Most scientists believe it accounts for everything from the machinery of the cell to the history of life on earth. Darwin's ideas have been applied to law, culture, and politics. But Darwin's theory has been proven only in one sense: There is little question that all species on earth descended from a common ancestor. Overwhelming anatomical, genetic, and fossil evidence exists for that claim. But the crucial question remains: How did it happen? Darwin's proposed mechanism -- random mutation and natural selection -- has been accepted largely as a matter of faith and deduction or, at best, circumstantial evidence. Only now, thanks to genetics, does science allow us to seek direct evidence. The genomes of many organisms have been sequenced, and the machinery of the cell has been analyzed in great detail. The evolutionary responses of microorganisms to antibiotics and humans to parasitic infections have been traced over tens of thousands of generations.As a result, for the first time in history Darwin's theory can be rigorously evaluated. The results are shocking. Although it can explain marginal changes in evolutionary history, random mutation and natural selection explain very little of the basic machinery of life. The "edge" of evolution, a line that defines the border between random and nonrandom mutation, lies very far from where Darwin pointed. Behe argues convincingly that most of the mutations that have defined the history of life on earth have been nonrandom.Although it will be controversial and stunning, this finding actually fits a general pattern discovered by other branches of science in recent decades: The universe as a whole was fine-tuned for life. From physics to cosmology to chemistry to biology, life on earth stands revealed as depending upon an endless series of unlikely events. The clear conclusion: The universe was designed for life.
I can't wait to read it.
Interested readers can also read his blog, and read his cogent
discussions/debates with those who espouse the religion of Darwinism here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/A3DGRQ0IO7KYQ2
Though, I wonder if his credentials will be pooh-poohed by the
darwin sycophants on here (rofl).
Biography
I am Professor of Biological Sciences at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. I received my Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Pennsylvania in 1978. My current research involves delineation of design and natural selection in protein structures. In addition to teaching and research I work as a senior fellow with the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture.
In addition to publishing over 35 articles in refereed biochemical journals, I have also written editorial features in Boston Review, American Spectator, and The New York Times. My book, Darwin's Black Box, discusses the implications for neo-Darwinism of what I call "irreducibly complex" biochemical systems and has sold over 250,000 copies. The book was internationally reviewed in over one hundred publications and recently named by National Review and World magazine as one of the 100 most important books of the 20th century.
His classic book "Darwin's Black Box" :
Virtually all serious scientists accept the truth of Darwin's theory of evolution. While the fight for its acceptance has been a long and difficult one, after a century of struggle among the cognoscenti the battle is over. Biologists are now confident that their remaining questions, such as how life on Earth began, or how the Cambrian explosion could have produced so many new species in such a short time, will be found to have Darwinian answers. They, like most of the rest of us, accept Darwin's theory to be true. But should we? What would happen if we found something that radically challenged the now-accepted wisdom? In "Darwin's Black Box, " Michael Behe argues that evidence of evolution's limits has been right under our noses -- but it is so small that we have only recently been able to see it. The field of biochemistry, begun when Watson and Crick discovered the double-helical shape of DNA, has unlocked the secrets of the cell. There, biochemists have unexpectedly discovered a world of Lilliputian complexity. As Behe engagingly demonstrates, using the examples of vision, bloodclotting, cellular transport, and more, the biochemical world comprises an arsenal of chemical machines, made up of finely calibrated, interdependent parts. For Darwinian evolution to be true, there must have been a series of mutations, each of which produced its own working machine, that led to the complexity we can now see. The more complex and interdependent each machine's parts are shown to be, the harder it is to envision Darwin's gradualistic paths, Behe surveys the professional science literature and shows that it is completely silent on the subject, stymied by the elegance of the foundation oflife. Could it be that there is some greater force at work? Michael Behe is not a creationist. He believes in the scientific method, and he does not look to religious dogma for answers to these questions. But he argues persuasively that biochemical machines must have been "designed" -- either by God, or by some other higher intelligence. For decades science has been frustrated, trying to reconcile the astonishing discoveries of modern biochemistry to a nineteenth-century theory that cannot accommodate them. With the publication of "Darwin's Black Box, " it is time for scientists to allow themselves to consider exciting new possibilities, and for the rest of us to watch closely.
Michael J. Behe, a biochemist at Lehigh University, presents here a scientific argument for the existence of God. Examining the evolutionary theory of the origins of life, he can go part of the way with Darwin--he accepts the idea that species have been differentiated by the mechanism of natural selection from a common ancestor. But he thinks that the essential randomness of this process can explain evolutionary development only at the macro level, not at the micro level of his expertise. Within the biochemistry of living cells, he argues, life is "irreducibly complex." This is the last black box to be opened, the end of the road for science. Faced with complexity at this level, Behe suggests that it can only be the product of "intelligent design."
Now he has a new book out :
The Edge of Evolution: The Search for the Limits of Darwinism
By Michael J. Behe
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="OVERFLOW: hidden" vAlign=top>
Free Press
</TD></TR><TR><TD>Genetics
</TD></TR><TR><TD>320 pages</TD></TR><TR><TD>ISBN:0743296206</TD></TR><TR><TD>Add to my library </TD></TR><TR><TD>Write review </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0.8em"><TBODY><TR><TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Buy this book</TD></TR><TR><TD class=btblinks><NOBR>Amazon.com</NOBR></TD></TR><TR><TD class=btblinks><NOBR>Barnes&Noble.com</NOBR> - $28.00</TD></TR><TR><TD class=btblinks><NOBR>Books-A-Million</NOBR></TD></TR><TR><TD class=btblinks><NOBR>BookSense.com</NOBR></TD></TR><TR><TD class=btblinks><NOBR>Google Product Search</NOBR></TD></TR><TR><TD style="LINE-HEIGHT: 0.6em"></TD></TR><TR><TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Borrow this book</TD></TR><TR><TD class=btblinks>Find this book in a library</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
When Michael J. Behe's first book, Darwin's Black Box, was published in 1996, it launched the intelligent design movement. Critics howled, yet hundreds of thousands of readers -- and a growing number of scientists -- were intrigued by Behe's claim that Darwinism could not explain the complex machinery of the cell.Now, in his long-awaited follow-up, Behe presents far more than a challenge to Darwinism: He presents the evidence of the genetics revolution -- the first direct evidence of nature's mutational pathways -- to radically redefine the debate about Darwinism.How much of life does Darwin's theory explain? Most scientists believe it accounts for everything from the machinery of the cell to the history of life on earth. Darwin's ideas have been applied to law, culture, and politics. But Darwin's theory has been proven only in one sense: There is little question that all species on earth descended from a common ancestor. Overwhelming anatomical, genetic, and fossil evidence exists for that claim. But the crucial question remains: How did it happen? Darwin's proposed mechanism -- random mutation and natural selection -- has been accepted largely as a matter of faith and deduction or, at best, circumstantial evidence. Only now, thanks to genetics, does science allow us to seek direct evidence. The genomes of many organisms have been sequenced, and the machinery of the cell has been analyzed in great detail. The evolutionary responses of microorganisms to antibiotics and humans to parasitic infections have been traced over tens of thousands of generations.As a result, for the first time in history Darwin's theory can be rigorously evaluated. The results are shocking. Although it can explain marginal changes in evolutionary history, random mutation and natural selection explain very little of the basic machinery of life. The "edge" of evolution, a line that defines the border between random and nonrandom mutation, lies very far from where Darwin pointed. Behe argues convincingly that most of the mutations that have defined the history of life on earth have been nonrandom.Although it will be controversial and stunning, this finding actually fits a general pattern discovered by other branches of science in recent decades: The universe as a whole was fine-tuned for life. From physics to cosmology to chemistry to biology, life on earth stands revealed as depending upon an endless series of unlikely events. The clear conclusion: The universe was designed for life.
I can't wait to read it.
Interested readers can also read his blog, and read his cogent
discussions/debates with those who espouse the religion of Darwinism here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/A3DGRQ0IO7KYQ2
<TABLE class=productImageGrid cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=240 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width="100%"></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width="100%"><SCRIPT language=Javascript type=text/javascript> var registeredImages = new Object(); var numberToPreload = 6; var preloadCount = 0; function registerImage( id, image, html, caption ) { registeredImages[id] = new Object(); registeredImages[id].image = image; registeredImages[id].html = html; registeredImages[id].caption = caption; if ( preloadCount < numberToPreload ) { var imagePreloader = new Image(); imagePreloader.src = image; preloadCount++; } } var allPreloaded = 0; var selectedImageID = "original_image"; function displayImage( id ) { if ( id == selectedImageID ) return; if (registeredImages[selectedImageID].ciuAnnoContainer) { registeredImages[selectedImageID].ciuAnnoContainer.hide(); } selectedImageID = id; document.getElementById('prodImageCell').innerHTML = registeredImages[id].html; document.getElementById('prodImageCaption').innerHTML = registeredImages[id].caption; for ( elementID in registeredImages ) { var imageThumbnail = document.getElementById(elementID); if (imageThumbnail != null) { imageThumbnail.style.border = '1px solid #999999'; } if ( !allPreloaded ) { var imagePreloader = new Image(); imagePreloader.src = registeredImages[elementID].image; } } document.getElementById(id).style.border = '1px solid #990000'; allPreloaded = 1; if (registeredImages[id].ciuAnnoContainer) { registeredImages[id].ciuAnnoContainer.show(); } }</SCRIPT><SCRIPT> registerImage("original_image", "http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51kof%2B%2BoeDL._SL500_AA240_.jpg", "
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
With his first book, Darwin's Black Box, Behe, a professor of biology at Lehigh University, helped define the controversial intelligent design movement with his concept of "irreducible complexity." Now he attempts to extend his analysis and define what evolution is capable of doing and what is beyond its scope. Behe strongly asserts, to the likely chagrin of young earth creationists, that the earth is billions of years old and that the concept of common descent is correct. But beginning with a look at malaria and the sickle cell response in humans, Behe argues that genetic mutation results in only clumsy solutions to selective pressures. He goes on to conclude that the statistical possibility of certain evolutionary changes taking place is virtually nil. Although Behe writes with passion and clarity, his calculations of probability ignore biologists' rejection of the premise that evolution has been working toward producing any particular end product. Furthermore, he repeatedly refers to the shortcomings of "Darwin's theory-the power of natural selection coupled to random mutation," but current biological theory encompasses far more than this simplistic view. Most important, Behe reaches the controversial conclusion that the workings of an intelligent designer is the only reasonable alternative to evolution, even without affirmative evidence in its favor.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"With this book, Michael Behe shows that he is truly an independent thinker of the first order. He carefully examines the data of evolution, along the way making an argument for universal common descent that will make him no friends among young-earth creationists, and draws in new facts, especially the data on malaria, that have not been part of the public debate at all up to now. This book will take the intelligent design debate into new territory and represents a unique contribution to the longstanding question of philosophy: Can observation of the physical world guide our thinking about religious questions?"
-- Professor David Snoke, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh
"In The Edge of Evolution Michael Behe carefully assesses the evidence of what Darwin's mechanism of random mutation and selection can achieve in well documented cases, and shows that even in those cases that maximize its power as a creative force it has only been able to generate very trivial examples of evolutionary change. Could such an apparently impotent and mindless force really have built the sophisticated molecular devices found throughout nature? The answer, he insists, is no. The only common-sense explanation is intelligent design."
-- Michael Denton, M.D., Ph.D., author of Nature's Destiny
"In crystal-clear prose Behe systematically shreds the central dogma of atheistic science, the doctrine of the random universe. This book, like the natural phenomena it so elegantly describes, shows the unmistakable signs of a very deep intelligence at work."
-- JEffrey M. Schwartz, M.D., Research Psychiatrist, UCLA, and author of The Mind & The Brain
"Until the past decade and the genomics revolution, Darwin's theory rested on indirect evidence and reasonable speculation. Now, however, we have begun to scratch the surface of direct evidence, of which this book offers the best possible treatment. Though many critics won't want to admit it, The Edge of Evolution is very balanced, careful, ¬and devastating. A tremendously important book."
-- Dr. Philip Skell, Evan Pugh Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus, at Pennsylvania State University, and member of the National Academy of Sciences
"With this book, Michael Behe shows that he is truly an independent thinker of the first order. In a day when the media present all issues in the football metaphor as two teams fighting, the intelligent design debate is presented simplistically as authors who are lapdogs for young-earth creationists versus evolutionists who are lapdogs for atheists. Michael Behe is no lapdog. He carefully examines the data of evolution, along the way making an argument for universal common descent that will make him no friends among young-earth creationists, and draws in new facts, especially the data on malaria, that have not been part of the public debate at all up to now. This book will take the intelligent design debate into new territory and represents a unique contribution on the longstanding question of philosophy: can observation of the physical world guide our thinking about religious questions?"
- Professor David Snoke, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh
"Until the past decade and the genomics revolution, Darwin's theory rested on indirect evidence and reasonable speculation. Now, however, we have begun to scratch the surface of direct evidence, of which this book offers the best possible treatment. Though many critics won't want to admit it, The Edge of Evolution is very balanced, careful, and devastating. A tremendously important book."
-- Dr. Philip Skell, Evan Pugh Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus, at Pennsylvania State University, and member of the National Academy of Sciences
Product Description
When Michael J. Behe's first book, Darwin's Black Box, was published in 1996, it launched the intelligent design movement. Critics howled, yet hundreds of thousands of readers -- and a growing number of scientists -- were intrigued by Behe's claim that Darwinism could not explain the complex machinery of the cell.
Now, in his long-awaited follow-up, Behe presents far more than a challenge to Darwinism: He presents the evidence of the genetics revolution -- the first direct evidence of nature's mutational pathways -- to radically redefine the debate about Darwinism.
How much of life does Darwin's theory explain? Most scientists believe it accounts for everything from the machinery of the cell to the history of life on earth. Darwin's ideas have been applied to law, culture, and politics.
But Darwin's theory has been proven only in one sense: There is little question that all species on earth descended from a common ancestor. Overwhelming anatomical, genetic, and fossil evidence exists for that claim. But the crucial question remains: How did it happen? Darwin's proposed mechanism -- random mutation and natural selection -- has been accepted largely as a matter of faith and deduction or, at best, circumstantial evidence. Only now, thanks to genetics, does science allow us to seek direct evidence. The genomes of many organisms have been sequenced, and the machinery of the cell has been analyzed in great detail. The evolutionary responses of microorganisms to antibiotics and humans to parasitic infections have been traced over tens of thousands of generations.
As a result, for the first time in history Darwin's theory can be rigorously evaluated. The results are shocking. Although it can explain marginal changes in evolutionary history, random mutation and natural selection explain very little of the basic machinery of life. The "edge" of evolution, a line that defines the border between random and nonrandom mutation, lies very far from where Darwin pointed. Behe argues convincingly that most of the mutations that have defined the history of life on earth have been nonrandom. Although it will be controversial and stunning, this finding actually fits a general pattern discovered by other branches of science in recent decades: The universe as a whole was fine-tuned for life. From physics to cosmology to chemistry to biology, life on earth stands revealed as depending upon an endless series of unlikely events. The clear conclusion: The universe was designed for life.
See larger image");</SCRIPT><TABLE style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=240 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD id=prodImageCell width=240 height=240>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
With his first book, Darwin's Black Box, Behe, a professor of biology at Lehigh University, helped define the controversial intelligent design movement with his concept of "irreducible complexity." Now he attempts to extend his analysis and define what evolution is capable of doing and what is beyond its scope. Behe strongly asserts, to the likely chagrin of young earth creationists, that the earth is billions of years old and that the concept of common descent is correct. But beginning with a look at malaria and the sickle cell response in humans, Behe argues that genetic mutation results in only clumsy solutions to selective pressures. He goes on to conclude that the statistical possibility of certain evolutionary changes taking place is virtually nil. Although Behe writes with passion and clarity, his calculations of probability ignore biologists' rejection of the premise that evolution has been working toward producing any particular end product. Furthermore, he repeatedly refers to the shortcomings of "Darwin's theory-the power of natural selection coupled to random mutation," but current biological theory encompasses far more than this simplistic view. Most important, Behe reaches the controversial conclusion that the workings of an intelligent designer is the only reasonable alternative to evolution, even without affirmative evidence in its favor.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"With this book, Michael Behe shows that he is truly an independent thinker of the first order. He carefully examines the data of evolution, along the way making an argument for universal common descent that will make him no friends among young-earth creationists, and draws in new facts, especially the data on malaria, that have not been part of the public debate at all up to now. This book will take the intelligent design debate into new territory and represents a unique contribution to the longstanding question of philosophy: Can observation of the physical world guide our thinking about religious questions?"
-- Professor David Snoke, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh
"In The Edge of Evolution Michael Behe carefully assesses the evidence of what Darwin's mechanism of random mutation and selection can achieve in well documented cases, and shows that even in those cases that maximize its power as a creative force it has only been able to generate very trivial examples of evolutionary change. Could such an apparently impotent and mindless force really have built the sophisticated molecular devices found throughout nature? The answer, he insists, is no. The only common-sense explanation is intelligent design."
-- Michael Denton, M.D., Ph.D., author of Nature's Destiny
"In crystal-clear prose Behe systematically shreds the central dogma of atheistic science, the doctrine of the random universe. This book, like the natural phenomena it so elegantly describes, shows the unmistakable signs of a very deep intelligence at work."
-- JEffrey M. Schwartz, M.D., Research Psychiatrist, UCLA, and author of The Mind & The Brain
"Until the past decade and the genomics revolution, Darwin's theory rested on indirect evidence and reasonable speculation. Now, however, we have begun to scratch the surface of direct evidence, of which this book offers the best possible treatment. Though many critics won't want to admit it, The Edge of Evolution is very balanced, careful, ¬and devastating. A tremendously important book."
-- Dr. Philip Skell, Evan Pugh Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus, at Pennsylvania State University, and member of the National Academy of Sciences
"With this book, Michael Behe shows that he is truly an independent thinker of the first order. In a day when the media present all issues in the football metaphor as two teams fighting, the intelligent design debate is presented simplistically as authors who are lapdogs for young-earth creationists versus evolutionists who are lapdogs for atheists. Michael Behe is no lapdog. He carefully examines the data of evolution, along the way making an argument for universal common descent that will make him no friends among young-earth creationists, and draws in new facts, especially the data on malaria, that have not been part of the public debate at all up to now. This book will take the intelligent design debate into new territory and represents a unique contribution on the longstanding question of philosophy: can observation of the physical world guide our thinking about religious questions?"
- Professor David Snoke, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh
"Until the past decade and the genomics revolution, Darwin's theory rested on indirect evidence and reasonable speculation. Now, however, we have begun to scratch the surface of direct evidence, of which this book offers the best possible treatment. Though many critics won't want to admit it, The Edge of Evolution is very balanced, careful, and devastating. A tremendously important book."
-- Dr. Philip Skell, Evan Pugh Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus, at Pennsylvania State University, and member of the National Academy of Sciences
Product Description
When Michael J. Behe's first book, Darwin's Black Box, was published in 1996, it launched the intelligent design movement. Critics howled, yet hundreds of thousands of readers -- and a growing number of scientists -- were intrigued by Behe's claim that Darwinism could not explain the complex machinery of the cell.
Now, in his long-awaited follow-up, Behe presents far more than a challenge to Darwinism: He presents the evidence of the genetics revolution -- the first direct evidence of nature's mutational pathways -- to radically redefine the debate about Darwinism.
How much of life does Darwin's theory explain? Most scientists believe it accounts for everything from the machinery of the cell to the history of life on earth. Darwin's ideas have been applied to law, culture, and politics.
But Darwin's theory has been proven only in one sense: There is little question that all species on earth descended from a common ancestor. Overwhelming anatomical, genetic, and fossil evidence exists for that claim. But the crucial question remains: How did it happen? Darwin's proposed mechanism -- random mutation and natural selection -- has been accepted largely as a matter of faith and deduction or, at best, circumstantial evidence. Only now, thanks to genetics, does science allow us to seek direct evidence. The genomes of many organisms have been sequenced, and the machinery of the cell has been analyzed in great detail. The evolutionary responses of microorganisms to antibiotics and humans to parasitic infections have been traced over tens of thousands of generations.
As a result, for the first time in history Darwin's theory can be rigorously evaluated. The results are shocking. Although it can explain marginal changes in evolutionary history, random mutation and natural selection explain very little of the basic machinery of life. The "edge" of evolution, a line that defines the border between random and nonrandom mutation, lies very far from where Darwin pointed. Behe argues convincingly that most of the mutations that have defined the history of life on earth have been nonrandom. Although it will be controversial and stunning, this finding actually fits a general pattern discovered by other branches of science in recent decades: The universe as a whole was fine-tuned for life. From physics to cosmology to chemistry to biology, life on earth stands revealed as depending upon an endless series of unlikely events. The clear conclusion: The universe was designed for life.
I forgot to respond to this straw-man yesterday.
#1. Intelligent Design is a theory that states design can be detected, not by waving around a Bible, but by the evidence of the universe - the universal bound, probability theory, biochemistry, biology, these are the fields which yield information on this. Intelligent Design makes no claim about who this designer might be, what the purpose of this designer might be, etc.
#2. Moses, the writer of the creation account in Genesis was not in
any way a sun worshipper.
A theory makes predictions, intelligent design does not and further more to add insult to the injury pretends to make no claims about the 'creator' , its clear what the intention is and can be read in Wedge Document.
Of course that the theory of evolution also makes no claim to whether there is /or not a creator so in that regard they are neutral. The difference is that one claims there IS while the other one does not , theory of evolution is not a theological debate but a scientific one while the other one is a pathetic attempt to confuse the masses into a "LOOK! there IS another theory! a brand new one! that can be taught in science classes as 'equally valid' , there IS creator BUT we don't know anything about any such 'Creator'.......ok class over..see you at Church" LOL
About the conjecture I am glad we agree. The whole Bible is so there you go
ope:
Of course that the theory of evolution also makes no claim to whether there is /or not a creator so in that regard they are neutral. The difference is that one claims there IS while the other one does not , theory of evolution is not a theological debate but a scientific one while the other one is a pathetic attempt to confuse the masses into a "LOOK! there IS another theory! a brand new one! that can be taught in science classes as 'equally valid' , there IS creator BUT we don't know anything about any such 'Creator'.......ok class over..see you at Church" LOL
About the conjecture I am glad we agree. The whole Bible is so there you go
ope:Festering, I respect your opinions and, although I largely disagree with you, I have a question. Is it possible that an intelligent designer (God) could create the universe (which is completely acceptable under evolutionist claims) and a process that delineates, yet continues to diversify, the species within it? In my opinion, it would be far more miraculous and powerful for God to create a self-sustaining process that allows such adaptational flexibility, as opposed to pulling the strings for the creation of each individual within each species. Your thoughts?
A theory makes predictions, intelligent design does not and further more to add insult to the injury pretends to make no claims about the 'creator' , its clear what the intention is and can be read in Wedge Document.
Of course that the theory of evolution also makes no claim to whether there is /or not a creator so in that regard they are neutral. The difference is that one claims there IS while the other one does not , theory of evolution is not a theological debate but a scientific one while the other one is a pathetic attempt to confuse the masses into a "LOOK! there IS another theory! a brand new one! that can be taught in science classes as 'equally valid' , there IS creator BUT we don't know anything about any such 'Creator'.......ok class over..see you at Church" LOL
About the conjecture I am glad we agree. The whole Bible is so there you go
The "scientific" method is about making an hypothesis, and recreating
and observing events. Evolution is neither observable nor recreatable.
So, Michael Behe renowned author with PhD in bio-chemistry
according to you is really a pseduo-scientist. Wow, who would
have known?
I am afraid you are totally wrong here.
http://www.newscientist.com/channel...make-major-evolutionary-shift-in-the-lab.html
I am just going to go on record to say that just because someone has a degree in 'x' doesn't mean this person is infalible, SPECIALLY when there is a very strong political-theological motivation.
Look for example these quotes
In other words, he said "there is no explanation for x", when shown a 'tiny bit' of literature on the subject and here we actually do have the fastest reader on the Universe as well........well 'thats not enough'
Then his OWN simulation showed it was possible BUT this is also forgotten.
