evolution

Why Evolution Is True
$16.00
Evolution is true because we exist. You only perceive it as not true because we have the ability to act irrationally fallaciously.

Be more meaningful. This book might be a good start!

Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters
$29.50
When I started reading the book, I found in the first chapter too much about creationists. But then, when you read the other chapters, you realized how dangerous and dishonest (and ridiculous at the same time) are these ignorants. The best of the book: the hundreds of transitional forms shown by the author. Evolution? Fossils say yes. An elegant and excellent book, highly recomended.

Evolution Boxed Set
$99.95
Although I'm moderately sophisticated in my understanding of evolution, I still found plenty of things to hold my interest in this intellectually exciting and well-crafted series. The set covers most of the basic ideas, in addition to a nice treatment of Darwin's life. Liam Neeson was also the perfect choice as narrator.

The only thing I didn't like so much was the section on the conflict with faith. I think the pro-science community, including the producers of this series, give up way too much ground to the "established" religions (in this case Christianity) and their absurd, anti-intellectual views. Most people in the science community don't privately accord believers nearly this much respect for the simple reason that they haven't earned it and continue to undermine science with their faith-based ramblings. On the other hand, when you see Ken Ham try to refute scientific fact, there's really only one conclusion you can draw. So perhaps the producers did the right thing by letting this speak for itself. In any case, this set should be required viewing in our public schools. I think it would go a long way to solving the ignorance problem that continues to plague this country. Paul Gehrman, Author, Kaleidoscope

Evolution: The First Four Billion Years
$39.95
Let me start by affirming that I would be regarded as what one author in this book, Eugenie C. Scott, persistently calls antievolutionist (p.370, ff). That label, however, covers the entire spectrum of opponents of Darwinism, who differ in various ways, especially in that only some reject evolution as a whole, while many reject its purported mechanism.

This mechanism is set down firmly in the Foreword by Edward O. Wilson (p.vii): "So solidly have the fields of biology built upon the Darwinian conception of evolution that it makes sense today to recognize it as one of the two laws...that govern our understanding of life. The first law is that all the elements and processes that define living organisms are ultimately obedient to the laws of physics and chemistry... The second law...is that all elements and processes defining living organisms have been generated by evolution through natural selection."

The questioning of natural selection is the most common objection of opponents. Less common is questioning that all is governed by the laws of physics and chemistry, a questioning that comprises virtual heresy. The known argument against natural selection is that organisms are not the implied result of "blind" natural forces, but are the product of "intelligent design". It is not a clear part of this argument that if natural forces alone are not held adequate for the formation of organisms, then an additional creative force should be posited.

This reviewer has consistently tried to call attention to another factor concerning "our understanding of life" (see 2nd paragraph above): that among the "elements and processes defining living organisms" are their live activities, directed at self-preservation. The cause of this goal-directed, purposive, process can justifiably be regarded as a force distinct from the undirected natural forces solely responsible for lifeless events, in agreement somewhat with Henri Bergson's vital force ("���lan vital", pp.446-7 of the book now reviewed), to which "[t]oday, few would openly subscribe".

It should accordingly be reiterated that the foremost law "that govern[s] our understanding of life" is the great property distinguishing it from the lifeless: the purpose of self-preservation. Yet it is sad to say that the index of this massive tome on life includes neither self-preservation nor purpose. I marked the volume for two stars because of its rich scholarship regardless, aided by many illustrations.