The triumph of evolution: and the failure of creationism

Abstract

Why is there still so much anti-evolution sentiment in the United States at the start of the Third Millennium? Why does the debate that began in 1859, when Charles Darwin successfully established the study of evolution, still rage in 2000? How can America tolerate the continued attack by conservative elements within the Judeo-Christian tradition on the quality of science education when science and its technological offshoots are so essential to our future well being and prosperity? Niles Eldredge, a leading expert on evolution and the diversity of life, has studied creationism and debated creationists for over two decades. Now, in The Triumph of Evolution, he presents the most up-to-date examination of the creation-evolution confrontation available. In this incisive narrative, he reveals the creationists' basic argument and their strategies for advancing it--including the recent attack on philosophical naturalism and emphasis on models of intelligent design by creationist Phillip Johnson and his colleagues. He also the charges that the study of evolution cannot be scientific or that it leads to the demise of family, religion, and traditional values. The Triumph of Evolution counters all these arguments with a simple overview of the evolutionary process--and a ringing declaration of the scientific nature of the study of evolution. Eldredge disavows the ongoing dissonance between science and religion and seeks instead a resonance in the pressing issue of catastrophic species loss on Earth. It is a problem that can be solved only if science and the adherents of the world's religious traditions pool their understanding, knowledge, and resources together. Ultimately, The Triumph of Evolution challenges all of us to leave the stale debates of the nineteenth century to confront the vital problems of the next century.

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