Product Description

One hundred fifty years ago, Charles Darwin revolutionized biology, but did he refute intelligent design (ID)? In Signature in the Cell, Stephen Meyer argues that he did not.

Much confusion surrounds the theory of intelligent design. Frequently misrepresented by the media, politicians, and local school boards, intelligent design can be defended on purely scientific grounds in accordance with the same rigorous methods that apply to every proposed origin-of-life theory.

Signature in the Cell is the first book to make a comprehensive case for intelligent design based upon DNA. Meyer embarks on an odyssey of discovery as he investigates current evolutionary theories and the evidence that ultimately led him to affirm intelligent design. Clearly defining what ID is and is not, Meyer shows that the argument for intelligent design is not based on ignorance or "giving up on science," but instead upon our growing scientific knowledge of the information stored in the cell.

A leading proponent of intelligent design in the scientific community, Meyer presents a compelling case that will generate heated debate, command attention, and find new adherents from leading scientists around the world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #721 in Books
• Published on: 2009-06-23
• Released on: 2009-06-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 624 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780061472787
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
"Signature in the Cell is a defining work in the discussion of life's origins . . . the powerful case Meyer presents cannot be ignored in any honest debate. . . [T]his book is an engaging, eye-opening, and often eye-popping read" (American Spectator )

From the Back Cover
Meyer tells the story of the successive attempts to solve this mystery of DNA and argues that fundamental objections now exist to the adequacy of all purely naturalistic or materialistic theories. The book then proposes a radical alternative based upon developments in molecular biology and the information sciences: it proposes the design hypothesis as the best explanation for the origin of the information necessary to produce the first life. SIGNATURE IN THE CELL will not merely provide a critique of evolutionary theories. It also shows that, based on our uniform and repeated experience-the basis of all scientific reasoning about the past-there is a strong positive case for intelligent design. From our experience we know that intelligence alone produces large amounts of information. Thus, the book shows that the argument for intelligent design from DNA is not based on ignorance or a desire to “give up on science,” but instead upon just the opposite: our growing scientific knowledge of the inner workings of the cell and our experience-based knowledge of the cause-and-effect structure of the world. For just this reason the argument for design can be formulated as a rigorous and positive scientific argument-specifically one called “an inference to the best explanation.” The book shows, ironically, that the argument for intelligent design from DNA is based on the same method of scientific reasoning that Darwin himself used.

About the Author

Dr. Stephen C. Meyer received his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge in the philosophy of science. A former geophysicist and college professor, he now directs the Center for Science and Culture at the Discovery Institute in Seattle. In 2004, Meyer ignited a firestorm of media and scientific controversy when a biology journal at the Smithsonian Institution published his peer-reviewed scientific article advancing intelligent design. Meyer has been featured on national television and radio programs, including The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, CBS's Sunday Morning, NBC's Nightly News, ABC's World News, Good Morning America, Nightline, FOX News Live, and the Tavis Smiley show on PBS. He has also been featured in two New York Times front-page stories and has garnered attention in other top-national media.

Customer Reviews

Where's the science
This is typical creationist tripe. In fact, the exact same arguments were used by Behe almost 15 years ago. Anyone who understands science knows why this book is simply not science. There are no predictions, there are no experiments.

Popular books are all very well... the one thing that I cannot abide is a religious organization (Discovery Institute) promoting the destruction of Amazon's rating system by sending e-mail requesting positive reviews of a book. In other words, the author and fellow IDers don't believe the book can stand on its own merits and is requesting help.

Someone, anyone, point out one (1) experiment done in the book that supports intelligent design and describe in detail why that evidence supports intelligent design and why it does not support evolution (the real theory, not the strawman that the Discovery Institute claims is evolution).

Creationist rubbish
Don't waste your time reading this. It is the usual misrepresentation of science by creationists.

Pseudoscientific Fail
This book is yet another attempt at updating bronze age myths to try to get them into the classroom. Ironically, in the attempt it lays bare the reason that those myths fail. The logic behind myths is really pretty simple, "Here's something complicated. I can't comprehend how something this complicated could have arisen by natural processes, so there must be a being with power and intelligence necessary to create it who does so." Can you spot the hole in this logic? That's right - person making the statement has found a complicated mystery and, instead of admitting his own ignorance or inability to solve the mystery, he makes up something that sounds plausible. The main problem with this explanation is that it has no ability to answer the question, "Why this and not something else?" in any situation because supernatural beings have inscrutable motives.

I like to explain it this way: the process of explaining something is a lot like trying to find the right shaped peg to fit in a hole; the peg has to come as close as possible to completely filling the hole (explain everything) and fit through it (not make claims that are ruled out). Intelligent design is like using play dough instead of continuing to look for the right peg. This highlights the societal level problem with such 'explanations': they make people feel like they know the answer to a question so they stop looking before they find the real solution. Solutions which, I might add, typically improve a person's ability to deal with the world as it is.

Such vacuous explanations have been dying a slow death since at least the renaissance, and that they have become this transparent shows that they really are in their death throws. I hope.