Product Description

The author strikes a telling blow for biology in the ongoing war of words with the 'creationists'. He provides a convincing explanation of the evolutionary process and at the same time an insight into the nature of scientific inquiry. "...can be read for pleasure and profit by people at all levels of biological sophistication ...a first-class book." The Quarterly Review of Biology

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #751744 in Books
• Published on: 1995-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 287 pages

Customer Reviews

Is DJF Going Bald?
Dr. Futuyma certainly does enough figurative hair pulling and garment rending in this book whenever the thought of creationists comes to his mind. A SUNY professor, and author of a well-known textbook on Evolutionary Biology, DJF writes this most interesting book for the layman interested in learning more about the case for evolution. While there are numerous books of this type in print today, Futuyma emphasizes topics not stressed in some of the others. He discusses the history of evolution from early times up to the neo-Darwinism of today. Interesting chapters follow on the fossil record - including a good section on the evolution of the horse -, natural selection, chance and mutation, and the basic concepts of scientific knowledge.

The author presents many of the creationist arguments, and spends time refuting them. As I mentioned above, he really gets irate when he considers their criticisms of evolutionary theory. "Abysmally ignorant", "nonsense", and "absurd" are some of the modifiers he uses when discussing them. His main points are that creationists perform no original research of their own, but instead try to discredit evolution by such means as: quoting scientists out of context; using disagreements between scientists as evidence that evolution is in trouble; conveniently disregarding evidence that they cannot explain; and promoting arguments inappropriately such as the second law of thermodynamics.

There are other excellent books to read on this subject. My favorites are The Blind Watchmaker by R. Dawkins, and Abusing Science by Philip Kitcher. This one deservedly belongs on the same bookshelf, unless of course, you are a creationist.

Wonderful articulation of evolutionary theory...
It's rare, but not unheard of, that I know by the 50th page of a book that I need to a) read this book again, and b) purchase a copy for my own library. "Science on Trial" is such a book. A remarkable book presenting arguments in favor of evolution as a counter to the rise of creationism. Written in 1983, Futuyma's arguments are perhaps even more relevant today, in light of recent developments in Kansas, Michigan, and other states. Futuyma's writing style is exceptionally clear and he presents science as it really operates and exposes the gaping factual and philosophical holes in the creationist movement. Obviously no book can ever change the mind of a committed, dogmatic creationist, but this book should be required reading for any school board candidate.

A well-written book
Futuyama does take on the Creationists on their own playing field. That is, he addresses their arguments that evolution fails to answer some questions that they have devised.

Creationist arguments sometimes include claims of the Earth being very young. The author shows that these are falsified by elementary geology. Matter of fact, some of them are falsified by elementary archaeology.

Another claim is that the second law of thermodynamics prevents order from arising naturally. Futuyama shows that's false. First the Earth is not a closed system: we get useful energy from the Sun, as well as from volcanic vents. In addition, has anyone making this claim ever seen a snowflake? It is easy for order to arise naturally. As a matter of fact, order tends to arise in a gravitational system as well, as anyone looking at our Solar System can observe. And an embryo becoming an adult shows an enormous increase in order.

One common claim is that life could not have originated "by chance." But, as Futuyama explains, this is suspect, given the compatability of the Earth with life, and given the presence of the ingredients. I agree. Sure, one can do a sloppy calculation, and say there is little chance for life to originate. But given that there is life here, the chances of that calculation being wrong are high. It's unreasonable to make an argument of the form, "I'm not smart enough to figure out exactly how life got here, therefore it never did get here."

There are also claims that mutation, recombination and natural selection can't form new features. In response, Futuyama shows how small changes have led to new features. And he also answers the question of how a new function, such as sight can develop so that each step confers a competitive advantage.

One favorite claim of creationists is the lack of intermediate fossils. But many of those intermediates actually have been discovered, as Futuyama ponts out.

But, of course, had Futuyama failed to answer these questions, that would not overthrow evolution, which is simply a set of facts. The key to accepting evolution is the positive evidence in its favor, which is so overwhelming that little if any argument needs to be made once one has these facts.

As Futuyama shows, that evidence includes fossil records, DNA, embryology, and homologies. And it is significant that these facts are consistent: as the author explains, a single undisputed Pre-Cambrian fossil of a flowering plant or mammal would falsify most of evolution as we understand it.

There is also a chapter on some of what bothers many Creationists, "social darwinism." This is a moral philosophy that attempts to justify unethical behavior on the grounds of natural selection. Futuyama points out that it is dubious to justify any ethical system on such grounds, and that the claims of the social darwinists are bogus. Again, I agree. I don't believe that ethical systems need to be based on the existence or non-existence of evolution. And they certainly do not need to be based on lies, nor should they be. We ought to know and teach the truth about evolution.

I think this is a valuable guide to evolution and the creationist attacks on it.