The Triumph of Evolution: and the Failure of Creationism - Softcover

Niles Eldredge

3.6

81 ratings by Goodreads

9780805071474: The Triumph of Evolution: and the Failure of Creationism

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0805071474 ISBN 13: 9780805071474

Publisher: Holt Paperbacks, 2001

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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 counters 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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Review:

Is evolution a religious belief? Is Genesis a scientific report? These are two of the tacks taken by "scientific creationists" to reach their goal of stopping the teaching of evolution in public schools, a goal paleontologist Niles Eldredge claims is purely political. In The Triumph of Evolution and the Failure of Creationism, Eldredge exposes the deep flaws in creationists' arguments and calls for those who love and respect the scientific process of gathering knowledge to engage their opponents in the culture war wholeheartedly. This brief but powerful book by one of our leading evolutionary theorists is careful not to dehumanize the intellectual and political adherents of "intelligent design theory." It focuses on the importance of teaching all children in our society how science and technology work. To do this, he tells us that we must not muddy the waters by agreeing that science and religion have overlapping domains. Skillfully explaining the theory and the most popular arguments against it, Eldredge arms the reader for battle with creationists. Three appendices offer information on recent court decisions and means to get involved in the continuing struggle for proper science education. It's time to take the creationists seriously, and The Triumph of Evolution and the Failure of Creationism is a great place to start. --Rob Lightner

From the Back Cover:

"Niles Eldredge knows how to make science exciting."
-- New York Times Book Review

"Nobody in our generation has done more to advance our understanding of the evolutionary process than Niles Eldredge has."
--Ian Tattersall, Curator, Department of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History.

"Eldredge reminds us that many things have not changed in the creation and evolution controversy: we are not yet rid of the old fashioned creationism, even though it is currently augmented by neocreationisms like 'intelligent design theory.' In easily-read, conversational prose, Eldredge shows how both the old and the new creationisms are scientifically bankrupt and philosophically impoverished."
--Eugenie C. Scott, Ph.D., Executive Director, National Center for Science Education

"If you listen to creationists---from the classic 'creation-scientists' to the new 'intelligent-design theorists'---you'll be told that the fossil record doesn't support evolution. Are they right that there are no fossil intermediates? Does the Cambrian explosion really pose an insurmountable problem? Are the fossils that support human evolution really all mistakes or fakes? Was the geological column and the sequence of horse fossils really just invented by scientists who simply 'assumed' evolution? Do distinguished paleontologists like Niles Eldredge indeed admit such 'trade secrets' when behind closed doors? Don't believe it. Calling a lie a lie and a damned lie a damned lie, Eldredge sets the record straight. Creationists are attacking science with renewed vigor, so this is a timely, much-needed book. Read it and get the truth."
--Robert T. Pennock, author of Tower of Babel: The Evidence Against the New Creationism

"I can't imagine a better book by a finer scientist and writer on a more vital and contemporary subject. Eldredge refutes creationism with the best tools of scientific facts and logic but then shows how all good science cannot debase, but can only complement, our search to find ethical values and to grasp the meaning of our existence."
--Stephen Jay Gould

"The separation of church and state to one side, should Bible stories be taught in biology courses as if they are on a par with the results of a century and a half of genuine science? Eldredge argues, no, but he also realizes that politics, not cogent arguments, are the essence of this conflict. If left to the free exchange of ideas, the Garden of Eden, Noah's ark and the Tower of Babel don't stand a chance against colliding continents, mass extinctions and Tyrannosaurus rex. In this book, Eldredge confronts the usual nonsense that creationists try to pass off as science, but more importantly he presents the grandeur that characterizes the evolutionary view of life. Evolutionary biology is genuinely scientific, but more than that it opens the door to a world more marvelous than any Christian fundamentalist has ever read into the pages of the Bible."
--David L. Hull, Dressler Professor in the Humanities, Department of Philosophy, Northwestern University

"The Triumph of Evolution destroys any notion that evolution is a theory in crisis or that science is a closed activity driven by philosophical agenda. Niles Eldredge's hard-hitting book makes it clear that the ultimate motivation for doing evolutionary science is neither cultural, nor religious, nor political. Rather, in the best tradition of human inquiry, it is the search for truth. There is, in his plainly-stated view, an objective reality, a genuine and natural world that invites our inquiry and rewards our efforts to understand. Throughout his career, Niles Eldredge has been a scientific leader, analyzing the ebb and flow of great biological dramas that have played out over millions of years of natural history. With this lucid and convincing book, he also takes a leading position in the modern struggle for rationality and common sense."
--Kenneth R. Miller, Professor of Biology, Brown University, and author of Finding Darwin's God

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