What's Darwin Got to Do With It: A Friendly Conversation About Evolution

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 146 pages
• Published by: InterVarsity Press January 2000
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0830822496
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0830822492
• Book Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Weighs: 6.4 ounces

Product Description
What's Darwin got to do with it?When it comes to evolution, quite a bit! But many people don't understand Darwin, creationism and intelligent design. Here's a book that makes sense of it all!A group of scholars, teachers, writers and illustrators have teamed up to create an easy-to-read introduction and critique to this important issue. You'll enjoy the lively and funny conversation that unfolds between two professors and they explore what science can explain about life. You'll find out what logic has to do with it. You'll see whether the changing beak sizes of Galapagos Islands finches prove Darwinism. And you'll enjoy the adventures of Darwinian superstars "Mutaman" and "Selecta."There's more to it all than you ever thought. But this witty and wise book makes it easier to understand than ever before!

Reader Reviews
I was initially excited about this book when it was given to me, since it begins by attempting to clarify often misunderstood terms such as "evolution" and "creationism." It also explains a position which I favor, "Intelligent Design." That being said, I was then disappointed by the approach. Rather than being an intelligent "conversation," the book becomes more of an obviously biased lecture on problems with Darwinism. The defender of Darwinism is an old, crotchety professorial type man, while the proponent of Intelligent Design is a young, perky, cheerful woman. It isn't hard to predict which character readers will be drawn to. The support for Darwinism is often portrayed with very silly (even for this comicbook approach) superhero characters, making the pro-Darwin argument seem ridiculous even before any evidence is actually examined. The pro-Intelligent Design support, however, is always portrayed in a rational, thoughtful manner. Perhaps the best part of the book is its final pages of background information, in which the silliness is discarded, and some good points in favor of Intelligent Design are fairly made. Unfortunately, most young readers will likely skip that part, having completed the comic I did find it ironic, though, that the authors described a "trick" used to misconstrue Intelligent Design as religion by saying: "The trick works like this: (1) misconstrue the design theory position, (2) give the misconstrued position an erroneous and derogatory label, (3) attack the label, (4) dismiss the argument." This is, of course, exactly the tactic that was and still is used against Darwin's theories. As long as a reader understands that this book is not written from a neutral perspective, it is worth reading. As I said, I agree with the basic position, but I wish the authors had not tried to portray an obviously pro-Intelligent Design book as a neutral discussion.