-Caveat Lector- Another Jolt for Evolution Theory Ted Byfield Edmonton Sun October 8, 2000 If parents check the science textbooks used in Canadian schools they'll see some familiar illustrations, familiar because much the same art appeared in their textbooks. There's the "evolution of man" illustration, starting with an ape-like creature on the left, then progressing to the slightly more erect figure with arms stretching to the ground, then to a less hairy individual, finally to a modern human. There's the upside-down tree illustration, beginning with the blob, the single cell, at the top and branching out like a tree as it descends downward to assortments of creeping and crawling things to reptiles, birds, fish, animals and humans. Or there's the fruit fly illustrations, showing how some fruit flies change to double-winged creatures under certain conditions or the speckled moth illustration showing how industrial conditions caused moths to change from white creatures to black. Note that there are three points being made here. One is that an amazing assortment of species have existed over time. The second is that the more elaborate species were the offspring after many generations of earlier less complex species. The third is that these changes occurred through natural circumstances. There was no "mind" or plan or design behind them, no God. It was all pure chance. When most scientists speak of "evolution" they do not mean the first, nor even the first and the second. They mean all three, that there was no designer, that change happens through "natural selection." Freak differences occurred in individual members of a species conferring a natural advantage on the offspring of those individuals. These went on living, where those without the advantage petered out, the "survival of the fittest." This fall there has appeared a scientifically authoritative book casting grave doubt on the whole basis of these confident illustrations. Dr. Jonathan Wells, a molecular and cell biologist from the University of California at Berkeley who is a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute, in his Icons of Evolution does more than cast doubt. He takes 10 so-called "proofs" of evolution offered in current textbooks and shows where not one of them is in a fact a proof of anything, and several are actually frauds. The speckled moths were actually pasted on the trees, not found there. And while there may be rare instances of species that seem part ape, part human, there is no evidence the one came from the other. Why, you wonder, do scientists ascribe credibility to these proofs? Because, says Dr. Wells, every scientist specializes. He may be aware the particular "proof" offered in his own area of expertise is fundamentally flawed, but he assumes those in all the other areas are not. In fact, he says, they all are. Wells's book is the second in two years to challenge the natural selection theory. The last one was Darwin's Black Box by the biochemist Michael Behe. He examines the blob atop the tree illustration. In Darwin's day the simple cell was a "black box" that could not be opened. Now, says Behe, we have opened the box; we can see how the cell is constructed. It's about as simple as a jet engine. It is a masterpiece of design. There is no possibility, none whatever, he says, that it could have come about by mere happenstance. Both these books follow an earlier one by Berkeley law professor Philip Johnson whose Darwin On Trial put the theory of natural selection before a make-believe jury, and gave the evidence for it as it would be presented in court. He shows how the supposed evidence, all of it, fails to vindicate the theory. Yet when the Kansas school system last year decided that evolution need no longer be taught as a scientific fact, but could be advanced as a theory with the students urged to argue the pros and cons, the response all over the continent was explosive. Papers like the Edmonton Journal and Globe and Mail denounced the Kansas board as perverted by superstition and religious b igotry. They made not a single reference to the scientific basis of the decision. Evolution by natural selection, says Johnson, is the "creation myth of the 20th Century." Wells agrees. Perhaps the 21st will get a better one. Copyright 2000 Ted Byfield. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. File Date: 10.10.00 Icons of Evolution: Science or Myth? by Jonathan Wells What would you say if I told you that ten of the most prominent arguments used as examples of neo-Darwinian evolution in today's biology textbooks are inconclusive, incomplete or outright fraudulent? I hope you'd say "show me", because that is exactly what Jonathan Wells does in his new book Icons of Evolution: Science or Myth? Noted author and Berkeley professor Phillip Johnson says, "This is one of the most important books ever written about the evolution controversy. It shows how devotion to the ideology of Darwinism has led to textbooks which are full of misinformation." Michael Behe, Professor of Biological Sciences and author of Darwin's Black Box states: "Jonathan Wells demonstrates with stunning clarity that the textbook examples Darwinists themselves chose as the pillars of their theory are all false or misleading. What does this imply about their scientific standards? Why should anyone now believe any of their other examples?" The book is organized with an introduction and conclusion and one chapter on each of the faulty arguments: Chapter 1 – Introduction Chapter 2 - The Miller-Urey Experiment: a laboratory flask containing a simulation of the earth's primitive atmosphere, in which electric sparks produce the chemical building-blocks of living cells; Chapter 3 - Darwin's Tree of Life: the evolutionary tree of life, reconstructed from a large and growing body of fossil and molecular evidence; Chapter 4 - Homology in Invertebrate Limbs: similar bone structures in a bat's wing, a porpoise's flipper, a horse's leg, and a human hand that indicate their evolutionary origin in a common ancestor; Chapter 5 - Haeckel's Embryos: pictures of similarities in early embryos showing that amphibians, reptiles, birds and human beings are all descended from a fish-like animal; Chapter 6 - Archaeopteryx, the Missing Link: a fossil bird with teeth in its jaws and claws on its wings, the missing link between ancient reptiles and modern birds; Chapter 7 - Peppered Moths on tree trunks, showing how camouflage and predatory birds produced the most famous example of evolution by natural selection; Chapter 8 - Darwin's Finches on the Galapagos Islands, thirteen separate species that diverged from one when natural selection produced differences in their beaks, and that inspired Darwin to formulate his theory of evolution; Chapter 9 - Four-winged Fruit Flies: fruit flies with an extra pair of wings, showing that genetic mutations can provide the raw materials for evolution; Chapter 10 - Fossil Horses and Directed Evolution: a branching-tree pattern of horse fossils that refutes the old-fashioned idea that evolution was directed; Chapter 11 - From Ape to Human-The Ultimate Icon: drawings of ape-like creatures evolving into humans, showing that we are just animals and that our existence is merely a by-product of purposeless natural causes. Chapter 12 - Science or Myth? Appendix I: Evaluation of Popular Textbooks Appendix II: Suggested Warning Labels for Textbooks If you are not convinced that this is a book you must have just from the endorsements and table of contents, check out a sneak preview of Wells' chapter on Peppered Moths that was published in the May 1999 issue of Scientist: http://www.arn.org/docs/wells/jw_pepmothshort.htm AMAZON ref: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0895262762/qid%3D971245875/103-473983 7-1179045 <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
