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Review Comments

This is a must read for any student interested in considering scientific objections to the theory of evolution from a secular perspective. Written by an agnostic geneticist, this volume presents a number of very powerful challenges against the theory of Darwinian evolution. One of the chief values of this work is that it is written from a secular perspective that is not interested in a theistic position, yet is willing to acknowledge certain implications. In fact, Denton seems to argue for an alternative view to life’s diversity without having to look to supernatural explanations—he maintains a naturalistic presupposition. This being said, he begins the volume by reviewing the descent of biblical conviction after the enlightenment; he entitles this opening chapter, “Genesis Rejected.” Though some of the material is fairly technical, it is presented in an understandable fashion that should be accessible to most readers. A recommended resource provided a careful discernment regarding Denton’s presuppositions and lack of biblical consideration.

Publisher's Description

More than thirty years after his landmark book "Evolution: A Theory in Crisis" (1985), biologist Michael Denton revisits his earlier thesis about the inability of Darwinian evolution to explain the history of life. He argues that there remains "an irresistible consilience of evidence for rejecting Darwinian cumulative selection as the major driving force of evolution." From the origin of life to the origin of human language, the great divisions in the natural order are still as profound as ever, and they are still unsupported by the series of adaptive transitional forms predicted by Darwin. In addition, Denton makes a provocative new argument about the pervasiveness of nonadaptive order throughout biology, order that cannot be explained by the Darwinian mechanism.

Endorsements

Darwinists often deflect trenchant criticisms by kicking the can down the road. In ten or twenty years science will surely show their theory is correct, they say. Now thirty years after his groundbreaking book, Evolution: A Theory in Crisis, Michael Denton calls their bluff. Not only hasn’t Darwinism overcome its challenges, severe new problems have made the crisis much worse.
Michael Behe

Biologist Michael Denton has written a devastating critique of Darwinian evolution. Denton is not a creationist, but a structuralist. He makes a compelling argument, supported by abundant evidence, that the most basic structures of living things — their forms or body plans — are not adaptive and cannot be explained by the cumulative selection that is at the core of evolutionary theory. Instead, he argues, those forms are part of the very fabric of nature. Everyone involved in the controversies over evolution should read this book.
Jonathan Wells