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 Evolution - The Works August 18, 2008
J. Taylor (Poole, UK)
This book astounded me with quality from start to finish. Here we have a guy that really knows his field (paleontology), seems to understand many others and can communicate ideas superbly.
Prothero does talk hard evidence, of which he provides plenty of varied examples. He also understands when to stop elaborating and provides many good references for individual subjects; there is an absolute minimum of repetition in around 350 large pages.
The pages themselves are lavishly illustrated and I found the cartoon humour very amusing. I read this book over 9 days and found the individual topics were highly relevant to the main subject.
As for subject matter, this book is about evidence for biological evolution in the light of creationist denial of the same. Prothero was brought up amongst all of this. As somebody who can read the scriptures in greek, he cannot be accused of biblical ignorance, rather the other way around: I thought Prothero developed a compelling arguement that the creationists in charge of leading their movement are simply ignorant of real science (because they don't do any), preferring instead to quote carefully selected out of date sources, rather than put their claims to falsifiable tests. The rest follow these teachings with sincere trust.
This book would make a good companion to 'the making of the fittest' by Sean B Carroll for a genetic perspective, or 'the ancestors tale' by Richard Dawkins for the zoological works.
Evolution: The Fossils Say `Yes' To It And `No' To Creationism, Including Intelligent Design August 8, 2008
John Kwok (New York, NY USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
"Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters" is the best book I have ever read emphasizing the importance of the fossil record as the indisputable "facts" of biological evolution, documenting the history of life on Planet Earth. Its publication is long overdue, and yet, remains quite timely, when major publishers like Simon and Schuster have mistakenly published sterling examples of mendacious intellectual pornography like Michael Behe's "The Edge of Evolution". Indeed, Prothero's book ought to be viewed as the one that demolishes forever, Behe's inane assertion (which he had expressed in a private e-mail reply to me that I've posted elsewhere here at Amazon.com) that the fossil record is irrelevant, claiming that the "truth" will be found only at the molecular level (More than anything else, that terse comment from Behe merely demonstrates his profound ignorance and understanding of the fossil record. Incidentally, Prothero refers to Behe as an "Intelligent Design creationist".). It also demonstrates the absurdity of creationist claims from the likes of Behe's Discovery Institute colleagues Paul Nelson, Jonathan Wells, and Geoffrey Simmons, among others, that the fossil record does not have "transitional forms". Indeed, as Prothero clearly shows his readers again and again, the history of life on our planet is replete with "transitional forms" documenting the evolutionary transitions from fish to tetrapods, from terrestrial carnivorous dinosaurs to flying birds, from primitive ungulate mammals to whales, and from apes to mankind. He also stresses the relevance of the fossil record to other aspects of evolutionary biology, noting its relevance with respect to molecular - as well as comparative anatomical - data. All of this is told in clear, concise, and persuasive, prose that often reaches the same literary heights attained by Prothero's mentor and friend, the late Stephen Jay Gould; without question this splendid book ought to be regarded as among the finest published last year.
Prothero's book is also a superb guide to the history and - regrettably - ever-present danger posed by Intelligent Design advocates and other creationists. The first three chapters emphasize the profound intellectual differences between valid mainstream science like contemporary evolutionary biology and pseudoscientific religious nonsense like "scientific" creationism in all of its flavors, especially Intelligent Design. Prothero offers a detailed look at the scientific method in the very first chapter, comparing and contrasting it with creationism (He also provides a superb introductory guide too to the writing of the Judeo-Christian Old Testament.). The second chapter is an in-depth exploration of creationism, tracing its roots in early 20th Century American Fundamentalist Protestant Christianity, and, of course, describing the emergence of Intelligent Design and its zealous promotion by the Discovery Institute, the Seattle, Washington-based "conservative" think tank (However, much to my amazement, he does not emphasize sufficiently, the important work done by philosopher of science Barbara Forrest and biologist Paul Gross in their book "Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design" in exposing the Discovery Institute's crypto-Fascist agenda for a future United States. Yet, to his credit, he does acknowledge that agenda by referring to its infamous "Wedge Document" while noting the Discovery Institute's deceitful promotion of Intelligent Design at the expense of valid mainstream science like contemporary evolutionary biology.). Finally, in Chapter Three, Prothero exposes both the intellectual inanity of "Flood Geology" and the popular creationist pastime of "quote mining"; the latter, a practice that's still popular with Discovery Institute Senior Fellows Michael Behe, William Dembski and Jonathan Wells.
The next two chapters comprise an excellent introduction to the history and science of evolutionary biology and the theory and practice of cladistic systematics. In Chapter Four, Prothero discusses the history of evolutionary biology, tracing its intellectual roots from the ancient Greeks to Lamarck, Darwin, and those biologists who became the "architects" of the Modern Synthesis Theory of Evolution (also known as the so-called "Neo-Darwinian Synthesis", since it merged population genetics with paleontology, biogeography, ecology and systematics). He also discusses some of the current controversies in contemporary evolutionary biology, beginning with evolutionary developmentaly biology, better known as "Evo - Devo", and, ending, of course, with punctuated equilibrium, noting how often it has been twisted and bent out of shape by creationists of all stripes, who have excelled only in "quote mining" from the published scientific and popular publications written by Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldredge; the two American invertebrate paleobiologists responsible for "punk eke". In Chapter Five, Prothero offers an especially lucid account of the theory and history of cladistic systematics, emphasizing its importance as a tool for studying both Earth's current biodiversity and its history of life.
In "Part II Evolution? The Fossils Say YES!", Prothero gives us a whirlwind tour of the history of life on Planet Earth, emphasizing major episodes in the history of life on Planet Earth, beginning with the origin of life, and culminating with the emergence of mankind. In Chapter Six, Prothero offers clear, persuasive evidence for the relative ease in creating life from inert organic compounds, brushing aside creationist arguments to the contrary. He debunks the outdated notion of a "Cambrian Explosion" - which remains popular with creationists, including Intelligent Design advocates - in Chapter 7, observing that the fossil record points to instead, a "Cambrian Slow Fuse", involving the gradual diversification of hard-part skeletonized fauna over the span of eighty million years, from the Late Precambrian through early Ordovician. He discusses the emergence of tetrapods from limbless fish in Chapter 10, the rise of early amniotes (which includes the reptiles, birds and mammals) in Chapter 11, and the evolution of flight in avian dinosaurs in Chapter 12, demonstrating the existence of countless "transitional forms". Further chapters are devoted to the origin of whales (Chapter 14) and humans (Chapter 15), and thus, offer a terse, but still thorough, glimpse, at the history of life on this planet. Prothero's coverage is so superb, that I am surprised by his all too brief references to mass extinctions, especially when their very existence ought to raise ample questions about an Intelligent Designer and his ability to "design" life that is extinction resistant.
In the final chapter of his book (Chapter 16), Prothero makes a truly compelling argument explaining why creationism is a clear and present danger, not only to American education, but indeed, the very survival of the United States too. He quotes from an extended excerpt from the Los Angeles Times, describing creationist Ken Ham's indoctrination of young school children against evolution, conjuring up - at least for me - an image of Adolf Hitler's infamous Nuremberg Nazi Party rallies. He blames the advent of creationism since the late 1950s for fostering scientific illiteracy among Americans, and noting that this threatens our future economic success as we compete with other, better educated, countries like those in Europe and East Asia in a global economy increasingly dominated by science and technology. He also argues persuasively that denial of evolution is harmful to our health and well being, graphically illustrating this point by reminding us of the unsuccessful 1984 baboon to human heart transplant by a creationist Loma Linda University surgeon. Prothero's dire warning is a message I have read before, especially from Niles Eldredge, but here, Prothero's remarks are most compelling, and ones that ought to be heeded by all (Not surprisingly, Prothero compares and contrasts current denial of evolution with that of global warming, and finds obvious parallels with both.).
An Excellent Deployment of Scientific Data July 31, 2008
Nick Candoros (Athens - Greece)
The initial ambition of the book is quite a tall order: To present, in a concise, well structured and all inclusive way, the overwhelming evidence for the existence of Evolution in the Natural World, as developed by Darwin and confirmed through the continuous and arduous research by thousands of scientists for the last 150 years.
The material evidence itself is vast, since it covers hundreds of millions of years and innumerable families of creatures, from simple single-celled organisms to complex living beings in many animal lineages. The author repeatedly laments the constrictions of space imposed by the book, which forces him to focus only in some "key" groups and their evolutionary history, while mercilessly abandoning a wealth of valuable fossils and the arguments for the nature and process of Evolution they offered.
But he has chosen well. The moments of Earth's evolutionary history he examines closely and the species selected for each and every one of them, present ample and undisputable proof for the way the Natural World evolves, creating the wealth and beauty of prehistoric and modern ecosystems. Again and again, a veritable avalanche of data, from an immensely rich fossil record worldwide, is used, in an objective, well-structured, scientific way, in order to demonstrate that Evolution exists and works more or less according to Darwinian principles.
The book strives for scientific cold-blooded objectivity and an adherence to provable and well-established facts. Nevertheless it has a militant character, since the author aims to utterly discredit the creationist view of the world, with its narrow-minded interpretation of physical reality. And he clearly means business, since his arguments, in every chapter, are akin to concentrated artillery fire, against the unrelenting attacks of the opposite side to all things scientific which do not agree with their strict beliefs.
To an educated European like myself, the sole fact that such a wealth of scientific evidence for the existence of Evolution, is not enough proof by itself, but has to be deployed as an army against a fundamentalist ideology, feels me with a mixture of amusement and dread. The later because this whole conflict takes place within a supposedly free, democratic, fully developed and powerful nation as the USA. So, for all our sakes, the book, apart of very well written and pleasurably educating, is critical in the positions it defends and the thorough way it does it.
Will this book prove effective? July 24, 2008
Stephen A. Haines (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)
A society driving an eminent scientist to produce a book such as this is in need of some serious reflective thinking. The UK has as much need for that as the author's US audience. Prothero's account is not the first such investigation of the clash of science and superstition, but it ranks as one of the most thorough and revealing. Although this is a work of science, it is also a campaign manifesto. The author is eager to expose the fallacies of "Christian" creationism and the duplicitous methods used to foster it. The account may appear strident in some places, but it's too well researched - at many levels - and too well written to dismiss it as purely polemical. Above all, it's a needed work, deserving serious attention.
Evolution, he declares forthrightly, is real. The fossils support it in too many ways to be subjected to doubt. Those who try to erode the idea or dismiss the evidence are mistaken, misdirected and often malicious in their methods. Let there be no uncertainty, the panorama of life is there to see. There are many ways of confirming how animal life has varied over time and Prothero takes us through the analysis tools used to assess the evidence. Radiometric dating should be well understood by now, but creationists still find ways to attempt to challenge it. We learn about taxonomy and cladistics, one of the more arcane aspects of fossil analysis. Molecular analysis, what DNA can tell us about the past is, of course, the fastest growing field in palaeontology.
These tools, applied to the fossils and the environment they were found in, establish the relationships demonstrating that challenging evolution is a meaningless enterprise. Still, the challengers continue to emerge. Prothero's prime target in his account is Duane Gish. The Institute for Creation Research. Gish, who seems to have been around at least since the Noachean Flood, still plods the lecture circuit, where Prothero demolished his presentation at least once. Prothero notes that ICR publications, and Gish's lecture presentations are, at best two decades behind what real research has revealed. Prothero is scathing about those who can write of palaeontology without even gotten their hands dirty doing field work. Even creationism's illegitimate offspring, "Intelligent Design", fares no better in the author's hands. If a "designer" was involved in prompting evolution, It botched the job. Why so many forms of wings, for example, when one or two would suffice? Wings and hands are physically related through what palaeontologists call "homology". As Prothero ably demonstrates, adaptations of similar bone arrangements through time produced wings and hands in various animals. Creationists, who continue to call for "missing links" want the entire process lined out in exquisite detail. That's not likely in the world in which fossils form.
Prothero then describes the emergence of early life. His discussion of the Cambrian Period - once referred to as the "Cambrian Explosion" - and its precursor "The Garden of Ediacara" makes an excellent read. He goes on to the value of invertebrate fossils, most notably the formenifera, in showing the slow, but discernable progress of life over time. Vertebrates, who form the beginnings of our own body plan with a backbone, brain and vision systems, are well depicted. In "The Great Leap Upward", he explains how some of those vertebrates learned to live on land. The lobe-finned fishes led the way, and the recent find of Tiktaalik in Canada, gives much information on how they did it. More significant is the revelation of what body plan changes could lead to dinosaurs, primates, and us.
In his conclusion, "Why Does It Matter?", the author answers the question in two ways. First, he castigates his fellow "Christians" for using deceit and deception in thinking they are reinforcing their faith by deluding others about the validity of evolution. The story of the roots of who we are is too important to dismiss or take lightly. Such tactics must be kept out of classrooms - particularly in the US where Constitutional strictures apply [lucky US!]. Most important of all, he urges, the movement is creating a scientifically illiterate population. In a highly competitive technological world, such a condition bodes ill. Denial of evolution, he notes, reaches into domestic realms such as health care and agriculture. Allowing ideologues influence into the political realm is liable to result bad decisions with long-term effects. How to avoid such ill-considered eventualities? The place to start is here, by reading this book carefully, shedding as much as possible preconceived notions about life and how it works. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Completely recommended! June 10, 2008
Garry Paton (Germany)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
What a fantastic book....and yet, extremely sad and worrying. The author explains with extreme clarity the scientific method, evolution, transitional fossils, etc. It's lovely reading, I only wish I had such a concise, concentrated series of effective chapters when I was an undergraduate student! What's the sad part? Despite the overwhelming evidence...well, there are a lot of people out there who would wish us to stay in the Dark Ages. I had no idea (as a British citizen) how well organised, funded and determined these Creationists types are. It's very worrying indeed. This book acts as a perfect example to what is required - an affordable book with explanatory laymen's terms - to all scientists out there, never mind the next paper - get writing like Prothero, a scientific literate society NEEDS YOU, urgently. Well done, an excellent book!
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