by Michael Denton
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Product Description
Dr. Denton's book sets out to explain the gathering scientific evidence against evolution in its traditional form. It is a clear account of a growing crisis in biology and enables us to understand why an increasing number of research scientists are questioning strict Darwinism.
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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Still Excellent, 2008-11-10
I just re-read this book for the third time. Honestly, it keeps getting better. Part of that is b/c Denton doesn't always write for the masses and therefore many of his points are more deeply appreciated only after more familiarity with evolutionary theory. After this past reading I also realize how much his book has influenced other popular anti-darwininan writers, such as behe, wells, and johnson. I was also amazed at how many points parallel ones made by Dawkins: numerous instances where they use the same concepts and metaphors but derive very different conclusions. quite illuminating.
in short, a must for anyone interested in the "evolution debate".
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Twenty Years Late, NO! Still right on target, 2008-07-05
I have finally read Michael Denton's book "Evolution, A Theory in Crisis". While this book was written some twenty years ago, by an evolutionist about problems with evolution, it is as apt today as it was then.
Overall the book is easy to read and understand. Where there are terms that may not be familiar to the average reader, Dr. Denton provides adequate explanation to ensure that his arguments are understandable. I did however find that there were times when Dr Denton would rehash a point just covered or covered in a previous chapter. I am uncertain if this was deliberate or if the author tends to ramble at times.
Otherwise, Michael Denton takes the reader through a clear path of evidence that essentially refutes almost all the major tenets of Darwinian Evolution. This is not done in the typical Creation versus Evolution style, but rather as a scientist objectively criticizing the tenets of evolutionary thought. Dr. Denton focuses on each aspect, from the overarching concepts of random mutation and natural selection, through the fossil record, all the way to the complex structure of proteins and their fabrication at the cellular level.
While never truly abandoning evolution, Dr Denton closes the door on Darwinian Evolution. And while appealing to the apparent design in complex machinery of the cell, he proposes no external agent to facilitate the creation or specification of the apparent design. One can sense his frustration with the current state of affairs, but he refuses completely abandon the possible future discovery of purely naturalistic causes. Yet he insures the reader that random mutation and natural selection are not part of the equation.
Dr Denton closes his book with a rebuke of the scientific community for placing the a priori assumptions of evolutionary though before the objective search for real answers. He stops short of calling it religion, but refers to it as a myth. Interesting conclusion for a man still dedicated to the term evolution.
The book may be twenty years old, but the information and discussion are still correct. It is an excellent resource for someone looking for an objective critique of modern evolutionary theory.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
(Macro)Evolution is not a "fact" - good read!, 2008-02-04
Amazing how the evolutionists clamor that this is "out of date", yet essentially what this book shows is that the data "to date" does NOT support macroevolution. And while I will just have to leave this hanging here without supporting evidence - the data since then do not either. A few (very few) transitional fossils notwithstanding.
An excellent critique of "evolution", and yet greater than 20 years later, darwinian naturalism is still going strong. Why? Because there is no other "natural" explanation. And hence, one must ask, why must there be a "natural" explanation? The last pages of the last chapter are excellent reading in this regard.
2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Brilliant and True, 2007-09-24
I did a comparative study on this and the Species of Origin. I have to say, I was once an evolutionist, but I now I realize how much blind faith I held in it.
5 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
A Religion in Crisis, 2007-09-04
Michael Denton's book, Evolution: A Theory in Crisis, is yet another work that fits into the Intelligent Design category of thought. It is a very profitable read to the extent that it gives the reader the opportunity to consider the theory of evolution without the dogma of a Richard Dawkins who pontificates:
"Today the theory of evolution is about as much open to doubt as the theory that the earth goes round the sun..." Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene, p. 1.
What is lacking within the scientific community today is any willingness to debate and contest even the most primitive assumptions of Darwinism. The prevailing expectation among far too many today is that one must never question the majority view, or else they will be punished with childish ridicule, and thus suffer condemnation from those who pride themselves to be "scientists." This point is easily verified by just reading the critiques and comments that are often found lurking around much of the Creationist and ID literature. But works like Denton's should be read, understanding that he lies somewhere between the views of naturalistic evolution and Creationism. It is apparent in his book that he too is frustrated by the dogmatism of men like Dawkins who would cease all discussions about evolution - simply because Mr. Dawkins said so - and those who disobey will be subject to an inquisition by the new majority:
"The lack of any scientifically acceptable competitor leaves evolutionary biology in a state of crisis analogous to the crisis in medieval astronomy when, although the Ptolemaic system was admitted to be a monstrosity, the lack of any conceivable alternative imprisoned the science for centuries within the same circle of belief (p. 357)...that [Darwinian theory] is neither fully plausible, nor comprehensive, is deeply troubling. One might have expected that a theory of such cardinal importance, a theory that literally changed the world, would have been something more than metaphysics, something more than a myth." p. 358.
In saying this, Denton does not deny evolution in all its facets. In fact it is important to note here that most (if not all) advocates of ID, as well as Creationists, accept the concept of the special theory of evolution (microevolution). The real problem lies within the realm of the general theory:
"For Darwin, all evolution was merely an extension of microevolutionary processes. Yet, despite the success of his special theory, despite the reality of microevolution, not all biologists have shared Darwin's confidence and accepted that the major divisions in nature could have been crossed by the same simple sorts of processes." p. 86.
What Denton is clearly denying is the notion that Darwinism necessarily suffices for all of the facets of the general theory (macroevolution). Denton advances several arguments in order to expose Darwin's general theory as mere metaphysics. As evidence of the many problems which plague Darwinism, he discusses the typology of nature (see page 117), incongruities in the fossil record (see chapter 8), complexities relating to the soft anatomy of supposed transitional forms (see p. 177), flight as the product of macroevolution (see chapter 9), the enigma which molecular biology presents to Darwinism (see chapter 11) and in the last few chapters, Denton reveals the fantastic notion of the spontaneous generation of life from an abiotic environment:
"...the possibility of life arising suddenly on earth by chance - is infinitely small. To get a cell by chance would require at least one hundred functional proteins to appear simultaneously in one place. That is one hundred simultaneous events each of an independent probability which could hardly be more than 10(-20), giving a maximum combined probability of 10(-2000). Recently, Hoyle and Wickramasinghe in Evolution in Space provided a similar estimate of...'10(40,000) an outrageously small probability...'" pp. 323-24.
In view of such odds, Denton then says:
"The Darwinian claim that all the adaptive design of nature has resulted from a random search, a mechanism unable to find the best solution in a game of checkers, is one of the the most daring claims in the history of science. But it is also one of the least substantiated. No evolutionary biologist has ever produced any quantitive proof that the designs of nature are in fact within the reach of chance. There is not the slightest justification for claiming, as did Richard Dawkins recently: '...Charles Darwin showed how it is possible for blind physical forces to mimic the effects of conscious design, and, by operating as a cumulative filter for chance variations, to lead eventually to organized and adaptive complexity, to mosquitoes and mammoths, to humans and therefore, indirectly, to books and computers.'"p. 324.
Denton's work is quite excellent, and I commend it to you for careful study and consideration. If you are a dyed in the wool general theory Darwinist - then read this book in order to broaden the spectrum of your analysis of the subject. As a former atheist and evolutionist, I can assure you that you won't be exposed to any of Denton's important questions within the spectrum of the standard texts on evolution today. If you are a Christian, I would encourage you to read this work too, but do remember that ID books are not a defense of biblical creationism - they are secular critiques of Darwinism. But the critique is quite clear - Darwinism is more than a scientific hypothesis as it was in Darwin's day. Now it has become an organized and mostly unchallenged religion.
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