Why Darwin Matters Read online

  Mayr, Ernst, xvi–xvii, 6, 10–11, 29, 150

  Mencken, H. L., 25, 26

  methodological naturalism, or, no miracles allowed, 52–53

  methodological supernaturalism, 53

  Meyer, Stephen, 60, 106–7, 113, 143

  Microevolution and Macroevolution argument, 75, 77–80

  militarism, social Darwinism and, 26, 27

  Mill, John Stuart, 46

  Miller, Kenneth, 102

  Miller-Urey experiment, 83, 86

  miracles, 52–53

  Hume’s Maxim, 48–49, 61

  mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), 14, 73, 149

  “mitochondrial Eve,” 149

  Monaghan, Tom, 100

  monogamy:

  monogamous species, 80

  serial, 134

  moon, dating of the, 16

  Moon, Reverend Sun Myung, 110

  Moore’s Law of computer power, 41

  moral degeneration, equating evolution with, 31

  moral values, evolution and, 130–36

  Morris, Henry, 81, 102, 110

  Mount Wilson Observatory, 159–60

  mouse genome, 79

  multiverse (multiple universe), 58–59

  Murchison meteorite, 141

  NASA, 11–12

  National Center for Science Education, 102

  National Museum of Natural History, 14

  National Religious Broadcasters, 108

  natural selection, xvi, 7–9, 78, 136, 138

  as bottom-up designer, 6, 65

  direct evidence for, 150–51

  diseases as examples of, 75

  microevolution and, 80

  randomness argument, 82–83

  rules of, 7

  sexual selection and, 151–52

  species distribution and, 47

  Natural Theology: or, Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity, Collected from the Appearances of Nature (Paley), 4, 6

  Nature, 85

  Nebraska Man, 83

  necessity and chance, 89–90

  Nelson, Paul, 106–7

  neo-Darwinism, 146

  Newton, Sir Isaac, 52, 158–59

  New York Times, The, xix, 112, 113

  nihilism, 31

  nipples, male, 18

  “No Free Lunch theorems,” 72

  nonfunctional pseudogenes, 74

  “nonoverlapping magisteria” (NOMA), 120

  null hypothesis, 121–22

  observational verifications, prediction and, 2–4

  Observation of Evolution argument, 75–77

  Of Pandas and People (Kenyon and Davis), 100, 101, 102–4

  previous versions of, 102–3

  transitional fossils and, 9–10

  Old Earth creationists, 166

  On Liberty (Mill), 46

  On the Origin of Species (Darwin), xv, 29

  initial response to, xvi–xvii, 3

  quotes from, 1, 66, 126

  original sin, 131

  origins of life, unsolved questions on, 141–42

  Overton, Judge William R., 95–96

  Pachyrhachis problematicus (cretaceous snake), 17–18

  Padian, Kevin, 102

  Paley, William, 4, 6

  pantheism, 123

  Parker, Gary, 102

  patterns, the brain’s seeking of, 38–39, 160

  Pax-6 genes, 78, 79

  Pearcey, Nancy, 31

  Pennock, Robert, 67, 102

  peppered moths, 84, 85

  Pew Research Center, xvii–xviii, 128

  phenotypes, 15

  Piltdown Man, 83, 85

  polar bears, 9

  politics, 132

  polygamous species, 80

  Popper, Karl, 121

  Poupard, Cardinal Paul, 113

  prayer, intercessory, 122

  prediction, observational verification and, 2–4

  Principia Mathematia (Newton), 52

  Principles of Geology (Lyell), 2

  problem of incipient stages, 68–69

  Progressive creationists, 167

  prokaryote cells, 73, 143

  gene transfer between, 145

  Prothero, Donald, 51

  Psalms 19:11, 4

  punctuated equilibrium, 11

  Ray, John, 4

  reciprocal altruism, 130, 132, 133

  Rees, Sir Martin, 55

  Rehnquist, Judge William, 98

  religion, 94

  compatibility of theory of evolution and, 113, 114, 122–25, 138

  development of, 132–33

  evolution-creation debate, real agenda of, 87–88, 104, 106–15

  and science, relationship of, see science and religion, relationship between

  spirituality, 157–59

  Republicans, acceptance of evolution by, 128–29

  ribs, thirteenth set of, 18

  RNA, 142

  rocks, dating of, 16

  Roughgarden, Joan, 151–52

  Royal Institute of Technology, 14

  Rumsfeld, Donald, 139, 140–41

  Sagan, Carl, 57, 154, 157–58

  same-sex sexuality, 151

  same-world model of relationship between religion and science, 120

  Savolainen, Peter, 14

  Scalia, Judge Antonin, 98

  Schönborn, Cardinal Christof, 113

  school curricula, 26, 91–93

  court cases, see court cases

  Schopf, William, 12, 142

  science, 89–105

  defined, 94

  Edwards v. Aguillard and criteria of, 96–99

  the real agenda of Intelligent Design, 87–88, 104, 106–15

  refutability of a claim, 121

  relevance of, 154–61

  religion and, see science and religion, relationship between

  spirituality and, 158–59, 161

  in textbooks and curricula, process for inclusion in, 91–93

  Science, 14, 75

  science and religion, relationship between, 28–29, 30, 31–32, 94, 116–25

  compatibility of, 113, 114–15, 122–25, 138

  conflicting-worlds model, 119–20

  God as a null hypothesis, 121–22

  same-world model, 120

  separate-worlds model, 120–21, 122–25, 127

  scientific community, agreement on evolution of, xvii, 21–22, 126–27

  scientific method, 94, 96–98, 111

  self-correcting feature of, 85

  Scopes, John Thomas, 25

  Scopes trial, 23–24

  instigation of, 25

  real legacy of, 25–29

  social Darwinism and, 26–28

  Scott, Eugenie, 166

  Second Law of Thermodynamics argument, 81–82

  Secular Humanism, 93

  Sedgwick, Adam, xvii

  self-organization, 64–65, 160

  separate-worlds model of relationship between religion and science, 120–21, 122–25, 127

  serial monogamy, 134

  sex-role reversal, 151

  sexual fidelity, 133–35

  sexual selection, 79–80, 151–52

  Shannon, Claude, 72

  Shermer, Michael:

  creationist beliefs, earlier, xx–xxi

  Galápagos Islands, retracing Darwin’s steps at, xiii–xiv, 140

  Shermer’s Last Law, 40, 64

  Singularity, 41

  skeptical principles for investigating Intelligent Design, 48–53, 61

  Smith, Adam, 136, 137

  Smithsonian Institution, 113

  snakes, vestigial organs and, 17–18

  social Darwinism, 26–28

  solar system, dating of the, 16

  species:

  definition of, 6, 79

  distribution of, explanation of, 47

  immutability of, xvi

  precipitation of speciation, 79–80

  Spencer, Herbert, 49

  spirituality, 157–59

  state boards of educati
on, exclusion of evolution from curricula by, 26

  Stenger, Victor, 57

  Stewardship Foundation, 112, 114

  string theory, 57

  Student’s Darwin, The (Aveling), 118–19

  Sulloway, Frank, 34, 36, 38, 139–40

  study of Darwin and his arrival at theory of evolution, xiii, xiv–xv

  sun, dating of the, 16

  supernatural explanations, 98, 162

  Supreme Court, 95

  Edwards v. Aguillard, 96–99, 102, 108

  Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman (Feynman), 155

  syllogistic reasoning, 24

  symbiogenesis, 92–93, 145–46

  teaching of evolution:

  “equal time” argument, 166

  exclusion from the curricula, 26

  fears of public school teachers, 33

  see also textbooks, biology

  teaching of Intelligent Design:

  Bush statements on, xviii–xix

  court cases, see court cases

  God of the Government argument, 90–91

  survey on, xviii

  Templeton Foundation, 114

  tests of evolutionary theory:

  comparative method, 15

  convergence of evidence, 12–15, 51, 87

  dating techniques, 15–16

  hypothetico-deductive method, 21–22

  intermediate fossil stages, 16

  vestigial structures, 17–19

  textbooks, biology, 26, 91–93, 127–28

  Theistic Evolutionists, 167

  theories, scientific, xix–xx, 1–2, 97

  evolution, see evolution (theory of evolution)

  relative roles of data and, 2, 3

  thioredoxin, 76

  Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), 100, 102

  Thompson, Richard, 100

  Time, 126

  Tipler, Frank, 55

  Touchstone, 108

  transitional species, 9

  fossils of, 9–11, 14, 15, 51, 69, 146–47

  Transmutation of Species (Darwin), xvi

  Truth Cannot Contradict Truth (John Paul II), 116, 124, 128

  truth telling, 133–34, 135–36

  Twain, Mark, 34

  Unification Church, 110

  Universal Probability Bound (UPB), 71–72

  universe, dating of the, 16

  University of California, Irvine, 45–46

  uterus, male, 18

  Velikovsky, Immanuel, 88

  vestigial structures, 17–19

  Virgin Mary apparitions, 61

  Voltaire, 61–62

  Vyse, Stuart, 38–39

  Wallace, Alfred Russel, xvi, 7

  “Was the World Made for Man?”, 34

  “watchmaker” argument, 4–5

  Wealth of Nations, The (Smith), 137

  Webb, John, 56–57

  “Wedge, The,” 106, 109

  Wedge of Truth, The (Johnson), 109

  Wells, Jonathan, 83, 110

  whales, vestigial organs of, 18

  What Is Creation Science? (Morris and Parker), 102

  Whewell, William, 12

  White, Timothy, 147–48

  Wilberforce, Archbishop Samuel (“Soapy Sam”), 99

  Wisdom of God Manifested in Works of the Creation (Ray), 4

  wisdom teeth, 18

  wolves, evolution of dogs and, 14

  Wonderful Life (Gould), 144

  World Summit on Evolution, 2005, 140–53

  World War I, social Darwinism and, 26, 27

  Young Earth creationism, 102, 120, 148, 166

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  MICHAEL SHERMER, PH.D., is the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine (www.skeptic.com), the executive director of the Skeptics Society, a monthly columnist for Scientific American, the host of the Skeptics Distinguished Science Lecture Series at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and the co-host and producer of the thirteen-hour Family Channel television series Exploring the Unknown. About Dr. Shermer, the late Stephen Jay Gould wrote: “As head of one of America’s leading skeptic organizations, and as a powerful activist and essayist in the service of this operational form of reason, [he] is an important figure in American public life.”

  Shermer is the author of numerous books. He has written a trilogy on belief: the bestselling Why People Believe Weird Things, on pseudoscience, superstitions, and other confusions of our time; How We Believe: Science, Skepticism, and the Search for God, on the origins of religion and belief in God; and The Science of Good and Evil: Why People Cheat, Gossip, Share, Care, and Follow the Golden Rule, on the evolutionary origins of morality. He has also published two collections of essays, Science Friction: Where the Known Meets the Unknown, about how the mind works and how thinking goes wrong, and The Borderlands of Science, which maps the fuzzy land between science and pseudoscience. He is also the author of a biography, In Darwin’s Shadow, about the life and science of the co-discoverer of natural selection, Alfred Russel Wallace, and Denying History, on Holocaust denial and other forms of pseudohistory.

  Shermer earned his B.A. in psychology from Pepperdine University, his M.A. in experimental psychology from California State University at Fullerton, and his Ph.D. in the history of science from Claremont Graduate University. He was a college professor for twenty years, teaching psychology, evolution, and the history of science at Occidental College; California State University, Los Angeles; and Glendale College. He lives in Southern California.