Evolution vs. Creationism: Inside the Controversy

by Scientific American

Charles Robert Darwin’s 1859 landmark book, "On the Origin of Species," introduced the theory of biological evolution to the masses and kicked off a controversy of ideas that persists to this day. Darwin knew he would face religious opposition to a theory of creation that differed from the story in Genesis, but he probably didn’t imagine how long that opposition would last. More than 150 years after "Origin," the fight over teaching evolution rages on. Creationists, or those who hold the belief that the universe and all life was made by divine creator, have tried to use a myriad of tactics either to ban the teaching of evolution entirely or to have creationism and/or intelligent design taught alongside it in public schools. In this eBook, "Evolution vs. Inside the Controversy," we take a close look at the rise of Darwinism, the arguments and opposition by the creationist movement, whether faith and science can coexist and what could happen if the U.S. continues on an anti-science trajectory. In “The Origin of Darwinism,” author C.D. Darlington provides historical context by looking at how the work of other scientific pioneers laid the foundation for "Origin" and how Darwin’s own ideas “evolved” over time. “A Witness at the Scopes Trial” is a fascinating first-hand account of the 1925 court case where Tennessee biology teacher John Thomas Scopes was tried for teaching evolution. John Rennie’s “15 Answers to Creationists Nonsense” is a thoughtful, concise refutation of the main arguments against evolution, such as “Evolution is just a theory.” On the flip side, in “Should Science Speak to Faith?” scientists Laurence M. Krauss and Richard Dawkins discuss whether science and faith can coexist. With this eBook, we went from deep in our archives to current events to examine the revolutionary impact of Darwin’s theory and the controversy that continues today.

Genres: Science, Religion

182 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 6, 2017

About the author

Scientific American , as an institutional author, is a popular science magazine founded by Rufus M. Porter and controlled by Nature Publishing Group since autumn, 2008. Mariette DiChristina has been editor-in-chief since December, 2009.

Reviews

[Kem White · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a hodgepodge of articles from Scientific American Magazine, transcripts from its podcast, and posts from the SciAm blog. In terms of technical content, this compendium is first rate. Darlington's article on "The Origin of Darwinism" dated 1959 and Grant's article on his research on Darwin's finches in the Galapagos dated 1991 are both excellent scientific articles. Fay-Cooper Cole's personal account of the 1925 Scopes Trial is by far the most interesting in this collection as it provides useful historical context (not to mention a fascinating eyewitness account). Nicholas Matzke's interview with his description on the phylogenetics of creation bills in state legislatures is very telling. But the editorial quality of the book is only mediocre. There are many typos. Transcripts are not particularly well-edited, and there are glaring omissions. Gary Stix's introduction to Section 5 mentions two essays that aren't present in the Kindle edition of this book at all.

The teaching of creationism in public schools has become somewhat of a political sideshow. (Though creationism continues to exist in home school texts and charter schools.) But creationism's anti-science offshoots - climate change denialism, rhetoric from anti-vaxxers, stem cell research hysteria - remain. And just this week, we learned how firmly entrenched anti-science thinking is at the federal level as Republicans attack the validity of science itself as a basis for public policy. So in this regard, "Evolution vs. Creationism" is still worth a read. Recommended.

[Edwin Dalorzo · Rating 3 out of 5]

One-side point of view of the problem

This is a collection of interesting articles and interviews related to the fight between science and religion, particularly in the USA. Most of it is about the debate of the teaching of evolution on schools and about whether intelligent design can be considered scientific or not; but there are some articles that cover the problem of science and religion from other perspectives, for example, from the political point of view of the two major US parties.

The material is quite interesting and some of the interviews were enlightening. However everything is from the perspective of the defenders of science. All interviews and all articles are written by people that wanted to defend the science point of view and as such this collection is totally partialized and it is of little value to get an objective point of view on the problem.

I might well agree that the arguments from the science community are solid and make all the sense in the world, but my critique is that this collection, given its name, should have included a few interviews and articles from the defenders of religion such that we, the readers, could form an opinion of our own.

[Brad Wiebe · Rating 4 out of 5]

You've probably heard the phrase, "A fact is a fact whether one 'believes' it or not."
There is no controversy with evolution.

[Ace · Rating 1 out of 5]

No view from the Creationist side, therefore Biased.