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What Darwin Didn't Know: A Doctor Dissects the Theory of Evolution
Endorsed by William Dembski, Ph.D., the scientist at the forefront of the intelligent-design movement. Darwin might have thought twice about publishing his theories if he had had access to today's medical and microbiological discoveries. Drawing on years of research, Dr. Simmons demonstrates that the almost infinite complexity of the human anatomy simply could not have developed by chance. For Accessible, clearly presented, and utterly fascinating, What Darwin Didn't Know shows the human body to be a marvelous system constructed by an infinitely wise Designer.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
October 15, 2018
What Darwin didn't know could fill an entire book, and oh, look, it has!
"When mutations to genetic material are major, they are usually detrimental and incompatible with life (not an improvement). When they are minor, they typically dilute out and disappear."
"If life on earth has existed for three billion years and our 100-billion-cell neurological system began to with a single cell, it would have required an average of 33 new and different neurons to be added every year. Each neuron would also have to have been a perfect fit for many hundreds of connections. Three billion years, however, is probably not the correct length time. Six hundred million years may be closer--and if so, that would have required the addition of a thousand perfectly functioning nerve cells per year to reach man's present brain size."
"Our body is way too complicated to be merely a wondrous accident."
One of this book's most compelling points is that of the "whole package phenomenon" and "irreducible complexity: that a great many coordinated changes would need to occur at the same time in order for the evolving organism to be viable.
This is a excellent, thoughtful and thought-provoking book about the unlikelyhood of Darwinian evolution. Any intellectually honest and thoughtful person should read it.
"When mutations to genetic material are major, they are usually detrimental and incompatible with life (not an improvement). When they are minor, they typically dilute out and disappear."
"If life on earth has existed for three billion years and our 100-billion-cell neurological system began to with a single cell, it would have required an average of 33 new and different neurons to be added every year. Each neuron would also have to have been a perfect fit for many hundreds of connections. Three billion years, however, is probably not the correct length time. Six hundred million years may be closer--and if so, that would have required the addition of a thousand perfectly functioning nerve cells per year to reach man's present brain size."
"Our body is way too complicated to be merely a wondrous accident."
One of this book's most compelling points is that of the "whole package phenomenon" and "irreducible complexity: that a great many coordinated changes would need to occur at the same time in order for the evolving organism to be viable.
This is a excellent, thoughtful and thought-provoking book about the unlikelyhood of Darwinian evolution. Any intellectually honest and thoughtful person should read it.
Read
March 5, 2010Geoffrey Simmons, a physician, came to the hospital where my wife worked to make a presentation on his book. She came home that night jazzed about all the things he had to say. After here glowing recommendation, I could not NOT buy the book.
We hear so much about evolutionary theory and secular materialistic viewpoints in the mainstream media that one would think it's a settled fact. Dr. Simmons points out hundred...yes, hundreds! of contradictions to Darwin's view of evolution. This is not surprising given the level of science available at the time and Darwin's total lack of understanding on many topics.
Simmons moves through the entire human body illustrating step-by-step how an intelligent creator (generally called God) had to be the driving force behind our being. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the topic...skeptic or believer. If you approach this book with an open mind, I guarantee it will change your viewpoint.
We hear so much about evolutionary theory and secular materialistic viewpoints in the mainstream media that one would think it's a settled fact. Dr. Simmons points out hundred...yes, hundreds! of contradictions to Darwin's view of evolution. This is not surprising given the level of science available at the time and Darwin's total lack of understanding on many topics.
Simmons moves through the entire human body illustrating step-by-step how an intelligent creator (generally called God) had to be the driving force behind our being. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the topic...skeptic or believer. If you approach this book with an open mind, I guarantee it will change your viewpoint.
December 21, 2022
Simmons essentially tries to resurrect the strategy of the 18th c. clergyman William Paley, a minor theologian who is nevertheless a huge hit with the ID set, by using mechanical metaphors for biological structures and then circularly arguing that that the appearance of design (which equates to the appearance of intention) equals the evidence of intention (which is derived from the appearance of design). In other words, complexity equals design because complexity equals design.
This is a silly argument, of course, not because intentional design in nature is impossible, but because the phenomenon to be explained (complexity) and the reason for it (intention) have to be established by refuting the other known ways in which multifaceted and complex systems can be established (i.e. variation and selection, aka evolution). And that's very hard to do because we have 150-years-and-counting of meticulous evidence for common descent of living species and adaptation through natural filters.
So, Simmons instead just does what they all do and ignores all of this evidence and we're then left with utterly cray-cray Creationist pablum such as the lack of fossil predecessors for whales (suuuuuuper not true), the impossibility of the immune system evolving, etc. So, it's basically Michael Behe, who is a poor man's William Paley, really, really dumbed down, which is to say a poor man's version of a poor man's version of something that was unrepentantly obtuse to begin with. But it's worth the read for the kooky argument that "gifts," e.g. human attributes like writing and music and all that, mean that we must be magic and didn't come from no monkeys.
It's garbage, of course, but dude did get Creationist rock star Bill Dembski to write an endorsement, so good for you, Geoff Simmons, and I hope you made a buck off of this. Selling print is hard.
This is a silly argument, of course, not because intentional design in nature is impossible, but because the phenomenon to be explained (complexity) and the reason for it (intention) have to be established by refuting the other known ways in which multifaceted and complex systems can be established (i.e. variation and selection, aka evolution). And that's very hard to do because we have 150-years-and-counting of meticulous evidence for common descent of living species and adaptation through natural filters.
So, Simmons instead just does what they all do and ignores all of this evidence and we're then left with utterly cray-cray Creationist pablum such as the lack of fossil predecessors for whales (suuuuuuper not true), the impossibility of the immune system evolving, etc. So, it's basically Michael Behe, who is a poor man's William Paley, really, really dumbed down, which is to say a poor man's version of a poor man's version of something that was unrepentantly obtuse to begin with. But it's worth the read for the kooky argument that "gifts," e.g. human attributes like writing and music and all that, mean that we must be magic and didn't come from no monkeys.
It's garbage, of course, but dude did get Creationist rock star Bill Dembski to write an endorsement, so good for you, Geoff Simmons, and I hope you made a buck off of this. Selling print is hard.
October 16, 2012
Picked this book up at my mom's for some quick "bathroom" browsing...and ended up reading the whole thing. It's wasn't that the hypothesis was great...I just enjoyed the way he went through the systems of the body and described all the cool things our bodies do. Biology is awesome! From there he basically said...that is just too complex to be brought about by random mutations. And that was the crux of his argument - evolution couldn't do that. There are too many things dependent on other things to work, (feedback loops and what good is an eye without a brain ready to receive that information) for things to have developed mutation by mutation. Rather weak argument.
I don't think Darwin was the last word, and I doubt many do...but he was the beginning of seeing pattern, of development. While I do believe in evolution I also believe in a God, so the argument falls in-between there - somewhere in the cracks, and I come up with Evolution by Design. But since this book was aimed at simply pointing out that life could not exist without direction of some sort, I concur. However, I think his argument as presented was very weak, and not well laid out, though the points may be valid, the execution was weak. But the whole reason I kept reading it, was simply the way he laid out all the wonders of biology, and for that I found it fun.
I don't think Darwin was the last word, and I doubt many do...but he was the beginning of seeing pattern, of development. While I do believe in evolution I also believe in a God, so the argument falls in-between there - somewhere in the cracks, and I come up with Evolution by Design. But since this book was aimed at simply pointing out that life could not exist without direction of some sort, I concur. However, I think his argument as presented was very weak, and not well laid out, though the points may be valid, the execution was weak. But the whole reason I kept reading it, was simply the way he laid out all the wonders of biology, and for that I found it fun.
April 3, 2010
Had Darwin known all this, he would have stopped at adaptation...
September 10, 2020
It seems fitting that Darwin’s theory of evolution not only tells us about our past but may also help us navigate the future of life. After all, since the modern synthesis in the middle of the 20th century, evolution has become the central framework that unites all other subfields of biology.
You might say that what Darwin didn’t know is how much his ideas would become a framework for ongoing curiosity about all of life.
You might say that what Darwin didn’t know is how much his ideas would become a framework for ongoing curiosity about all of life.
April 18, 2010
I had the privilege of hearing this author speak to physicians on this topic. The presentation was wondeful, so I bought his book.
He's an M.D. who was once an atheist. He decided to convince his wife there was no god, but his research led him to become a believer and a Christian. The fossil record and life itself screams CREATION and Simmons gives many, many examples to prove it.
Darwin didn't have the ability to research the way we do today and Simmons believes Darwin would have looked at things differently if he'd had the tools we have today.
He's an M.D. who was once an atheist. He decided to convince his wife there was no god, but his research led him to become a believer and a Christian. The fossil record and life itself screams CREATION and Simmons gives many, many examples to prove it.
Darwin didn't have the ability to research the way we do today and Simmons believes Darwin would have looked at things differently if he'd had the tools we have today.
September 28, 2009
This book was written by a medical doctor who shows by incontrovertable evidence that the human body "had" to have been created by intelligent design.
April 26, 2025
Given how many complete myths the author repeats about the human body and his instistence that human pheromones exist (we have no evidence of them and humans do not have a functioning VNO despite his claims) it is a wonder this man was ever allowed in medicine.
Many of his arguments are easily disproven simply by the mere existence of currently extant species.
He doesn't seem to understand that the theory of evolution has grown and changed to better match the evidence since the time of Darwin and that The Origins of Species while an interesting scientific paper is extremely outdated and not the current science.
He could have saved the time spent writing this book of pseudoscientific nonsense simply taking an ecology class or an evolutionary biology class and actually learning anything about the subject he's claiming to refute in his book.
Many of his arguments are easily disproven simply by the mere existence of currently extant species.
He doesn't seem to understand that the theory of evolution has grown and changed to better match the evidence since the time of Darwin and that The Origins of Species while an interesting scientific paper is extremely outdated and not the current science.
He could have saved the time spent writing this book of pseudoscientific nonsense simply taking an ecology class or an evolutionary biology class and actually learning anything about the subject he's claiming to refute in his book.
May 26, 2025
the case for design or creation
This book to me was fascinating in that the author spoke of the great complexity of the human body such as breathing reproduction the circulatory system and the other great systems of the body the only conclusion I could come to is creation by one who is the ultimate builder and designer.
This book to me was fascinating in that the author spoke of the great complexity of the human body such as breathing reproduction the circulatory system and the other great systems of the body the only conclusion I could come to is creation by one who is the ultimate builder and designer.
June 28, 2021
Refreshing and enlightening
Dr Simmons gives us a wide range of items to consider that indicate intelligent design. It gives us a lot of things to think about and things to challenge others about as well.
Dr Simmons gives us a wide range of items to consider that indicate intelligent design. It gives us a lot of things to think about and things to challenge others about as well.
June 25, 2019
Easy read but typically ID: wow it's complicated so God did it argument.
September 25, 2007
This was an interesting and compelling read. Simmons really did his research and as an M.D. really knows his stuff. However, he seems to mainly present evidence against the evolutionary theory and little pointing directly to divine plan. Nevertheless, it was a very enjoyable read.
January 18, 2016
I've done a lot of reading on this subject, so most of the information presented wasn't new to me, but I did find that Dr. Simmons connected some of that information in ways that I hadn't seen or thought of before.
September 1, 2012
I'm disappointed with my first anti-evolution book. Just a bunch of, "Oh, isn't a human being so wonderful? It is just too complex and sophisticated to have ever evolved from anything else."
November 21, 2014
While the author occasionally draws tedious allegories, this book is extremely informative and sparks further interest in the human anatomy.
December 15, 2016
Brilliant at times in its analysis, but clunky and meandering a little too often.
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March 6, 2019Saw in great courses. Very informative
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews