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Martin Luther King on the Design of the Universe

The Center for Science and Culture
January 18, 2021
He talked as though he unfolded the seasons and provided the fertility of the soil, controlled the rising and the setting of the sun, and regulated the natural processes that produce the rain and the dew. He had an unconscious feeling that he was the Creator, not a creature.  This man-centered foolishness has had a long and oftentimes disastrous reign in the history of mankind. Sometimes it is theoretically expressed in the doctrine of materialism, which contends that reality may be explained in terms of matter in motion, that life is “a physiological process with a physiological meaning,” that man is a transient accident of protons and electrons traveling blind, that thought is a temporary product of gray matter, and that the events of history are an interaction of …

Darwin’s Impact on Society in Under 3 Minutes

His Ideas Changed Our World
The Center for Science and Culture
July 28, 2020
Darwin’s theory of evolution didn’t just affect science. It had a dramatic impact on our global culture. Learn about the far-ranging consequences of Darwin’s theory for society in less than 3 minutes in this provocative video. …

A Whale of an Evolution Tale

Episode Two of Long Story Short
The Center for Science and Culture
April 23, 2020
Darwinists often point to the whale fossil record as one of the best examples of an evolutionary transition. But is it? Charles Darwin wrote in The Origin of Species: “I can see no difficulty in a race of bears being rendered, by natural selection, more and more aquatic in their structure and habits, with larger and larger mouths, till a creature was produced as monstrous as a whale.” Bears turning into whales? Scientists today disagree, instead claiming that other land animals were the real precursors to today’s whales.

Is Homology Evidence for Evolution?

Long Story Short: Episode 1
The Center for Science and Culture
January 15, 2020
Is homology due to common descent or common design? Is descent with modification overwhelmingly obvious? The standard definition of homology is the similarity of the structure, physiology, or development of different species of organisms based upon their descent from a common evolutionary ancestor- the structural identity of parts in distinct species such as the human hand, the wing of a bird, and the flipper of a seal. But is this really the case? The answer: “Homology can’t be used as evidence for evolution because it assumes the very thing it’s trying to prove.” In other words, Homology therefore evolution, evolution therefore homology. “And when biologists try to fix this by pointing to DNA or other areas it only further undermines the case.” For more on this …

Responses to Criticism of Michael Behe’s Darwin Devolves

An evolving record of the scientific dialogue on Darwin Devolves
The Center for Science and Culture
February 15, 2019
With the release of Michael Behe’s Darwin Devolves, the scientific dialogue between its detractors and defenders continues. Here we collect some of the most noteworthy criticisms and responses by Michael Behe and others. Find the most comprehensive coverage and most recent responses of Darwin Devolves at Evolution News. Re: Lents at Skeptic Magazine Regarding “Behe’s Last Stand: The Lion of Intelligent Design Roars Again” by Nathan H. Lents at Skeptic Magazine, Volume 24, Number 1 (March 2019). “Does T-urf13 Refute Irreducible Complexity? A Response to Arthur Hunt” at Evolution News (April 2, 2019).“In His Latest Review of Behe’s Darwin Devolves, Nathan Lents Misses the Forest for the Trees” by Brian …

Scientists Dissent from Darwinian Theory

The Center for Science and Culture
February 12, 2019
Today is Darwin’s Day, the birthday of the venerated Charles Darwin, whose theory is a fact beyond question. Right? The journal Nature assures its readers, “Scientists can treat evolution by natural selection as, in effect, an established fact.” Or as philosopher Michael Ruse wonderfully put it, “Evolution is a fact, fact, FACT!” The insistence on this point encourages a certain skepticism, though. As others have pointed out, evolution is supposed to be as certain gravity, yet nobody goes around saying, “Gravity is a fact, fact, FACT!” and nobody says gravity is as certain as evolution. Against this backdrop, Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture noted last week that the Scientific Dissent from Darwinism has topped 1,000+ names. Over at the Dissent …

Essential Readings

Intelligent Design, Darwinian Evolution, and the Impact of Science on Culture
The Center for Science and Culture
September 5, 2014
10 Essential Books (Science) The Design InferenceWilliam A. Dembski and Winston EwertNovember 16, 2023Intelligent DesignA landmark of the intelligent design movement, The Design Inference revolutionized our understanding of how we detect intelligent causation. Originally published twenty-five years ago, it has now been revised and expanded into a second edition that greatly sharpens its exploration of design inferences.Read More ... Darwin’s DoubtStephen C. MeyerJune 18, 2013Intelligent DesignWhen Charles Darwin finished The Origin of Species, he thought that he had explained every clue, but one. Though his theory could explain many facts, Darwin knew that there was a significant event in the history of life that his theory did not explain. During this event, the …

The Workhorse of the Cell: Kinesin

Editor and The Center for Science and Culture
May 13, 2014
Masterpieces of microengineering, kinesins are motorized transport machines that move cellular materials to their correct locations in the cell so they can perform their functions. Kinesins have two feet, or “globular heads,” that literally walk, one foot over another. Known as the “workhorses of the cell,” kinesins can carry cargo many times their own size. …

A Précis of Darwin’s Doubt

The Explosive Origin of Animal Life and the Case for Intelligent Design
The Center for Science and Culture
June 18, 2013
A comprehensive critique of the neo-Darwinian paradigm, examining the Cambrian explosion, where nearly all of the major animal phyla appeared abruptly in the fossil record, without evolutionary precursors.

ATP Synthase: The Power Plant of the Cell

The Center for Science and Culture
January 21, 2013
ATP Synthase is a molecular machine found in many living organisms. It serves as a miniature power-generator, producing an energy-carrying molecule, adenosine triphosphate, or ATP.

Science and Human Origins

The Center for Science and Culture
June 18, 2012
Science & Human Origins, a provocative book from Discovery Institute Press, boldly addresses some of the most popular evolutionary arguments pertaining to controversial claims that humans and apes are related through common ancestry. In Science & Human Origins three scientists challenge the claim that undirected natural selection is capable of building a human being. The authors critically assess fossil and genetic evidence that human beings share a common ancestor with apes, and debunk recent claims that the human race could not have started from an original couple. The three scientists — molecular biologist Dr. Douglas Axe, developmental biologist and geneticist Dr. Ann Gauger, and earth scientist Casey Luskin investigate some of the most pressing questions …

Peer Reviewed Works

The Center for Science and Culture
December 2, 2011
Editor’s Note: While intelligent design (ID) research is a new scientific field, recent years have been a period of encouraging growth, producing a strong record of peer-reviewed scientific publications. In 2011, the ID movement counted its 50th peer-reviewed scientific paper and new publications continue to appear. The current boom goes back to 2004, when Discovery Institute senior fellow Stephen Meyer published a groundbreaking paper advocating ID in the journal Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. There are multiple hubs of ID-related research. Biologic Institute, led by molecular biologist Doug Axe, is “developing and testing the scientific case for intelligent design in biology.” Biologic conducts laboratory and theoretical research on the origin …

Is the Human Genome Garbage?

Biologist says "no" in new book The Myth of Junk DNA
The Center for Science and Culture
May 3, 2011
SEATTLE — Forty years ago scientists discovered that more than 95% of our DNA does not encode proteins. Since then the non-protein-coding portion was labeled “junk” and attributed to molecular accidents that have accumulated in the course of evolution. Now, biologist Dr. Jonathan Wells exposes The Myth of Junk DNA (Discovery Institute Press 2011) and shows that contrary to being just evolutionary flotsam and jetsam, much of our non-protein-coding DNA performs essential biological functions. Wells, author of the acclaimed Icons of Evolution, wrote The Myth of Junk DNA in order to highlight the increasingly abundant evidence from scientific literature and recent genome projects showing that “junk DNA” is but a myth. “Wells has clearly done his homework He cites hundreds …

California Science Center to Pay Attorneys’ Fees and Settle Open Records Lawsuit by Intelligent Design Group

The Center for Science and Culture
June 14, 2010
Los Angeles — The California Science Center (CSC) has agreed to settle a lawsuit with the pro-intelligent design Discovery Institute and release records that it previously sought to conceal regarding its cancellation of the screening of a pro-intelligent design film last year. “After months of stonewalling by the Science Center, this is a huge victory for the public’s right to know what their government is doing, especially when the government engages in illegal censorship and viewpoint discrimination,” said Dr. John West, Associate Director of Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture. The Science Center continues to “deny any and all liability relating to the claims,” according to the settlement agreement. However, it agreed to pay Discovery Institute’s …

What Is Evolution?

The Center for Science and Culture
May 1, 2009
The debate over evolution can be confusing because equivocation has crept into the discussion. Some people use “evolution” to refer to something as simple as small changes in the sizes of bird beaks. Others use the same word to mean something much more far-reaching. Used one way, the term “evolution” isn’t controversial at all; used another way, it’s hotly debated. Used equivocally, “evolution” is too imprecise to be useful in a scientific discussion. Darwin’s theory is not a single idea. Instead, it is made up of several related ideas, each supported by specific arguments: Evolution #1: First, evolution can mean that the life forms we see today are different than the life forms that existed in the distant past. Evolution as “change over time” can also refer to …

What Is the Science Behind Intelligent Design?

The Center for Science and Culture
May 1, 2009
Intelligent design (ID) is a scientific theory that employs the methods commonly used by other historical sciences to conclude that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection. ID theorists argue that design can be inferred by studying the informational properties of natural objects to determine if they bear the type of information that in our experience arises from an intelligent cause. The form of information that is produced by intelligent action, and thus reliably indicates design, is generally called “specified complexity” or “complex and specified information” (CSI). An object or event is complex if it is unlikely, and specified if it matches some independent …

Design in the Bible and the Early Church Fathers

The Center for Science and Culture
April 1, 2009
The idea that human beings can observe signs of intelligent design in nature reaches back to the foundations of both science and civilization. In the Greco-Roman tradition, Plato and Cicero both espoused early versions of intelligent design. In the history of science, most scientists until the latter part of the nineteenth century accepted some form of intelligent design, including Alfred Russel Wallace, the co-discoverer with Charles Darwin of the theory of evolution by natural selection. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, meanwhile, the idea that design can be observed in nature can be found not only in the Bible but among Jewish philosophers such as Philo and in the writings of the Early Church Fathers. This sourcebook contains a collection of some of the main texts on design from both …

The Design of Life: Discovering Signs of Intelligence In Biological Systems

The Center for Science and Culture
September 5, 2008

For the newcomer to ID, Design of Life offers clearly written and well-illustrated chapters explicating ID's basic scientific concepts, such as irreducible complexity and specified complexity. Design of Life even gives accessible discussions of more complex issues, such as the "irreducible core," or explaining how specified complexity is detected in the research of Douglas Axe, who found that the odds of obtaining a functional β-lactamase domain are less than one in 10^64.

For the ID-guru, Design of Life covers many hot topics. This includes a lucid explanation of the integrated, unevolvable complexity in the neck of the giraffe, a potent critique of the alleged transition from reptiles to mammals, and a critical analysis of the evidence used to support the hypothesis that whales evolved from land-mammals. The advanced reader will devour the General Notes, which expose the bankruptcy of Darwinist attacks...