icons of evolution

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red and white spiral background

Inherit The Spin

A year ago, I posted “Ten Questions To Ask Your Biology Teacher About Evolution.” On November 28, 2001, The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) posted its answers to my questions. According to the NCSE, many of the claims in my questions “are incorrect or misleading,” and they are “intended only to create unwarranted doubts in students’ minds about the Read More ›

Icons-of-Evolution
Illustration © Jody Sjogren, 2000

Icons of Evolution

Authored by developmental biologist and Senior Discovery Fellow Jonathan Wells, this book takes aim at 10 common “icons” used to bolster Darwin’s theory in widely used biology textbooks. The “icons” commonly cited to support evolution in textbooks turn out to be scientific urban legends, long-refuted fakes, or misrepresentations of the scientific data. One of the most famous “icons” discussed is Read More ›

It’’s not Darwin who’’s in the wrong, it’’s his supporters

Darwin’’s theory of evolution has always got under people’’s skin. Darwin himself sensed it, and held off publication for years for fear of the response it might spark. His fears were well-placed: even now, more than 150 years since his treatise appeared, bitter arguments still rage over its implications. They are not all fuelled by fundamentalist Christians insisting that the Read More ›

Response to Jerry Coyne’s Review of Icons of Evolution

On April 12, 2001, Nature published a review of Jonathan Wells’s book, Icons of Evolution, by University of Chicago evolutionary biologist Jerry A. Coyne. (Nature 410, 745-746). About half of Coyne’s review consists of personal attacks on Wells, while most of the other half took exception with Wells’s criticism of the way Darwinists use distorted drawings of vertebrate embryos to Read More ›

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Quote by Benjamin Cardozo on Berkeley Law School
You will study the wisdom of the past, for in a wilderness of conflicting counsels, a trail has there been blazed. You will study the life of mankind, for this is the life you must order, and, to order with wisdom, must know. You will study the precepts of justice, for these are the truths that through you shall come to their hour of triumph. Here is the high emprise, the fine endeavor, the splendid possibility of achievement, to which I summon you and bid you welcome.
Quote by Benjamin Cardozo on Berkeley Law School

On Open Minded Research

Some critics have accused Jonathan Wells of being biased in pursuing his Ph.D. in biology from the University of California at Berkeley. As a result, these critics charge, his arguments against Darwinism are false and should not be seriously considered. Read More ›

Should Students Be Taught the Truth about Evolution?

To the Editor: In his review of my recent book, Icons of Evolution, in the February issue of The World & I, University of Kansas paleontologist Larry Martin concludes that although the book is full of sound and fury, it doesn’t signify much. But Professor Martin has ignored or distorted my main points. Icons of Evolution relies on published scientific Read More ›

Photo by Felicia Buitenwerf

Evolution Debate: Student Leads Textbook Challenge

PERKASIE, Pennsylvania (CNN) — It’s a debate that just won’t go away. The latest battleground over the teaching of evolution in public schools is in the town of Perkasie, Pennsylvania. But what makes this particular debate unique is that the campaign against teaching evolution is being led not by parents or politicians, but a high school student. Joe Baker, 19, Read More ›

biology-textbooks-shelves

An Evaluation of Ten Recent Biology Textbooks And Their Use of Selected Icons of Evolution Evaluated

An evaluation of ten textbooks. In general, an "A" requires full disclosure of the truth, discussion of relevant scientific controversies, and a recognition that Darwin's theory — like all scientific theories — might have to be revised or discarded if it doesn't fit the facts. An "F" indicates that the textbook uncritically relies on logical fallacy, dogmatically treats a theory as an unquestionable fact, or blatantly misrepresents published scientific evidence. Read More ›