Michael Behe

Ohio Tackles Evolution Controversy

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/phyllisschlafly/ps20020206.shtml How the subject of evolution is treated in the classroom has emerged again as a source of controversy, this time in the Ohio State Board of Education. Until now, Ohio public schools have not mandated any direct teaching about the subject. “Standards” is the new fad sweeping across schools today, and the Ohio legislature has ordered that the Ohio Read More ›

Seeking The Deity In The Details

Since the 17th century, philosophers have been finding signs of divinity hidden within nature, in the complex and beautiful forms that life assumes. Charles Darwin and his successors dismissed that notion, but in the last 10 years, the old argument has been born again under the rubric of "intelligent design" — an idea that melds theology with molecular biology and statistical theory. Known by the shorthand "ID," the concept drew scant attention from biologists for several years, until it became clear that the design movement was selling books and attracting attention as a more scientifically sophisticated alternative to biblical creationism. Now evolutionary scientists are starting to fight back, debating the ID proponents and writing their own books in response. Read More ›

Darwin’s Black Box: A Review by Ray Bohlin

What do mouse traps, molecular biology, blood clotting, Rube Goldberg machines, and irreducible complexity have to do with each other? At first glance they seem to have little if anything to do with each other. However, they are all part of a recent book by Free Press titled, Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution by Michael Behe. Michael Behe is Read More ›

Photo by 贝莉儿 DANIST

Self-Organization and Irreducibly Complex Systems

Some biochemical systems require multiple, well-matched parts in order to function, and the removal of any of the parts eliminates the function. I have previously labeled such systems "irreducibly complex," and argued that they are stumbling blocks for Darwinian theory. Instead I proposed that they are best explained as the result of deliberate intelligent design. In a recent article Shanks and Joplin analyze and find wanting the use of irreducible complexity as a marker for intelligent design. Their primary counter-example is the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction, a self-organizing system in which competing reaction pathways result in a chemical oscillator. In place of irreducible complexity they offer the idea of "redundant complexity," meaning that biochemical pathways overlap so that a loss of one or even several components can be accommodated without complete loss of function. Here I note that complexity is a quantitative property, so that conclusions we draw will be affected by how well-matched the components of a system are. I also show that not all biochemical systems are redundant. The origin of non-redundant systems requires a different explanation than redundant ones. Read More ›
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Rhea County Courthouse in Dayton, Ohio

Scopes Trial Symbolism Holds Today

If a deeply entrenched academic truth is challenged by new scientific insights and discoveries, should authorities allow classroom discussion of such challenges? That was the question many people believe was placed on the national stage by the famous Scopes Trial in Dayton, Tennessee in 1925. This week is the 75th anniversary of the famous trial over the freedom of a Read More ›

Analytical Science at the Center of Chemistry and Beyond its Frontier

Award Address American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry Award for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Analytical Chemistry, Sponsored by Waters Corporation (Appendix on Natural Selection and References added September 26, 2000) Roland F. Hirsch, Medical Sciences Division, SC-73Office of Biological & Environmental ResearchOffice of ScienceU.S. Department of EnergyGermantown, Maryland 20874-1290 U.S.A. Introduction In accepting this award I would Read More ›

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View of red, blood-like liquid patterns
Photo by Cassi Josh on Unsplash

In Defense of the Irreducibility of the Blood Clotting Cascade

In Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution I devoted a chapter to the mechanism of blood clotting, arguing that it is irreducibly complex and therefore a big problem for Darwinian evolution. Since my book came out, as far as I am aware there have been no papers published in the scientific literature giving a detailed scenario or experiments to show how natural selection could have built the system. However three scientists publishing outside science journals have attempted to respond. Read More ›
metro park paths
Aerial shot of beautiful metropolitan Park with tree paths, sports grounds.
Aerial shot of beautiful metropolitan Park with tree paths, sports grounds.

Irreducible Complexity And Darwinian Pathways

It’s official. Behe’s concept of irreducible complexity (IC) has found itself in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. Ironically, it was introduced by two critics of ID attempting to formulate non-teleological mechanisms for spawning IC. The article is: Thornhill, R.H., Ussery, D.W. 2000. “A classification of possible routes of Darwinian evolution.” J. Theor. Bio. 203: 111-116. First of all, this article shows Read More ›

fossil-trilobite-imprint-in-the-sediment-an-imprint-of-history-fossil-trilobite-in-rock-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
fossil trilobite imprint in the sediment. An imprint of history. Fossil trilobite in rock.
Licensed from Adobe Stock

Conversion of a Darwinist

Up until a year or so ago, I believed in evolution. Since then I have undergone a conversion to an entirely different way of thinking, a conversion that is currently provoking a counterrevolution in the way I think about everything. Read More ›
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Scientific Journals
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Science vs. Science

The debate over the teaching of evolution isn't just in Kansas anymore, as other states take up the issue. While these battles make headlines, they are the fruit of a scholarly movement that has shaken up the scientific establishment. WORLD talked to four "Intelligent Design" revolutionaries who are fighting Darwinists on their own terms. Read More ›