Average customer rating:
- very interesting account
- WHAT CONTROVERSY?
- A Riveting Account Well Worth the Read
- Get the monkey off Darwin's back
- Riveting
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Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America's Soul
Edward Humes
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ASIN: 0060885483
Release Date: 2007-01-30 |
Book Description
What should we teach our children about where we come from?
Is evolution good science? Is it a lie? Is it incompatible with faith?
Did Charles Darwin really say man came from monkeys? Have scientists really detected "intelligent design"—evidence of a creator—in nature?
What happens when a town school board decides to confront such questions head-on, thrusting its students, then an entire community, onto the front lines of America's culture wars?
From bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize- winning journalist Edward Humes comes a dramatic story of faith, science, and courage unlike any since the famous Scopes Monkey Trial. Monkey Girl takes you behind the scenes of the recent war on evolution in Dover, Pennsylvania, the epic court case on teaching "intelligent design" it spawned, and the national struggle over what Americans believe about human origins.
Told from the perspectives of all sides of the battle, Monkey Girl is about what happens when science and religion collide.
Customer Reviews:
very interesting account.......2007-09-27
This is a well-written account of the evolution-ID battle in Dover, Pennsylvania. It is more even-handed than many accounts, and attempts to describe the personalities involved. More of a sociological and journalistic treatment than a biological or education one, but the story is well-told, gripping, and complicated nuances are explained clearly.
WHAT CONTROVERSY?.......2007-09-12
Our president was recently quoted as saying the "jury is still out" on evolution. (To which Lewis Black replied: "WHAT jury, where?")
Where, indeed?
There's no need to mince words here: evolutionary theory - Darwin's defined mechanism of change through random mutation and natural selection - has been widely confirmed by modern genetics, to say nothing of "hard" evidence in the form of transitional species in the fossil record.
Specifically, the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA as the molecular building block and instructional "codebook" of life, and human genome coding - which were unknown in Darwin's day - all tend to validate evolution.
"As the science of biochemistry has developed, as the science of cell biology, genetics, molecular biology, and other elements of science have developed, all of these have fit beautifully into the general framework described by Darwin almost 150 years ago!" says biology professor and textbook author Kenneth Miller.
Yet there are still those in our society who would have us believe that - to paraphrase Tina Fey - Adam and Eve rode dinosaurs to church! It seems that these misguided and misinformed souls, (who apparently regard The FLINTSTONES as if it were a documentary,) would presume to indoctrinate our children rather than teach them.
We can thank the Founding Fathers for their wisdom and foresight in giving us the Establishment Clause - thereby fashioning a nation in which religion and government were never to interfere with each other. Without its protection, we'd all be fighting the same Dark Age, regressive, anti-intellectual forces that the parents of Dover, Pennsylvania suddenly found themselves confronted with in 2004. (Yes, you read right - 2004. Not 1304 - or even 1804, mind you - but 2004!!)
I read Edward Humes' excellent MONKEY GIRL from cover to cover in two sittings, and I can recommend it, without reservation, to thinking adults of all walks of life. That is, people who are interested in science, reason, education, law and logic; people who care about who we really are, and how we actually came to be.
"Intelligent Design" proponents - and other children - are encouraged to wait for the comic book version.
[P.S: One amusing postscript - which isn't in the book - concerns the cretinous evangelist "Dr" Kent Hovind, a smug creationist huckster who's been spreading pseudo-scientific babble for decades, both in and out of Dover. He was sentenced in January 2007 to 10 years in Federal prison for income tax evasion. Tsk, tsk! It seems that Mr Hovind's math is just as suspect as his "science"!]
A Riveting Account Well Worth the Read.......2007-09-07
As someone who's never had issues with religion and science, including evolution, I wanted to know what all the Intelligent Design fuss was about. So I started reading books. First I read Michael Shermer's Why Darwin Matters. This peaked my interest to know more. Then I found Monkey Girl. I almost didn't buy the book, thinking that reading about a court case would be too boring. Boy was I ever wrong!
I couldn't put this book down. The author does a masterful job of painting a vivid picture of everyone involved in the case and providing helpful background information, including history sometimes going back centuries, to show how the U.S. divide between evolution and Intelligent Design came together in one school board in one high school in one small town in Pennsylvania.
Now I understand much better.
The last chapter of the book begins:
"It is humanity's unique blessing and peculiar curse to be the only species on Earth, as far as we know, that worries so obsessively and at such great expense about where we came from and why we're here."
My journey to know these things has taken me through Protestantism, Judaism, and now Buddhism. I've felt fortunate to live in a country that protects my right and everyone else's to be able to learn about and practice my chosen spiritual path. Or to choose to follow no particular path if I want.
But some Christians in this country want to do away with this right. To them, their approach to religion is the only approach. They even say it's what this country was founded on. I've read that's not the case. So now I'm reading about the faith of our founding fathers.
What bothers me the most, if the recounting of the Dover case is true, which I think it is, is that people who call themselves religious believers will lie to try to impose their beliefs on others. This seems very unChristian to me, and unJewish, unMuslim, and unBuddhist for that matter.
Given the judge's ruling in the Dover case that Intelligent Design is religion, not science, I'm hopeful that my Constitutional rights will continue to be upheld by people who understand their vital importance to our country. I have no problem with any religion, as long as I or my children or grandchildren are not required to learn about it in school or any other public or governmental place.
Get the monkey off Darwin's back.......2007-08-11
Monkey Girl, by Edward Humes, is the story about the ongoing conflict between the theory of evolution and Intelligent Design (ID). While Humes holds no official training in biology or theology, in this book he has been able to use his skills as an investigative writer to bring the conflicts of these two theories into a clearer picture than what other books have been able to achieve. According to Humes, the intent of this book was to "help dispel the larger myths about evolution theory, its relationship to religion, and the questions that science can and cannot answer." It is the goal of this author to clarify the facts of this dispute in order to allow his open-minded readers to decide what they believe to be true. I believe Humes has achieved this goal.
A major part of the appeal of this book is the style in which it is written. It allows the non-scientific reader to understand some complicated topics. As shown in the trial in Harrisburg, PA (Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover Area School District), it is very easy for people to get bogged down or even bored by the details of evolution. The greatest strength of this book is that it teaches the reader about these details inside a story that is not just easy to comprehend, but in a way that keeps the reader's attention from beginning to end. To do this, Humes ably portrays the ridiculous and shameful behavior of fundamentalist Christian groups of people who have played and who continue to play an active role in this controversy. One extremist that Humes points to is the fundamentalist speaker Kent Hovind. According to Hume, Hovind outlandishly preaches that the teaching of evolution is the cause of the moral decay in this country and is directly related to "increases in crime, premarital sex, adultery, and drug use." What is scary is that Humes never runs out of extremists to talk about, as he is able to tell the reader about death treats Judge Jones, a Republican appointed by George W. Bush and much approved of by the Intelligent Design people before the trial in Harrisburg, received when he dared to rule against their case. While the portrayal of these extremists is a strength for this book and is understandable, it also could be considered a weakness. I believe that Humes devotes too much print to these extremists. While he does say that there are mainstream Christian groups, including the Catholic Church, that have no problem with theory of evolution, much less time is given to this much larger group of people.
In leading up to the climax of this book, Humes gives the reader a history of evolution's disagreements with creationism and introduces the latest challenge, ID, being put forth by the Discovery Institute. A well-funded think tank of some very bright "scientists", the goal of the Discovery Institute is to introduce ID into the public school system. Once the stage has been set, Humes describes the scene in Harrisburg where, not only was the judge convinced that ID was essentially creationism, but also a scene where one by one, scientists convincingly showed that the theory of evolution is real science and ID is not. For example, proponents of ID dispute the evidence of decent from a common ancestor. Yet, evidence in the trial showed that the chromosomes of chimpanzees are remarkably similar to those of humans. Also, Dr. Michael Behe has argued that complex parts of an organism such as the blood-clotting cascade could not have come from evolution. His theory, irreducible complexity, is that "natural selection can't create such a complex machine all in one step, nor could it gradually assemble it in the conventional evolutionary model, one bit at a time, because the bits don't work on their own." But, much to Behe's embarrassment, his theory was proven wrong under cross-examination in a way that the judge described as "painful." Time and again, Humes describes scientists who were very able to convince the judge that the facts show that ID is not science and is religiously based and therefore should not be taught in a public school system.
Monkey Girl is a well-written and informative book that should play a crucial role in helping many legislators, judges, school officials, and average Americans understand the controversy between evolution and Intelligent Design and the true facts about each theory. In writing this book, Edward Humes has provided a valuable service to the world of science that will hopefully have a positive impact on the theory of evolution and how it relates to religious beliefs. For those mainstream Christians who believe that an intelligent designer has utilized evolution to mold the creation over the last 3.5 billion years, this book will provide some answers.
Riveting.......2007-08-10
I thought I knew a lot about the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District trial: I had read Judge Jones's decision and some of the trial testimony, I've read books written by some of the witnesses, and so forth. I expected this book to fill in around the edges of my understanding.
Instead, it showed me a whole new picture of the trial and its place in the American "culture wars." To begin with, the book is very well written and exciting. (I stayed up reading it last night four hours past my usual bedtime.) Second, it shows players on all sides as intricate, three-dimensional individuals. It would be easy to ridicule Bill Buckingham as an ignorant rube, but in this book he comes across as a man of courage and conviction, as well as a man lacking an understanding of either science or religion. Humes makes his own opinions clear, but those who disagree with him are treated with respect, while those who agree with him are not given a free pass. Finally, while Humes centers his writing on the Dover trial and the science of evolution, he also puts it into context with discussions of Scopes and Kansas, as well as the role of reason in making policy.
One specific thing I learned from this book is that Dover school board members and administrators thought that the term "origin of life" meant macroevolution, speciation, and the origin of humanity. I didn't believe anyone could be so far off base, but I looked up the trial transcripts and found that he was not exaggerating.
I found three errors: (1) Humes claims that the Revolutionary Battle of Yorktown, Virginia occurred in York, Pennsylvania. (2) He describes iron molecules (not atoms) as spin aligned. (3) He twice claims that Bill O'Reilly broadcasts for the Cable News Network. (On a third occasion Humes correctly places O'Reilly at Fox News.)
Humes's love of America, while never mentioned explicitly, comes through clearly on every page. Humes worries about our country in an environment were every complex question is reduced to a simplistic two-sided barroom brawl, and were people cannot distinguish fact from opinion.
Customer Reviews:
A Rare Gem.......2007-03-07
Having read many books on astrology, this book raised my awareness level ten fold. Extraordinary writings, yet written in simple language, revealing an uncommon depth of perception and understanding of the planets and their relationships to one another. I learned more from this book than with my therapist. Truly remarkable.
Accurate reflections of relationships.......2007-01-03
I currently have Pluto conjuncting my Sun and wanted to understand the affects of Pluto on my life... I got more out of this book about my relationships, their purpose and the overall affect of the relationship...the lessons learned. It was accurate insights and reflections of the situation. I now figure out the composite Pluto for friends and family and understand the purpose of the agreement with each person.
It has changed and added to my perspective and my spiritual journey in many ways. I highly recommend if you want to know why someone is in your life... read this book. It gives me peace of mind and direction.
Pluto: Vol 2: The Soul's Evolution Through Relationships.......2005-01-21
My GOODNESS!! What a GENIUS!! The material contained in this book will forever change the way one's deals with relationships in their own lives! It pinpoints your or your partner's own problems, issues, and sticking points with a Supreme Level of accuracy!! If you're serious about completely changing the quality of your relationship patterns for the greater benefit of soul growth and healthy partnering...THIS BOOK TELLS YOU HOW!!! TO BE READ AND RE-READ!!!!
An insightful and groundbreaking astrological text.......2002-07-28
Jeffrey Wolf Green presents a brilliant survey of Pluto and its function in personal and interpersonal relationships based on his evolutionary theory. This book is basically a philosophical look at the soul's evolution through consecutive lifetimes and Pluto's function in that process. Wolf ponders and suggests factors that cause people to choose their current destiny and "karmic" dilemmas in relationships. The most engaging aspect of this text is that it calls upon the individual to develop awareness of how one attracts and constructs the dilemmas that they are involved in. For that reason, this book suggests a path towards self-empowerment. Wolf's outline of the meaning of Venus and Mars through the twelve astrological signs is the finest on record to date. His approach to understanding these planets is to explore at a very honest and basic level the kinds of sexual expression these planetary energies require for the soul's fulfillment. In his candid approach, he freely discusses issues such as sadomasochism, masturbation, sodomy, etc. and explains them as conditions that manifest when the energies of the planets are expressed in certain evolutionary patterns. By far this is one of the finest astrological texts you could own. It is futuristic, intelligent and even if you do not agree with his philosophy, you have to give him credit for his lucid and well-codified presentation of it. This is an insightful and groundbreaking astrological text that I highly recommend.
Comprehensive Read.......1999-10-23
The sections on Venus and Mars through the signs are worth the price of the book all on their own. I found it to be a very detailed and well researched read. The author takes the time to walk the reader step-by-step through the interpretations and therefore this gives the aspects more relevance. I liked the fact that he did not shy away from the more "base" aspects. He delved into past lives, sado-masochism and sexual aspects with a fine-toothed comb. Another thing I liked was his use of the asteroids. So many "astrologers" write books with no mention of them. Astrology is certainly not a "science" of absolutes. But I take my hat off to the author who researches and incorporates the use of more than just the "usual aspects". Other authors in this field would should take pointers. For those readers who have grown tired of the usual astrology "cookbooks", sun sign generalizations and boring (read sedate) chart profiles, this book and others by this author may well be for you.
Average customer rating:
- A must
- A brave attempt at a theory of emergence
- Very disappointing
- Instant credibility problem
- View of the World
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A Brief History of Everything
Ken Wilber
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ASIN: 1570627401
Release Date: 2001-02-06 |
Amazon.com
This account of men and women's place in a universe of sex and gender, self and society, spirit and soul is written in question-and-answer format, making it both readable and accessible. Wilber offers a series of original views on many topics of current controversy, including the gender wars, multiculturalism, modern liberation movements, and the conflict between various approaches to spirituality.
Book Description
A Brief History of Everything is an altogether friendly and accessible account of men and women's place in a universe of sex, soul, and spirit, written by an author of whom New York Times reporter Tony Schwartz says: "No one has described the path to wisdom better than Ken Wilber." Wilber examines the course of evolution as the unfolding manifestation of Spirit, from matter to life to mind, including the higher stages of spiritual development where Spirit becomes conscious of itself. In each of these domains, there are recurring patterns, and by looking closely at them, we can learn much about the predicament of our worldâand the direction we must take if "global transformation" is to become a reality. Wilber offers a series of striking and original views on many topics of current interest and controversy, including the gender wars, modern liberation movements, multiculturalism, ecology and environmental ethics, and the conflict between this-worldly and otherworldly approaches to spirituality. The result is an extraordinary and exhilarating ride through the Kosmos in the company of one of the great thinkers of our time.
Customer Reviews:
A must.......2007-09-24
The Ken Wilber's wonderful vision of the universe, and the differences between mecanicist,holistic and his integrated model, all explained in an easy way-
A brave attempt at a theory of emergence.......2007-07-15
I am glad I read this book. It starts out as a brave attempt at a theory of emergence, which I think is badly needed. The four quadrant graph is a genuine contribution. The 20 tenets are nice. However, this book does not deliver its promise. To me, the rest is a confusing tale about consciousness, with many logical flaws and questionable conclusions. Disappointing is the lacking connection with Spiral Dynamics, coming up with different levels which deny the alternating "I" and "We" orientation. I hope someone will be/has been able to use the good parts of this work and integrate it into something better.
Very disappointing.......2007-05-07
Is there an intellectual sounding way to say nothing? Wilber has found it.
Instant credibility problem.......2007-02-07
This is going to sound petty to most, but it hit me really hard.
I saw this book in a store and, having heard a lot about Ken Wilber, I picked it up. Of course, I turned right away to the "Note to the Reader" in front. Within seconds I was gasping in disbelief. Here's why.
Wilber begins with one of my favorite books, Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Great, I thought, a fellow Hitchhiker's fan! But, he immediately gets it wrong, seriously wrong, several times. I quote:
"In Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a massive supercomputer is designed to give the ultimate answer, the absolute answer, the answer that would completely explain 'God, life, the universe, and everything.'"
Wrong. It's "Life, the Universe, and Everything". No mention of God. Wilber continues:
"But the computer takes seven and a half million years to do this, and by the time the computer delivers the answer, everybody has forgotten the question."
Also wrong. They never knew the question in the first place, and never realized they would have to know the question in order to understand the answer. Wilber goes on:
"Nobody remembers the ultimate question, but the ultimate answer the computer comes up with is: 42. This is amazing! Finally, the ultimate answer. So wonderful is the answer that a contest is held to see if anybody can come up with the question."
Utterly, utterly wrong. There was no "contest"; a second computer was built to find the Ultimate Question. This computer was so large it was frequently mistaken for a planet, and was called the Earth by its inhabitants. Onward:
"Many profound questions are offered, but the final winner is: How many roads must a man walk down?"
Again, wrong. The Earth was destroyed five minutes before it was due to complete its program, and those who had built it decided to come up with a fake question rather than go through the whole thing again. "How many roads must a man walk down?" was what they settled on.
So, that's four major mistakes in the first two paragraphs, about a book that's known and loved by many, many readers. If Wilber can't be bothered to get this right, then (I asked myself) how trustworthy could he be on a more serious subject such as "a brief history of everything"?
I put the book down and walked away.
View of the World.......2007-01-27
Ken Wilber's All Quadrants, All Lines view of internal, external, social and political development is by far the best and most clear world view I have seen. If you want to look at a concise model of the world, this is a must read. Ken gives us model that enables us to honor everything from the past and also contribute to humankind's future.
-Tom
Book Description
Evolutionary theory is now one of the main myths of our time. It has to bear the weight of most of our hopes and fears about what being human really means. And for over twenty years it has been riven by a holy war, conducted with an extraordinary fury that reverberates far outside the walls of academe. The two scientific camps are currently divided between 'Dawkinsians' on the one hand who may not agree with Richard Dawkins about very much but are convinced Stephen Jay Gould is dangerously wrong, and the 'Gouldians' on the other hand who take the opposite views. But who is right, or wrong, and what does it all mean? The Darwin Wars is an entertaining and lucid account of the evolution of today's neo-Darwinist theories, including the hugely influential Selfish Gene theory, and the misunderstandings and even deep hatreds that they provoke. With wit and insight, Andrew Brown puts in context the wide-reaching debate and explains its real significance for us all. For just as Darwinism now provides the main explanatory framework of our times, so disputes about Darwinism are really disputes about our very nature and place in the world
Customer Reviews:
This is NOT about Evolution VS. Creationism .......2006-09-27
The title of this book may be a little bit confusing, especially to readers in the USA.
I just want to note that this book is not about any type of debate between evolution and creationism/intelligent design. I picked it up thinking it was some type of history about the "controversy." People looking for information about that "debate" will have to look elsewhere.
This book is about the debates going on within the scientific community. This book is about Darwinian (i.e. genetic) explanations regarding human behavior and about the critics and proponents of these ideas. It mainly focuses on the ideas of Richard Dawkins vs. the ideas of Steven Jay Gould, but seems rather sympathetic to Gould's point of view, while still giving Dawkins his equal amount of "airtime."
Animal minds made human.......2006-03-11
It is exciting times to be a thinking ape. After millions of years of evolution we exist at the point in time when the implications of the discovery of our primate ancestry are being played out in the scientific, philosophical and literary worlds, when the potentials of millions of years of future evolution are being examined and even the possibilites of taking control of the destiny of our species is being entertained. And it is fitting that the men and women who are determining the scientific and cultural debate as to what it means to be a being created by the same rules that produced the earthworm should be themselves so recognisably human all too human, vividly portrayed here by Andrew Brown.
Whether or not the human animal can overcome those rules and create a world that is not destined by algorithmic game theory to contain an inherent core of suffering and exploitation is one of the key intellectual issues of the 21st century. One wont come away from reading this beautifully clear book with a definite answer, but you will gain a very human and personal sense of what is involved in merely asking the question.
Easy reading, but well researched.......2005-05-13
Ever since biologists such as Edward O. Wilson and Richard Dawkins first popularized the idea that human psychology might be explainable in Darwinian terms, they encountered fierce opposition, not only from sociologists brought up on the "standard model" whereby the mind is a blank slate, but also, and less obviously, from other biologists, such as Stephen J. Gould and Richard Lewontin, who saw evolutionary psychology as genetic determinism. The battles between different groups of biologists, whom Andrew Brown characterizes as Dawkinsians and Gouldians (while recognizing that nobody will be happy with these names: "this won't please anyone involved"), were remarkably vicious, full of ill will on both sides, and, for anyone who was not emotionally engaged in the struggle, entertaining to read about. Andrew Brown has risen warmly to the challenge, and has written a very readable book about them.
He is a journalist, and has a journalist's ability to write clearly and well, but, far more than that, he has a scholar's ability to check his facts and to get them right, and to present opinions that he does not necessarily agree with in a fair and balanced way. He interviewed many of the participants, and appears to have established friendly relations with everyone he spoke to. He has also studied the biological and philosophical aspects with care, and his opinions are worthy of respect. Only occasionally does he lapse into unsupported assertions, as, for example, when he writes "Is the difference in the striping of Burchell's and Grevy's zebra a result of different selection pressures in the different parts of Africa where these species originated, or, as is more likely, was there simply a selection for striping to which the genotypes of the two species responded differently?" With his "as is more likely" he seems to be assuming the point that he ought to be arguing.
Brown devotes several pages to a sympathetic examination of Elaine Morgan's views on the aquatic origins of humanity, ultimately coming the conclusion that they cannot be completely correct, but nonetheless treating them with far more respect than some of her critics have done. He also almost manages the superhuman feat of presenting Mary Midgley in a favourable light -- she of the "up till now I have not attended to Dawkins, thinking it unnecessary to break a butterfly upon a wheel."
As Brown notes, the Darwin wars have been quite separate from the battles with creationists, all of the participants he writes about being evolutionists, all of them regarding themselves as being in the tradition of Darwin. All of them, therefore, have been non-religious, and in some cases on the Dawkinsian side extremely hostile to religion, with an almost religious, and certainly fundamentalist, fervour in their attacks on Christianity. Brown describes himself as an atheist, albeit one who worked as the religious correspondent of a newspaper in the years before undertaking the book, but he considers that intolerant atheism can be as harmful to human freedom as intolerant religious fundamentalism. By the end of the book, therefore, one feels that although he is more of a Dawkinsian than a Gouldian he is far from being wholly on one side or the other.
It is interesting to compare The Darwin Wars with Defenders of the Truth, another book written on the same subject at about the same time by Ullica Segerstråle. The two books cover much the same ground, but Segerstråle's is much longer (about twice the length, if one allows for the larger amount of text on each page), and is written from the point of view of an academic sociologist rather than that of a journalist. She shares Brown's concern with seeing both sides of the dispute, with getting her facts right, and with presenting the different points of view in a fair way. Both books are excellent, and both are essential reading if one is interested in the subject. Neither mentions the other, but they were being written at the same time, and published at much the same time, so neither author is likely to have had access to the other's work while writing.
A pretty good look at the power of the modern synthesis.......2003-12-12
I think, first off, we ought to put away the idea that it is somehow wrong or remarkable that Brown is a journalist writing a book about science.
The extent to which a good journalist (and Brown is one) cannot sufficently grasp the issues in modern Darwinism is precisely the extent to which no popular books ought to be written about it at all, by anyone.
If an intelligent journalist working full time on the issue can't correctly understand it, what hope does the casual reader have?
The fact is that most of the issues really aren't all that tough, and where things do get complicated, the issues are often philosophical and interpretive. Areas where scientists have not shown themselves to be particularly adroit (as Brown notes). There is plenty of writing out there by scientists whose credentials in the lab are impeccable and whose command of the facts I wouldn't dare to question.
But when some of these folks quit the job of fact gathering and start interpreting and sketching out implications . . . well, let's just say that words & phases like naive, wishful thinking, overly ambitious and even stupid start coming to mind.
Brown (though he briefly forgets which sex is XY) generally seems to have his facts straight, he digs up little-told portions of the history of the Darwin Wars, and has an interesting take on the personalities involved.
Brown's philosophical sympathies lie with the Gould camp (emphasizing the limits on what science can really say with confidence about things like society and culture), but he presents a pretty balanced view nonetheless, very solid on the sometimes rather half-baked philosphical underpinnings of scientific interpretation at its most exalted (and perhaps most dangerous) level.
A valuable book.
A battlefield tour.......2002-05-20
A journalist writing on science embarks on a perilous journey. Preparation requires knowledge of the path, the likely hazards, and how to avoid awkward detours. When the trail passes through a disputed area, every risk is multiplied. In this instance, the dispute is interpreting how Darwin's idea of natural selection works. Andrew Brown makes a valiant effort to learn the route, chart the perils and keep to the centre. Even his vivid writing skills can't prevent him failing on nearly every count. Granted, the best informed writers have stumbled on the same trek. Brown, however, misses the whole point of the dispute.
His Foreward states that "Darwinian explanations" about the world have led to acrimonious scientific debate. The remainder of the book tries to outline those debates and their participants. The tragic story of George Price, a transplanted American who died in London in 1974, reveals the issue. Price had reformulated William Hamilton's earlier work on altruism. Nature, it seemed, offered little reward for altruism. The knowledge sent Price first into insanity, then suicide. The Hamilton/Price work brought Richard Dawkins to develop his idea of "the selfish gene." Brown struggles to comprehend Dawkins' idea that strings of molecules "desire" only to replicate. He turns to Dawkins' appearance and antecedents to relieve his confusion. He scorns Dawkins use of metaphor, labelling him "vulgar", then fills
this book with his own. Dawkins becomes the label for thinkers in one side of Brown's Darwin Wars - the "Dawkinsians." Although admitting its weakness, Brown retains the identification throughout.
The Dawkinsians are countered by the allies of Stephen J. Gould - "the pope of paleontology." Brown is clearly in awe of Gould's writing ability and reputation for accuracy. Unfortunately, Brown's veneration shields him from another of Gould's talents - the building of artificial targets for scathing assaults. Brown is more correct in his labelling of "Gouldians," since his quotes of Gould, Lewontin and Rose follow the long-established pattern. Lewontin characterized E.O. Wilson's Sociobiology as "bad science," even in the face of later work supporting it. Brown notes that Gould, Lewontin and Rose stood aligned against the rising science of evolutionary psychology. There's another aspect of Gouldians Brown favours. Brown, an athiest who writes for religious journals [i'm not making this up!], sympathizes
with Gould's "respect" for religions as opposed to Dawkins' argument that "any religion is irrational." Ultimately, when Brown takes an capricious detour later in the book, grants Gould and his "position" acceptable.
The detour is into the realm of philosophy. It's bad enough for a religion writer to attempt to write on science. Brown's excursion into science-cum-philosophy is wholly unwarranted. All the more so when he openly admits his inadequacies. Gould's most incisive critic isn't Dawkins, it's philosopher Daniel C. Dennett. Brown confesses his failure to understand Dennett's "Consciousness Explained," although that excellent book is but thinly related to Brown's theme. The real thrust is Dennett's "Darwin's Dangerous Idea," which Brown doesn't understand either, but he fails to state that as openly. Brown claims DDI is a "freshly ground axe," instead of a surgically precise instrument eviscerating Gould's misuse of evidence. Because Dennett isn't a biologist, Brown accuses him of a "let's you and him fight" attitude, running from the fray after initiating it. Anyone who has read Dennett will never forgive such a slander. As a counter to Dennett, Brown gambits British philosopher Mary Midgley "in her large, sensible shoes." Besides her footwear, Midgely contributed only "her gift for the eviscerating phrase" to the debate. Her science, even Brown admits, was "confused and ignorant." Perhaps Brown is correct in assigning her to the Gouldian faction.
Brown fails to directly come to grips with the fundamental issue. How did natural selection produce thinking humans, and what, if any, is their role in the universe? After his tour of the biological battleground, he uses a cute chapter title, "How the Meme Raths Outgrabe" to again display his faulty understanding of Dawkins. Brown uses Dawkins' idea of the "meme," a replicable idea, to introduce a discussion of "morality." This was the issue that drove Price to suicide, Brown reminds us. Is the universe benevolent, offering some hope in the face of injustice? Or is it malign, a condition which brings Midgley again forward to declare as "madness." Brown, however, fails to consider the proper alternative - the universe is indifferent. If he'd read Dennett instead of maligning him, Brown might have caught the point.
There's some value in this book in the introduction of some issues and a few of the personalities. If you wish to understand why the Darwin Wars came about, however, you must turn to the sources. A compromise option is Ullica Segerstrale's Defenders of the Truth. Although excellent, its focus is on the American participants, which, thankfully, omits Midgley.
Product Description
This book redefines the story of Heaven's Gate told by the last insider. A well written, autobiographical, true-life account experienced by Rio DiAngelo. After turning forty, feeling grateful for a full creative life he prays to God for a way to give back. In 1994 he joins the Heaven's Gate celibate monastery for men & women to focus on God & self-improvement. Soon after finding that the group of people believed they were the Second Coming of Jesus and His present day Disciples. Includes Rios three years with the group and 39 personal pre-suicide statements from all members recorded days before their mass suicide in 1997.
Find out:
* The untold truth about the largest mass suicide in U.S. history.
* Why they did it.
* Why the news media did not report the whole story.
* How they knew it was the present day Jesus.
* How the members created a Soul to make the transition.
Book Description
How should we then live?
Abide as That, which is I as well as You, as well as everyone else, is the basis of All, is one without anything else whatsoever, is extremely Pure and the undifferentiated Whole, and with the firm conviction that you are That, be always happy. -- Heart of the Rhibhu Gita 26:30
Customer Reviews:
Are you in search for a spiritual awakening?.......2007-09-07
By Sofia Steryo-Bartmus, Author "Paws of Wisdom" Valuable Lessons We
Can Learn From Our Pets
This book is not about Amish Tradition and lifestyle, but rather a book with two purposes. First, it is a gift from the Author to his grandchildren, sharing his life journey, and his search and discovery of God. Second, having endured and overcome childhood physical and mental abuse, Orva wants to share his deliverance and freedom with others who also have gone through similar life circumstances.The message found throughout the book is that we can seek God and find him within our hearts. God can transform us from a life of despair, depression, pain and suffering, to a life of love, acceptance, gratitude, happiness, peace and joy. It is up to us to break the chains that hold us in bondage. As Orva grows up he observes something that is disturbing to him: His father is a 'spiritual leader' in the community, and yet he is cruel and brutal and abuses Orva every chance he gets. He concludes that Christianity is a hypocritical religion rather than a loving and transforming belief system, so he begins his "search" for God and Truth in other belief systems, mainly the Eastern Philosophies.
Whether the reader agrees or disagrees with Orva's philosophies, one cannot dispute the fact that most people at some point in their lives question the meaning of life and what we're all about. Why was I born? What is my purpose in life? We are all searching for the Divine and the Truth within us. Orva writes: you need to meditate and take quiet time to be with God. "Be still and know that I am God". God is all around us, in everything we do and in all creation.
Orva has done a great job in compiling the information in an orderly fashion, ranging from age 24-56. He does that through a collection of poems, essays, and reviews of books he has read. If you are searching for a spiritual awakening this book is a great resource. Orva has done extensive research on the subject and he recommends over 25 books for further reading, besides the ones he reviewed on Amazon.com.
Grandpa's Notebooks.......2007-09-03
If you ae motivated to begin, continue, or enhance your search for truth and share another person's search for truth, Grandpa's notebooks is a must read. Orva takes you on his journey in looking for truth and accepting oneself regardless of your childhood experiences.
Along the way I joined hands with Orva and felt more empowered as I continue my search for truth.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is seeking to understand themselves better and perhaps realizing that our experiences may provide our answers for truth.
Inspirational Writings.......2007-08-02
Grandpa's Notebooks is a collection of poems, quotes and short stories revealing insights about life. The author writes of a journey of strength and inspiration in a spiritual world. This book can be a tool to help others who have suffered in areas of their life giving them encouragement with the guidance of God that they will see the light at the end of the tunnel. The writings are of the author's own hopes, dreams, fears, triumphs and failures.
But more important, it is about the search of truth. It is an excellent book.
Notebooks.......2007-07-13
The Amish lifestyle is different. The words of wisdom throughout the book is impressibe. It is well worth reading. The thoughts and aspirations of someone who is genuine is apparent throughout the works. Orva wrote an excellant book. The kind and gentle nature and awe of the world is appearent with every word
"Teach Me Lord".......2007-06-07
Grandpa's Notebooks is a masterful collection of quotes, poems and life stories put together in a way the reader is able to gain much insight and hopefully be able to grow as an individual in the same way the author has.
This book is very meaningful for me as a way to understand where my father, Orva, began his journey as a child and to learn what he has had to travel through to become the truly incredible person he is today.
I believe Grandpa's Notebooks is a tool to help others who have suffered in past relationships to know that you can be at the depths of turmoil and as long as you keep heading in the right direction, with God's steady hand of guidance, you will make it!
I love the poem titled "Teach Me Lord" on page 31
"Help me Lord, be more tomorrow
than I was today
Impart to me your Holy Wisdom
Teach me what to say
Show me Lord, the path of Heaven
Let me taste delight
Bless me with your grace and mercy
Cleanse my clouded sight"
As with all true stories, there are always times in life which are hard to speak about..while reading these things that touch my life personaly can be tough, none-the-less, they are still true. Truth is the only thing that can set families and individuals free and I applaud you Dad for being brave, for enduring so much and for writing the tough stuff that needs to be said inorder to lead a healthy, productive life. Your honesty will not only help future generations in our family but hopefully, somewhere along the lines it can help someone else's family.
Book Description
The present compilation is an attempt to bring together in one volume the manifold teachings pertaining to the psychic being which are to be found in the numerous works of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. The selections deal with the nature of the psychic being, shedding the light of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother on the inner constitution of the human being and on various related questions such as the process of inner growth, the afterlife, and rebirth.
Customer Reviews:
No introduction!.......2004-07-02
The book suffers from not having a suitable introduction. An explanation of the significance of the subject-matter of the book was sorely missed. The first part of the book describes the troubles Sri Aurobindo and the Mother had to go through to explain the translation of the inner I or chaitya purusha or soul as the psychic being. The chaitya purusha is one of the most important teachings of Sri Aurobindo.
The chaitya purusha is not the jivaatman. The jivaatman is the akartaa witness, the chaitya purusha is associated with ahamkaara, therefore, the doer. If I understood it correctly, the chaitya purusha is the bird that eats the fruit while the jivaatman watches.
Book Description
Robert Keck's new science of the collective human Soul's evolutionary journey makes sense of current, worldwide paradigm shifts and faith-quakes, and it promotes our participation in spiritual emergence.
Scientists, examining "Lucy's" ancient remains, learned much about how she lived, but nothing about what she valued in her heart. Keck's original Deep-value Research, going beyond science, investigates the deep causal values that shape human cultures and determine why certain thought and behavior become dominant. Despite our longing for stability and predictability, science suggests that the universe is not a steady-state reality. Keck's research suggests a similarity in the spiritual realm: change, evolution, and transformation are basic ingredients of the Soul's history.
Keck's model divides the Soul's evolution into three stages. Epoch I, lasting from about 35,000 to 10,000 years ago, corresponds to "childhood." Epoch II, from 10,000 years ago to the present, is the soul's "adolescence." We are now experiencing the chaos of the transformation to Epoch III, our spiritual adulthood. Keck explains the unique confusion within which we live by identifying those spiritually adolescent values that are dying and those adult ones being born.
"Questions for those on a quest," which conclude each chapter, encourage us to seek the meaning and purpose of our connections-to other people, to nature, and to the Spirit that creates, permeates, and sustains the universe.
Customer Reviews:
Evolving but for what purpose?.......2004-09-08
The concept of evolution of the soul was very interesting and it was easy to acknowledge the progression that the author clearly pointed out. What was left out of the discussion was the "why" of the process along with the purpose of the resulting product. With physical evolution the process in place generally leads to a hardier species, one more capable of surviving the environment and competion with other species. With evolution of the soul, survival of the fittest doesn't seem to work, and surviving some future environment also does not make much sense, particulary if we assume that the time of turmoil and upheaval is coming to a close as we move from adolesence into maturity.
It seems the author was very good at leading others down a specific path but halfway there he appears to have gotten lost and confused on the subsequent direction or future destinations. It is an easy out to say we just can't know all things, but I for one was interested in seeing some clues to the "rest of the story". Also, based on the concept that we are in the adolesence of the soul which accounts for many of the issues we are facing as a collective species, I was left with the feeling that I have been short changed by fate. Rather than viewing myself as lucky like the author that we are witnesses to such dramatic change, I am instead left feeling that we are forced to live in this immature soul condition while the future generations get the benefit. They will lead a comfy soul existance without all the heartache. The benefit of inheritance without the necessity of the work. One would think that very physical world concept would not carryover so easily into the divinity of the soul.
Overall, interesting concepts but it only opened the door to a discussion, and at times it seems the discussion has no place left to go until the author can surmise what the purpose and ultimate goal of soul evolution would be.
This book changed the way I look at life.......2000-11-28
When I came across this book I was looking for something to explain what seems to be happening to us as a humankind, and on a personal level, something to give me hope in the kind of world I want for my children. This book made me see the process of our "Sacred Quests" in a way that I had never considered before. It is a must for people who are seekers, who want to understand how to connect with life in order to derive meaning and purpose, joy and hope. I have passed this book on to my family as gifts in hopes that they too will feel the magnificent connection to something greater than themselves while reading it. It is absolutely an amazing work!
A book for our time.......2000-11-12
Keck imports the idea of evolution, usually confined to biology, to the spiritual realm and describes the entire human jouney as an evolution of Soul. Somehow, through the subtlety of Keck's prose, the reader begins to see their own life as part of this grand evolutionary journey.
What I really love is that Keck's book simultaneously confounds two ideological groups: conservative Christians and liberal scholars. Conservative Christians, for their part, view theories of evolution as a betrayal of Holy Writ. They will despise Keck's book. As strange bedfellows, liberal scholars would also be highly suspicious of Keck's evolutionary scheme because it presumes progress. To claim that human beings are getting better is a violation of the holy writ of "hard thinking."
Any book that skewers both professors and fundamentalists is a book worth buying.
Sacred Quest and the Emergence of the Sacred.......2000-11-05
Bob Keck continues to explore a new frontier in spirituality by leading us into Epoch III. It is an outstanding exploration, of the Soul. He provides the reader with personal insights as well as a continuation of Deep Value Research which he emphasized in his earlier book Sacred Eyes. This is a must book for anyone to read who wants to understand about the emerging spiritual direction, and our relationship to the Sacred.
Product Description
The Next Chapter in the Evolution of the Soul by Mark Allen Frost is the Second Volume in the series Communications from Seth on the Awakening of Humanity. (See Volume One in the series, 9/11: The Unknown Reality of the World by Cas Smith and Mark Frost.) In his new book, Seth, the beloved "metaphysical" author and educator, updates his Teaching on subjects including All That Is, Probabilities, Time, the Magical Perspective, Reality Creation, Consciousness Units and Simultaneous Lives. He also provides experiments geared toward contacting one's own Energy Personality or Spirit Guide, as well as methods for exploring the after death reality he calls The Home Dimension. Using the Scientist of Consciousness model, Seth offers us the tools to investigate our self-created worlds and make corrections where needed to facilitate Spiritual Growth or Soul Evolution. This is The Path to Ecstasy on which one feels supported as though one were "in the arms of an adoring mother." Seth anticipates a Dimensional Shift that will soon occur that will empower us to have "one foot in the physical and one foot in the metaphysical domains." He suggests that in a few years it will be perfectly normal and acceptable behavior, for example, to excuse one's self in the middle of a conversation to accept a "telepathic" message from one's Guide, and then continue with the conversation, perhaps integrating the material from the telepathic message into the discussion. This is The Next Chapter in the Evolution of the Soul, as we seek to know our Etheric Teachers, inhabit multiple dimensions simultaneously and remember and use for our own good and the good of humanity the knowledge gained from our experiences in these realms of the spirit. 264 Pages | 26 Experiments | Questions and Answers | Offset Printing | Made in the USA
Product Description
Universal laws behind UFOs and ET contact. Self-healing and the body/mind/spirit system. Earth changes and global shift through 2013 A.D. Practical advice for working with emotions. New teachings on Buddhism and meditation. Dozens of Q & A and personal stories. Special charts on Cosmic Plan, ET/Earth History. Advice for counselors, healers, and ET contactees.
Customer Reviews:
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!.......2006-08-30
I highly recommned this book to all the dearly loved and precious souls on the path of spiritual evolution.
This book answers a lot of questions I have had since I was a small child. Answers no one else could or would answer. This book does!
Truly liberating on all levels!!
Universal Vison truely offers humanity a truely grand and cosmic universal view! This book offers humanity the BIG Picture!
Outstanding.......2001-06-07
If you're seeking understanding about soul growth and ET involvement, you need to read this. Many of us may well be ET souls here to assist in the coming changes on this planet. It also explains quite well about the positive and negative ET involvement and purpose. It's important for everyone to understand the motives behind ET's and which to welcome and which to beware of. Also will explain how you can prevent the visitations if you are experiencing them.
Books:
- Mysteries Of Isis: Her Worship & Magick (Llewellyn's World Religion & Magic Series)
- Natural Born Charmer
- Problems of Religious Diversity (Exploring the Philosophy of Religion)
- Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity
- Reasons to Live
- Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know--And Doesn't
- She Went All the Way (Avon Light Contemporary Romances)
- Sociology of Religion: A Reader
- SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine
- Tales of Power
Books Index
Books Home
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- Planet India: How the Fastest Growing Democracy Is Transforming America and the World
- I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!
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- Corporate Charisma: How to Achieve World-Class Recognition by Maximising Your Company's Image, Brand
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