Book Description
"I'm an evolutionary biologist and a Christian," states Stanford professor Joan Roughgarden at the outset of her groundbreaking new book, Evolution and Christian Faith: Reflections of an Evolutionary Biologist. From that perspective, she has written an eloquent and persuasive discourse on reconciling evolutionary biology and the Bible.
Perhaps only someone with Roughgarden's unique academic standing could examine so well controversial issues such as the teaching of intelligent design in public schools, or the potential flaws in Darwin's theory of evolution. Certainly Roughgarden is uniquely suited to reference both the minutiae of scientific processes and the implication of Biblical verses. Whether the topic is mutation rates and lizards or the hidden meanings behind St. Paul's letters, Evolution and Christian Faith distils complex arguments into everyday understanding. Roughgarden has scoured the Bible and scanned the natural world, finding examples time and again, not of conflict, but of harmony.
The result is an accessible and intelligent context for seeing a Christian vision of the world within evolutionary biology. In the ongoing debates of religion versus science, Evolution and Christian Faith will be seen as a work of major significance, written for contemporary readers who wonder how-or if-they can embrace scientific advances while maintaining their traditional values.
Customer Reviews:
A needed presentation.......2007-05-12
Excellent and honest with plenty of biblical references.
Very well written
A Christian's failed defense of Darwinism.......2007-04-16
As a Jew I don't belong to the first in my preceding heading, but neither do I accept the second, contrary to the author's contention that "It is only Christians...who are challenging the teaching of evolution..." (p.11).
Above the title on the dust jacket of this book is the line: "WHAT JESUS AND DARWIN HAVE IN COMMON". Considering that Jesus is held by believers to be the incarnation of God, it is quite bold of one believer to elevate Darwin to a like status. The author indeed has through decades as an evolutionary biologist been what I see as indoctrinated regarding what is considered unshakable truth of at least much of evolutionary theory, which of course determines the origin of species, traditionally viewed as God's province. Author Roughgarden thus states that "The single tree of life is the basic fact of evolution" (p.13).
She argues (pp.14-15) that all organisms stem from the same ancestry because they share DNA, the chemical that genes are made from. As an example she cites paternity analysis, "we can tell whether people are related by seeing if their DNA is the same." Ironically, it is the people NOT related that point to the flawed logic. Those people and other organisms differ sufficiently in DNA not to be the relatives. The fact that all organisms share DNA to a great degree does not establish common ancestry, but can be owing to DNA constituting stuff from which organisms are made.
However, I do not wish to dwell on this aspect of evolution, because it bypasses the crux of the argument dividing Darwinians and their opponents, and which Dr. Roughgarden virtually ignores. It is that Darwinism is built on the denial of any purpose in the formation of organisms, on the supposition that only "blind" forces are responsible.
She devotes a chapter to "Evolution's Direction" (p.49) and insists that natural selection, calling it natural breeding, does have direction, unlike seemingly argued. The direction appears to be the known adaptation, but the question is not direction, applying to any event, but directedness--whether an event has an aim, a purpose. The author objects (pp.57-8) to a clergyman's claim that "one can clearly discern purpose and design in the natural world", and says that for these "to be considered facts of nature, some equipment would be needed or statistical test devised to demonstrate it."
I agree with her in a sense. One should demonstrate claimed facts, and this also applies to Darwinism. But I will focus on the purpose, aims, in question. Those aims are by proponents of Intelligent Design, a subject given another chapter by the author (p.80), considered displayed by the complex functionality of the organism's structure. Sounds reasonable, doesn't it? More so than the fantastically stretched probabilities of accidental formation alleged by Darwinians. Nevertheless, the usefulness of the structure may itself not imply that it was designed for that purpose; one may wish it shown that such goal-directedness actually occurred. Dr. Roughgarden resorts to ridicule like "imagine animals stumbling around blindly until the intelligent designer plops eyes into empty eye sockets" (p.87). Perhaps most extreme is her charge "The intelligent designer makes miracles. The many irreducibly complex structures that organisms are said to possess constitute miracles their lineage has supposedly accumulated through time" (p.88). She then continues (p.95), "Intelligent design asks you to believe in God on the basis of miracles", and makes effort to discount Jesus' miracles, as not intended to prove God. The last, incidentally, does again not imply that some miracles may not lead to proof of God.
There is no need, however, to speak of miracles, or assume that organisms or their parts suddenly pop into existence. We know that every individual organism forms gradually, from smallest beginnings in germination, to full-grown maturity. And in this process, aims can indeed be detected. As I tried to bring to attention in other reviews and still find the need to do, this process of development, as well as the organism's other activities, are well known to have an aim, namely self-preservation. In other words, the purpose of self-preservation is an overwhelming phenomenon characterizing every living thing, if totally overlooked in the discussed disputes.
To speak of miracles in this respect is consequently pointless. Miracles are understood as events contradicting laws of nature, and the goal of self-preservation, distinguishing life from the lifeless, can be comprehended as part of nature's order.
a little gem.......2007-03-20
Joan Roughgarden, an evolutionary biologist at Stanford since 1972 and an active Christian in her Episcopal church, wrote this book, she says, to provide a succinct statement of exactly what evolutionary biology does and does not know, and how the Bible relates to that scientific knowledge. The book is short enough to read in a few sittings, has no footnotes at all, avoids bogging down in secondary literature on the subject, and is written at a level for people with limited knowledge of science. I especially appreciated her irenic spirit.
At its simplest level evolution teaches that all of life is related in one big family tree, and that species change over space and time through "natural breeding" (as opposed to artificial breeding, for example, that farmers and others do today). Because of random mutations in the genes that are passed on from the "original" to the "copies," changes occur, some of which are favorable and some of which are deleterious. These mutations are random, but whether the overall evolutionary process has any "direction" good or bad is hotly debated among evolutionary biologists, says Roughgarden. Finally, she thinks Darwin is badly wrong about universal sex roles in which aggressive males seek passive females in a competition of perpetual conflict. She believes that cooperation and interdependence (eg, an ant colony) are as important in nature as conflict.
Roughgarden insists that there need not be any conflict between science and religion, or that they need to be relegated to separate spheres (but see pp. 56, and 83 where she seems to qualify this). "Intelligent design," she believes, invents problems that don't exist, is hard to take seriously, and so is a "non-starter" for mainstream science. She consigns ID to "junk science" along with the many versions of "junk religion." As one might expect, Roughgarden shines when it comes to science, but less so on matters theological and Biblical. But this is still a gem of a little book for those, as she says, who need to come up to speed on the subject for a Sunday school class or school board meeting, and it is heartening for a well-placed biologist like her to publish such an unapologetic confession of Christian faith.
A Well Informed Perspective.......2007-02-03
Overall, I found this book to be good. Her perspective on the biology, geology, and unsolved parts of evolution are excellent. It is fairly familiar as an overview of what evolution is and the general state of the thought. The theology is a bit off at points though it is generally clearer than most academics who attempt to reconcile their discipline with the Bible and the Christian faith in someway. Suppose that's going to depend on your denomination as it informs your theology and what you consider literal and figurative. I am informed by a Reformed Presbyterian perspective, which has significant pockets where evolution can be accomodated to the text of Genesis with not problem. I personally don't take a literal six-days and not necessarily even the old age (YOM) instead of day in sequential order as the author does. I am more inclined to think of Genesis of a framework with parallels between days 1 and 4, 2 and 5, and 3 and 6. Plus, I find her fair and broad as she quotes John MacArthur to the Pope and a variety of theological perspectives (not in much depth and mainly in how they relate their scientific views).
Either way, I think this is a valuable contribution to this dialogue. She's not as hard on atheistic scientists and their dogma as is warranted. I didn't notice a reference to your garden variety clowns like Richard Dawkins or Daniel Dennett, for example, or any criticism of their vitriol and needless antagonism of everything and anything Christian. The lack of a willingness to take the atheist scientists to task is why I gave this book four stars instead of five. It's always easy to rip on the Fundamentalists. But if you're going to take a stand like this you need to rip "the professionals" as well. By casting this discussion into black and white, they're as much a part of the problem as anybody.
For those who want to accept that evolution is a fact that doesn't render Christianity untenable, this will be enjoyable and thoughtful. For people who view science as all there is to know, and the rest as mere speculation, this will not be an enjoyable book. Perhaps you can endlessly rehash 19th century materialistic philosophies, the Scopes Monkey Trial, and Intelligent Design in your own mind as the rest of us continue to think.
Significantly flawed and biased.......2007-01-26
As other reviewers have stated, there are serious problems with the author's theology and science. There are too many flaws to mention, but my opinion - coming from an evolutionary biology student and Christian is that her 30-some years of being away from her faith and teaching evo. bio. show clearly through. Her review of I.D. is one of hatred rather than a cohesive critique. It is my impression that she (and many other evolutionists) do not really understand what irreducible complexity is (or many other ideas and arguments of creationists and I.D., for that matter). Her 'scientific' arguments against I.D. are poor at best. She criticizes I.D. by saying that I.D.'ers do not specifify when "God gives them these structures out of the blue' (in her critique of irreducible complexity and also pokes fun by wondering how these creatures ran around blind for so long. She clearly puts her Christian faith second to her scientific philosophy (that science is a more reliable method of knowing - even about ancient history, than a historical book - the Bible). She doesn't trust the seven loaves of bread event in the Bible to be accurate, but somehow believes (accorcidng to her own statement) that "Jesus lived and died for our sins". She does not state her belief in the Resurrection. Her 'CHristianity' seems to be more about the wisdom of Jesus and the Bible rather than her salvation. So, she does not (based on her own statements - or their lack of depth) follow a theology that most true Christians follow. Many of her 'similarities' between what the Bible says and evolution are extraordinary stretches of the imagination. Finally, she makes a stupid argument that many evolutionists make when defending their theory. That is, that if we allow I.D. or creation to be taught or used in scientific practice, then we might as well forget about science altogether. She wonders if "volcanoes and airplanes" will "go away" if these are taught. Anyone who makes these statements clearly shows a hatred for these ideas (which automatically influences their definition of science, and more importantly, it clearly shows a serious lack of understanding of the philosophy of 'historical science', science in general, the purpose, methods, reasoning, research, and philosophy of creation and I.D., and more). Her four points that she provides for making I.D. 'scientific' have not even been accomplished for evolutionary theory - not even close. Her standards for accepting I.D. as science are much higher than those for evolutionary theory - which shows her bias. For someone who claims to be a Christian, she has an extraordinarily low knowledge of philosophy (as most scientists do) and cannot see her own assumptions, biases, and outright illogical arguments and 'evidence'. This book is only helpful for someone who does not understand biology, evolutionary theory, and philosophy. Don't waste your money.
Customer Reviews:
Rethinking how modern science is done.......2002-11-12
In THE DIALECTICAL BIOLOGIST, Levins and Lewontin take a Marxist dialectical approach to examine the way and shape of contemporary biology. Not that I fully understand this approach, it does raise some intriguing critiques about the influence of the biotech-industrial complex and how groupthink and intertia of academia enforces dogma. I particularly liked the "Isadore Nabi" piece and the essay on agri-business.
As a working scientist, I think it is important to think and rethink the Big Picture of why and how we do what we do. THE DIALECTICAL BIOLOGIST addresses a few particular questions of ways of modern biology.
NB: similar themes are covered in DOING SCIENCE: THE REALITY CLUB #2, edited by John Brockman.
One of the most great books in today's biology.......2000-06-29
This book represents one of the most complete pictures of biology and its perspectives. A book where science and philosophy play an interesting dialog. For the reader it will be an interesting approach to an interesting point of view: science is not merely theories, hypothesis, facts, but a delicate an sometimes not so delicated conjunction of social structures, background ideologies and scientific method. Personally, the book represents a general exposition of ideas from scientists with a coherent line of thought. In its moment controversial... and now, simply, one of the ways to do our labours of scientists, may be the best one...
Book Description
Combining myth, biography,
and wit -- a highly original
depiction of cutting-edge
science -- told through the
scientists who are rewriting
life on earth
While the future of human existence is literally being forged by today's genetic scientists and biotechnology leaders, the media, policymakers, ethicists, and fellow scientists alike have not been adequately communicating the tremendous potential that is contained in these individuals' work. With the public only vaguely aware of what is really happening, a new coterie of geniuses, tinkerers, tycoons, and genetic soothsayers are -- for better or worse -- about to alter life on earth forever.
Now award-winning journalist
David Ewing Duncan has written an insightful narrative about science and personality, delving into stem cell research, cloning, bioengineering, extending life span, and genetics by telling the stories of the characters at the fulcrum of the science. Calling to mind age-old stories and myths -- Prometheus, Faustus, Eve, and Frankenstein -- Duncan asks the question: Can we trust these scientists?
Duncan has spent the last three years reporting on and studying these masterminds, from the co-solver of the DNA structure James Watson to a man who is creating synthetic life, Craig Venter.
The Geneticist Who Played Hoops with My DNA tells their stories, revealing their quirky, fascinating, and sometimes vaguely unsettling personas as a way to understand their science and the implications of their work.
Customer Reviews:
History will tell..........2007-02-25
Author David Duncan, in The Geneticist Who Played Hoops With My DNA, spotlights the ongoing research in biotechnology. This effort is fueled by "an unprecedented surge of funding from government and the private sector, and supported by a society that loves gadgets, the medical miracles, and the standard of living afforded by modern science."(7) Duncan questions how "we [society] know for sure what they [scientists] -and we- are doing, and what will its impact be?"(10) The consequences of unraveling the human genetic code, while hopefully beneficial, could prove harmful. Scientist's reassurances notwithstanding, breakthroughs in biotechnology, as in all cutting edge discoveries, necessarily involves risks. Searching for the balance between caution and progress, Duncan assesses the motivations and personalities of nine scientists involved in this groundbreaking work.
Duncan compares his subjects to biblical, mythological, or literary figures. His "Eve" is Cynthia Kenyon; an able communicator who cautions that "we shouldn't be taken by surprise"(79) by the potential for extending life. "Paul," Francis Collins, is a scientist as well as being a devout Christian. Duncan's "Faustus," Craig Venter, heralds his innocence from profiteering, proclaiming "it was the tools we were out to sell, not the genome itself."(135) The chief of Greek gods, "Zeus," is James Watson, the overseer of the Cold Spring Harbor research facility. The devilish "Puck," Sydney Brenner, sees "science as a great game."(182)
One eminent scientist, Paul Berg, is characterized by Duncan as the wise "Moses" leading his flock to the Promised Land because Berg delayed an experiment until he was certain it could be conducted safely. The Asilomar Conference in1975, addressed this and other issues that led to formal recommendations for the conduct of potentially dangerous experiments. Berg's leadership in this regard is exemplary. In another time and place, for example, it is doubtful whether Oppenheimer or Groves would have agreed to postpone the testing of the first atomic bomb. Prior to the test the consequences for mankind remained unresolved, but it was wartime and such issues were subordinate to defeating the enemy.
Because of the extraordinary possibilities and risks from genetic research, it is the scientists responsibility to prove themselves deserving of society's confidence. By focusing the spotlight on the "roll of personality in science,"(14) Duncan tells us how geneticists interact to moderate risks while simultaneously advancing cutting edge science. Through personal interviews, Duncan describes their projects, what motivates them, and assesses how moral, ethical, or regulatory boundaries govern the manner and scope of their research. We see that scientists are human but ambitious and sometimes arrogant people who, like Douglas Melton ("Prometheus"), test the limits of what society accepts as ethically "normal."
Duncan's main point is that a dialogue between science and society is the key to balancing safety and risk so, as Cynthia Kenyon cautions, there are no surprises. The fundamental question for society is not whether DNA research should be done at all, but whether any science can be done morally and ethically "right." Duncan leaves the impression that, at least with his nine scientists, society's trust is deserved. This is a significantly endorsement but, since it is limited only to nine geneticists in one field of research, the question remains whether civilization can or will do the right thing. Only time will tell, and it will be up to historians to write the tale.
Slamp dunk.......2005-12-20
Duncan has skillfully brought readers into the world of some of the key scientists in the biotech field - Doug Melton, Francis Collins, Craig Venter, James Watson etc. The intensive competition & personalities within the field are vividly illustrated, thru Duncan's humourous writing styles, solid research & personal meetings with scientists.
As once said by James Watson: 'Science seldom proceeds in the straightforward logical manner imagined by outsiders. Instead, its steps forward (& sometimes backward) are often very human events in which personalities & cultural traditions play major roles.'; 'The Geneticist who Played Hoops with my DNA' is a slamp dunk & provides readers with an engaging glimpse to such 'human events'.
More of a character study than an expose of molecular biology.......2005-11-26
I don't think this book is meant to be a lay review of molecular biology. It is really an examination of the lives of several key figures in molecular biology. Getting to know these players helps the lay reader get a feel for the humanity behind the scientific headlines, and was for me, at least, comforting in that regard.
There were numerous typographical errors in this book! Where were the editors?
Great Info on Genetics.......2005-09-09
This is a well written book that gives some great insight into the people working in the field as well as some basic understanding of genetics.
Overwhelmed by Biotech? Start Here.......2005-08-23
This is perfect reading for anyone who feels overwhelmed by current biotech events in the news, and that's basically all of us non-scientists. Most of have strong feelings about ethical decisions biotech presents us, big fears about science fiction cloning disasters, and firmly entrenched moral and religious values. But who the hell knows what these scientists are really doing and what goes on in all those molecules? We need to know that to deal with all of our fears, beliefs and passions -- and this book is THE place to start. Fun, a great read, it introduces us to the incredible people behind biotech and the science they offer us.
Book Description
Rachel Carson's Silent Spring antagonized some of the most powerful interests in the nation--including the farm block and the agricultural chemical industry--and helped launch the modern environmental movement. In The Gentle Subversive, Mark Hamilton Lytle offers a compact biography of Carson, illuminating the road that led to this vastly influential book. Lytle explores the evolution of Carson's ideas about nature, her love for the sea, her career as a biologist, and above all her emergence as a writer of extraordinary moral and ecological vision. We follow Carson from her childhood on a farm outside Pittsburgh, where she first developed her love of nature (and where, at age eleven, she published her first piece in a children's magazine), to her graduate work at Johns Hopkins and her career with the Fish and Wildlife Service. Lytle describes the genesis of her first book, Under the Sea-Wind, the incredible success of The Sea Around Us (a New York Times bestseller for over a year), and her determination to risk her fame in order to write her "poison book": Silent Spring. The author contends that despite Carson's demure, lady-like demeanor, she was subversive in her thinking and aggressive in her campaign against pesticides. Carson became the spokeswoman for a network of conservationists, scientists, women, and other concerned citizens who had come to fear the mounting dangers of the human assault on nature. What makes this story particularly compelling is that Carson took up this cause at the very moment when she herself faced a losing battle with cancer. Succinct and engaging, The Gentle Subversive is a story of success, celebrity, controversy, and vindication. It will inspire anyone interested in protecting the natural world or in women's struggle to find a voice in society.
Customer Reviews:
A sensitive subject indeed.......2007-06-25
Rachel Carson's careless criticism of DDT killed millions of people, mostly poor children, a point that deserved better coverage in this book. Even today, decades later, there is still no good alternative to DDT for fighting malaria.
Carson was correct to point out that DDT has very bad side effects, but as it turns out, banning DDT has had much worse side effects. Science eventually determined that very small amounts of DDT would have been effective against malaria-carrying mosquitos and safe for the environment-- but Carson's rush to judgement prevented the scientific facts from being adequately investigated and considered.
She and her followers in the environmentalist movement refused to consider the full consequences of their actions, and millions of people have paid the price for that refusal.
. png
A Beautiful Tribute to the Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson.......2007-03-08
Mark Lytle does fine justice to the legacy of Rachel Carson in this well researched summary of her early life, upbringing, education, professional experiences, evolution of her writing and publishing culminating with the struggles to write and publish her most potent and last book, "Silent Spring", a dire warning of how deadly pesticide and herbicide assaults were damaging the health of ecosystems and non-targeted life forms including humans and which many proffer, launched the modern age of environmentalism.
Lytle continues Carson's beautiful legacy in his "Epilogue" and "Afterword".
Packed with an abundance of notes, citations and bibliography, this little book gives one a huge sense of awe and admiration for Carson's perseverance and dedication to educate the world about the interconnectedness and beauty of Nature and to cultivate a sense of responsibility and good stewardship.
Book Description
With the recent Sokal hoax--the publication of a prominent physicist's pseudo-article in a leading journal of cultural studies--the status of science moved sharply from debate to dispute. Is science objective, a disinterested reflection of reality, as Karl Popper and his followers believed? Or is it subjective, a social construction, as Thomas Kuhn and his students maintained? Into the fray comes Mystery of Mysteries, an enlightening inquiry into the nature of science, using evolutionary theory as a case study.
Michael Ruse begins with such colorful luminaries as Erasmus Darwin (grandfather of Charles) and Julian Huxley (brother of novelist Aldous and grandson of T. H. Huxley, "Darwin's bulldog" ) and ends with the work of the English game theorist Geoffrey Parker--a microevolutionist who made his mark studying the mating strategies of dung flies--and the American paleontologist Jack Sepkoski, whose computer-generated models reconstruct mass extinctions and other macro events in life's history. Along the way Ruse considers two great popularizers of evolution, Richard Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould, as well as two leaders in the field of evolutionary studies, Richard Lewontin and Edward O. Wilson, paying close attention to these figures' cultural commitments: Gould's transplanted Germanic idealism, Dawkins's male-dominated Oxbridge circle, Lewontin's Jewish background, and Wilson's southern childhood. Ruse explicates the role of metaphor and metavalues in evolutionary thought and draws significant conclusions about the cultural impregnation of science. Identifying strengths and weaknesses on both sides of the "science wars," he demonstrates that a resolution of the objective and subjective debate is nonetheless possible.
Customer Reviews:
indispensable to philosophy.......2005-07-10
I had come to realize that my philosophizing was a function of my physiological status at any time. One's philosophical mood is a reflection of one's state of health, or lack of it, to some extent, at least. This led me to suppose that processes by which a human embryo develops gradually into a philosopher are more general processes than the philosophers who develop out of them. While the work product a philosopher creates is more specific, still, than the life of a philosopher.
So I turned to investigate whether work had been done in the area of explaining philosophy by means of biology.
It has been my great pleasure to discover Michael Ruse had already made good progress along these lines. He explains that this book is a subsequent development to his previous book, "Monad to Man," which explored the explanation of biology by philosophical methods.
He does justice to the conclusions drawn since the dawn of philosophy concerning the indeterminacy of reality. And he takes the failure to draw any determinate conclusion as an achievement which leads to something worth pursuing as a result. Far from being a pessimistic treatment of the perennial lack of consensus plaguing human investigations, Michael Ruse draws a sense of optimism from his studies, that this path leads along a direction which will ultimately matter.
I was pleased to learn this book has become part of a trilogy. I look forward to reading both "Monad to Man" and the culminating "Darwin and Design."
This book will change how you read "Evolution" literature.......2004-06-05
This book will change the way you read literature discussing the theory of Evolution. I stongly recommend that you read this book if you are interested in the debate about what we should teach our children in science class.
Michael Ruse is a philospher and an expert in the history of Biological Evolutionary thought. His goal is to evaluate two alternatives about about the nature of science. He wishes to evaluate if science measures a reality that is independent of the scientist, as Karl Popper would propose, or alternatively that what we see is governed by the paradigm or world view we have selected (and which is often inpenetrable to new concepts), as Thomas Kuhn might propose. His method is to analyse the writings of a selection of Evolutionists from Erasmus Darwin (grandfather of Charles) to current day Evolutionists. Ruse's favorite word is "epistemic" (from the Greek word meaning "knowledge"). He uses it in the sense of "objective testable, reproducible science".
For me much of the value of this book was the analysis rather than the final conclusions. What becomes clear is that Evolutionists simply cannot resisist the temptation to expand their writing outside of pure scientific study into the "non-epistemic" world of reading between the lines and speculating what might have happened in the earth's past history. This is particulary true of Evolutionists public or lay literature. What you can be fairly sure of is this, if you have read anything about evolution lately, and you are not a specialised scientist, what you read is almost certainly of the non-epistemic unscientific kind. Why would evolutionists do this? They are creating coherence, making sense of the world around them, scientific or not.
This leaves me with some conclusions thanks to Ruse.
1)Much of what appears as literature in "evolutionary science" is surely no better scientifically than literature about "intelligent design". The desire for Coherence drives both paradigms.
2)If the Thoery of evolution has become progressively more scientific over the last 150 years as Ruse proposes, is the theory we have now merely a scientific veneer covering a non-epistemic core?
3)Ruse says that in 1981 in the Little Rock Arkansas "balance treatment" case he argued that Creationism was unscientific. Would he now take the stand and warn parents that most of what their children heard about evolution was like-wise non-epistemic?
promises much, delivers little.......2004-02-17
Michael R's book starts out well, providing a lively introduction with the now famous Sokal incident, reviews Popper and Kuhn (sorta) on Provability or Falsifiability, and then promises to address this question ( is science provable objective truth or subjective cultural currency) using evolution and biology as the plow horse. As one of the other reviewers observed, he is obviously having a lot of fun. He seems to have either consumed his energies in the interesting mini-bios, or lost his thread, but after the introduction, he never seriously returns to the question at hand. He does the obligatory savaging of Teilhard, treats Gould as a cartoonist, gives some interesting biographical bits on former famous fat people, but never steps up seriously to his main question, waffling the question ata the end. Of course there are elements of truth in two competing points of view. Of course there are serious and honest scientists on both sides. But where do you stand, Prof. R?
Frankly, I was expecting an answer. I did not get one.
Didn't do what I thought this would do........2003-05-16
People will likely come at this book from one of two directions; philosophy or biology. The book is certainly not dissapointing at all coming from the latter angle. It is a great history and analysis of some great evolutionary thinkers: Dawrin (both of them), Huxley, Dobzhansky, Dawkins, Gould, Lewonton and a handful more. Ruse focuses on how they came about their ideas, how others recieved them at the time and whether their ideas and writings hold up to certain epistemic and non-epistemic metavalues of sciecne: predictability, objectivity, conscilience.
It is when coming from the philosophy angle that the book fails to hold up. After all, from its title, we expect to be treated to a query on whether evolutionary biology has made it over the hurdle from metaphysical philosophy to bonafide science (and many readers will not even have been aware that this was even a question). The first chapter is an introductory overview of the dilemma. There are two views of science: one objective and descriptive of the world out there (a la Karl Popper) and one more subject dependent, influenced by cultural factors enough not to yield true description of reality (a la Thomas Kuhn). Ruse discusses the difference in these two thinkers writings. Coming from a reader whose read both authors, his description of Kuhnian 'subjectivism' is well off the mark and his synopsis of Popperian objectivism also could use a fair amount of tweaking. Instead of Kuhn, maybe Dewey would've been a better choice.
It is after the first chapter that the chapters become short summaries of key thinkers: the first half devoted to history and biography and the second, a review of each thinkers scientific achievements and whether they represent sceince or metaphysical philosophy. The chapters on the two Darwins, Dawkins, E.O. Wilson and Lewonton are incredible and penetrating. The others are adequate. All of these are followed by a brief conclusion chapter to tie up loose ends, too brief for the books purposes
In the end, maybe Ruse got so caught up in how much fun he was having with the individual histories that he forgot to focus on the question. The nature of science was to be our topic and sometimes we get a glimpse of analysis on the question but not enough to warrant the books subtitle. For those concerned with the history of the field of evolutionary science - from its days as natural philosophy to the present - this book will no doubt satisfy. As an examination of where evolutionary sciecne does and does not hold up as an objective (or subjective) discipline, Ruse leaves us dissapointed.
Calming the storm.......2002-09-20
Michael Ruse may be the gentlest man in the world. Here, he certainly has no peer in providing a comprehensive history of evolutionary biology without descending into the acrimony and vituperation that has plagued the field. He opens with a review of "the science wars," particularly the humanities' assault on science over the past generation. He chooses evolutionary thought for his focus, because he's familiar with the topic, having addressed several books to the field. In this book, he evokes the work of twelve scholars in assessing the impact of "culture" on evolutionary research.
As Ruse sees it, "the debate is between objectivity and subjectivity." These "scientific values" are used in reviewing the work of his chosen personalities. They are assessed in light of his overview of Karl Popper's "objectivism" versus Thomas Kuhn's "paradigms of thought." Ruse follows the tortured path of this debate with compelling skill. His guidance is sure-footed, keeping our attention and maintaining a balanced course along the way. It's a perilous journey, since many of the personalities are current and none hesitant about making known their displeasure. Stephen Gould, Richard Dawkins, Richard Lewontin and Edward Wilson have all tilted at the academic lists. Ruse negotiates this hazardous milieu effectively.
Ruse synthesizes many works in assessing the cultural milieu of each of his subjects. Darwin's comfortable upper-middle class lifestyle, Gould's rampant Marxism, Wilson's Southern fundamentalist upbringing have been examined by many others over the years. Ruse adds a fresh level of organization to these accounts, giving each of his subjects a "level playing field" position as he relates them to the larger issue. He faults none of them, for none consciously sought to inflict a social standard on society. They were all men of their times, writing to an audience they understood. Although Ruse has some mild reservations about the "popularization" of science by such figures as Dawkins, Gould or even Ed Wilson, he doesn't openly condemn them, nor does he feel they're honing axes. He understands the need for science to reach a broad public, even at the risk of flawed comprehension.
As a philosopher, Ruse's conclusion may surprise the unwary. He finds the charge of "cultural determinism" wanting, especially among today's active scientists. The quest for objectivity has intensified over succeeding generations to become the fully established standard. Is the assault on science responsible for tightening the discipline of its practitioners? Again, Ruse rebuffs the claims of the deconstructionists, arguing that science, by the very nature of its practices, has provided a core of self-discipline improving the way in which science is reported by its members. Even if they stray from the norm in other ways, it isn't the impact of "cultural" mores that tempts them from the path of full objectivity. Ruse deserves full accolades for this study, long needed to counter the foolish assaults science and
scientists have endured.
Average customer rating:
- An important perspective that historians usually miss
- Pauly gives biologists too much credit.
- An overambitious yet impressive accomplishment ...
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Biologists and the Promise of American Life: From Meriwether Lewis to Alfred Kinsey
Philip J. Pauly
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
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ASIN: 0691092869 |
Book Description
Explorers, evolutionists, eugenicists, sexologists, and high school biology teachers--all have contributed to the prominence of the biological sciences in American life. In this book, Philip Pauly weaves their stories together into a fascinating history of biology in America over the last two hundred years.
Beginning with the return of the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1806, botanists and zoologists identified science with national culture, linking their work to continental imperialism and the creation of an industrial republic. Pauly examines this nineteenth-century movement in local scientific communities with national reach: the partnership of Asa Gray and Louis Agassiz at Harvard University, the excitement of work at the Smithsonian Institution and the Geological Survey, and disputes at the Agriculture Department over the continent's future. He then describes the establishment of biology as an academic discipline in the late nineteenth century, and the retreat of life scientists from the problems of American nature. The early twentieth century, however, witnessed a new burst of public-oriented activity among biologists. Here Pauly chronicles such topics as the introduction of biology into high school curricula, the efforts of eugenicists to alter the "breeding" of Americans, and the influence of sexual biology on Americans' most private lives.
Throughout much of American history, Pauly argues, life scientists linked their study of nature with a desire to culture--to use intelligence and craft to improve American plants, animals, and humans. They often disagreed and frequently overreached, but they sought to build a nation whose people would be prosperous, humane, secular, and liberal. Life scientists were significant participants in efforts to realize what Progressive Era oracle Herbert Croly called "the promise of American life." Pauly tells their story in its entirety and explains why now, in a society that is rapidly returning to a complex ethnic mix similar to the one that existed for a hundred years prior to the Cold War, it is important to reconnect with the progressive creators of American secular culture.
Customer Reviews:
An important perspective that historians usually miss.......2005-09-05
This book is a terrific addition to the history of American modernity. It does assume a solid grasp of the basic narrative of the times, and is therefore suitable for upper-level college classes and graduate students rather than general readers. What is crucial about this book is Pauly's description of how scientists operate on paths that do not always converge with mainstream American life, but who nonetheless have a disproportionate impact of how we see the world. One example of this is Pauly's brilliant observation that all the attention to the Scopes Trial is missing a key point--the "question" of evolution was already decided by those who wrote the science textbooks of the day. Considering how science is being undermined by political forces today, Pauly's book is quite relevant in understanding how science shapes--and is shaped--by society.
Pauly gives biologists too much credit........2001-04-21
Pauly tries to assign an historical importance to American biologists that simply doesn't exists. He claims that they have significantly influenced American culture, but his examples are narrow in scope and unconvincing. Pauly is a champion of biologists, as you would expect from a historian of biology, but he goes too far. Biologists have largely been a tool in shaping American culture, rather than a motive force as Pauly claims.
(The above review was written in 2000. Four years later, I have revised my judgement on Pauly's thesis; biologists have been a force in some significant ways, though perhaps not to the extent Pauly argues. However, this book is too broad to be convincing in its examples, unless the reader already has a moderate grasp of the history of biology in America.)
An overambitious yet impressive accomplishment ..........2001-04-17
This book, with its great scope and complicated objectives, could not help but fall short in some aspects. Some of his historical analogies (the Grey/Agassiz conflict and the civil war) are a bit of a stretch, and the information on nearly all the scientists leaves the reader wanting. Nonetheless, this book covers an extremely broad range of topics, people...the type above the title says it all--"From Meriwether Lewis to Alfred Kinsey". This is obviously not going to be extremely in depth on many subjects. The chapter on biology's integration into the high schools is by far the best section of the book. A book that fulfills a specific niche admirably if not terribly enthrallingly.
Average customer rating:
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Toward the Habit of Truth: A Life in Science (Commonwealth Fund Book Program)
Mahlon B. Hoagland
Manufacturer: W W Norton & Co Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0393311473 |
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