Why Evolution Works (and Creationism Fails)

Price: $21.95  

Authors: Matt Young and Paul K Strode
Subject: Science
Paper ISBN: 978-0-8135-4550-9
Cloth ISBN: 978-0-8135-4549-3
Pages: 224 pages
Publication Date: June 2009

Praise for Why Evolution Works (and Creationism Fails)

"Why Evolution Works (and Creationism Fails) delivers on the promise of its title. Deploying a host of fascinating examples, Young and Strode provide a lucid and lively introduction to the successes of evolution and the failures of creationism." —Glenn Branch, National Center for Science Education

"Of similar books I have seen on this subject, this one is the best. Its discussions of evolution and refutation of creationism are clear, concise, and powerful. Matt Young and Paul Strode offer a unique, introductory-level book for students, scientists, or anyone who is open to thinking about the topic."—Alan D. Gishlick, Gustavus Adolphus College

“In this superb overview, Young and Strode tackle the most vexing issues in the public’s understanding of biological evolution and earth history. With clear, readable text, Young and Strode detail requisite concepts while providing a conversational response to creationists’ objections to evolution, which are frequently based on profound misunderstandings of how science works. Young and Strode provide a thorough explanation of the concept of biological fitness, showing that evolution, hardly random, is a process of interaction between organisms and the environment. They also take a good look at creationism, using the publications of prominent believers to show that it’s a movement divided against itself. Much of this work developed from Strode’s teaching experience, and it may be the best book yet written for teaching citizens what science really does, and what religion really is in relation."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"This work carefully explains the difference between science and pseudoscience, and how the so-called alternative theories fail to be scientific. Young and Strode additionally argue about the compatibility of science and religion.  This work attempts to make an argument to those who have not accepted the facts of evolution and to those who may not possess a more general understanding of the science. Highly recommended."—Choice, Nov 2009

Why Evolution Works (and Creationism Fails) is an impassioned argument in favor of science—primarily the theory of evolution—and against creationism. Why impassioned? Should not scientists be dispassionate in their work? “Perhaps,” write the authors, “but it is impossible to remain neutral when our most successful scientific theories are under attack, for religious and other reasons, by laypeople and even some scientists who willfully distort scientific findings and use them for their own purposes.”

Focusing on what other books omit, how science works and how pseudoscience works, Matt Young and Paul K. Strode demonstrate the futility of “scientific” creationism. They debunk the notion of intelligent design and other arguments that show evolution could not have produced life in its present form.

Concluding with a frank discussion of science and religion, Why Evolution Works (and Creationism Fails) argues that science by no means excludes religion, though it ought tocast doubt on certain religious claims that are contrary to known scientific fact.

Matt Young is a senior lecturer in the department of physics at the Colorado School of Mines. A prolific writer, he is the coauthor of Why Intelligent Design Fails: A Scientific Critique of the New Creationism (Rutgers University Press).

Paul K. Strode is a biology teacher in Boulder, Colorado, and an instructor in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado at Boulder, with a doctoral degree in ecology and environmental science.