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Darwin's House of Cards: A Journalist's Odyssey Through the Darwin Debates
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In this provocative history of contemporary debates over evolution, veteran journalist Tom Bethell depicts Darwin's theory as a nineteenth-century idea past its prime, propped up by logical fallacies, bogus claims, and empirical evidence that is all but disintegrating under an onslaught of new scientific discoveries. Bethell presents a concise yet wide-ranging tour of the
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Paperback, 294 pages
Published
December 21st 2016
by Discovery Institute
(first published 2016)
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Start your review of Darwin's House of Cards: A Journalist's Odyssey Through the Darwin Debates
Really solid overview of the current state of the debate. The conclusion is pure gold.
This book makes you wonder why anyone is not a Darwin skeptic. At least, as a scientific belief. There IS an argument for it that Bethell finds in Darwin himself: materialism is true therefore all life must have developed over time by accident. But as a scientific theory, there's no evidence of mutations piling up to create a new species. There is only counter-evidence of species reverting "to the mean." To call such fluctuations or changes "micro-evolution" serves no purpose except to create th
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Evolution - the gradual development of something. Meet the Axolotl, a fish with the developed legs:
OK, if that's not enough of a link, science alert from 2017: "A New Bird Species Has Evolved on Galapagos And Scientists Watched It Happen"
And more, but honestly, answering each statement of this book (why they are wrong) is tedious task, I don't have time for that. It should be enough to read more about the author. He promotes denial of the existence of man-made global warming, AIDS denialism, and ...more
OK, if that's not enough of a link, science alert from 2017: "A New Bird Species Has Evolved on Galapagos And Scientists Watched It Happen"
And more, but honestly, answering each statement of this book (why they are wrong) is tedious task, I don't have time for that. It should be enough to read more about the author. He promotes denial of the existence of man-made global warming, AIDS denialism, and ...more
Summary: Materialism is a religion and if materialism is to be accepted as true then Darwinian Evolution MUST be true irregardless of the scarcity of data to substantiate it.
Journalist Tom Bethell does a brilliant job of providing the context (MATERIALISM and the philosophy of PROGRESS) and history in the almost immediate acceptance of Darwinian Evolution after the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859 by Charles Darwin; Enlightenment thought and the Age of Reason had helped pave the ...more
Journalist Tom Bethell does a brilliant job of providing the context (MATERIALISM and the philosophy of PROGRESS) and history in the almost immediate acceptance of Darwinian Evolution after the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859 by Charles Darwin; Enlightenment thought and the Age of Reason had helped pave the ...more
“It is clear then the Darwinism was propped up by the worldview of progress of the dominated the west from the Enlightenment on, particularly in the middle to late 19th century. Today, that same worldview is disparaged by the environmentalist, most extreme of who think that humans are a plague on the planet.”
Though I was up to my neck in this one, this book looked at the Theory of Evolution from every angle, and came to the conclusion that the theory is a sinking ship. Excellent and quite techni ...more
Though I was up to my neck in this one, this book looked at the Theory of Evolution from every angle, and came to the conclusion that the theory is a sinking ship. Excellent and quite techni ...more
Well researched
I have read many perspectives on the evolution debate by many of the great thinkers both past and present. This was an excellent and fair treatment of both sides. He looks at not only the great arguments but the original source documents of Darwin and looks at each argument from both perspectives. A good book for anyone interested in the debate of ID, creationism or evolution.
I have read many perspectives on the evolution debate by many of the great thinkers both past and present. This was an excellent and fair treatment of both sides. He looks at not only the great arguments but the original source documents of Darwin and looks at each argument from both perspectives. A good book for anyone interested in the debate of ID, creationism or evolution.
Mar 20, 2017
Kellen
rated it
did not like it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Not many. Certainly not anyone impressionable.
I picked out this book to challenge my beliefs, and going in uninformed like I did certainly made me question evolution. The book presents science as a field that is deceiving the rest of the world by making large assumptions based on little evidence, as well as stifling those who dare come forward with different ideas than established doctrine. It criticizes scientists' dedication to materialism, and cites countless resources (25% of the book is a bibliography in fact). The fact that the author
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My full review (also a podcast episode!) is here: www.closemindedpodcast.com/5
Darwinism is a fascinating topic on many levels. On one hand, it's recognized throughout the world as the leading--perhaps the only acceptable--theory of how earth and its inhabitants came to be. Its assumptions permeate the media, popular culture, and the scientific community. Yet at the same time millions of people remain unconvinced of its explanatory power; some even reject it outright--for reasons theological, phi ...more
Darwinism is a fascinating topic on many levels. On one hand, it's recognized throughout the world as the leading--perhaps the only acceptable--theory of how earth and its inhabitants came to be. Its assumptions permeate the media, popular culture, and the scientific community. Yet at the same time millions of people remain unconvinced of its explanatory power; some even reject it outright--for reasons theological, phi ...more
I've read a number of books on this subject, and this one is unique. Although there is a decent amount of scientific information included, the main point is to evaluate the philosophical presuppositions of Darwinism. The author demonstrates that the system of Darwinism is plagued by faulty logic, flights of fantasy, and feeble evidence.
Bethell draws from Darwin's writings (including personal correspondence) along with other thinkers up to the present, many of whom he has personally interviewed. ...more
Bethell draws from Darwin's writings (including personal correspondence) along with other thinkers up to the present, many of whom he has personally interviewed. ...more
It is a very thorough book, making you think about everything you're supposed to know about evolution and how everything that we know is based on just speculation, stories that "make sense" but nothing is based on scientific proofs and if evolution is taken seriously without any proof than so should other stories that are also based on nothing. But that's not the case in the scientific community and they've made Darwin's theory the new religion.
Personally I don't know what the answer is but wha ...more
Personally I don't know what the answer is but wha ...more
(NOTE: I'm stingy with stars. For me 2 stars means a good book or a B. 3 stars means a very good book or a B+. 4 stars means an outstanding book or an A {only about 5% of the books I read merit 4 stars}. 5 stars means an all time favorite or an A+ {Only one of 400 or 500 books rates this!).
The great news is that I can listen to a book a day at work. The bad news is that I can’t keep up with decent reviews. So I’m going to give up for now and just rate them. I hope to come back to some of the mos ...more
The great news is that I can listen to a book a day at work. The bad news is that I can’t keep up with decent reviews. So I’m going to give up for now and just rate them. I hope to come back to some of the mos ...more
A good review of the philosophical underpinnings of the theory of evolution. Unfortunately, it will probably not convince any evolutionists, because when you assume materialism to be true, you have no other option but to accept evolution and defend it by any possible means.
The main drawback is that it covers a lot of ground, so it doesn't go far beyond philosophical considerations on each issue. ...more
The main drawback is that it covers a lot of ground, so it doesn't go far beyond philosophical considerations on each issue. ...more
A solid criticism of the theory of evolution with historical arguments backing it. Several of the statements countering evolution were thoughts if already had but many I hadn't considered. This isn't a Christian book, although it quite often gets classified as such since many people can't handle the concept of a non-religious, scientific argument against this sacred cow.
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Outstanding expose of the Darwinism. Those who are staunch proponents of natural selection will of course scoff at this book, but if they are intellectually honest, they may just find the answers they have been searching for all along...
Undoubtedly the best book I have ever read on the problems with evolution written for the general reader. Awesome.
Fine read from a Intelligent design perspective exploring the weaknesses of Neo-Darwinism!
Superb historical critique of Darwinism by a journalist who has followed the subject for many years and interviewed leading thinkers on both sides multiple times.
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Tom Bethell is a senior editor at the American Spectator. He has contributed to many publications, including the New York Times magazine, Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s, Crisis, and National Review. He writes often on science. Tom Wolfe has called Bethell “one of our most brilliant essayists.”
Bethell was born and raised in England and graduated from Oxford University in 1962 with a degree in philosop ...more
Bethell was born and raised in England and graduated from Oxford University in 1962 with a degree in philosop ...more
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