Evolution and Belief: Confessions of a Religious Paleontologist

by Robert J. Asher

• ISBN13: 9780521193832
• ISBN10: 0521193834
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-03-26
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Can a scientist believe in God? Does the ongoing debate between some evolutionists and evangelicals show that the two sides are irreconcilable? As a paleontologist and a religious believer, Robert Asher constantly confronts the perceived conflict between his occupation and his faith. In the course of his scientific work, he has found that no other theory comes close to Darwin's as an explanation for our world's incredible biodiversity. Recounting discoveries in molecular biology, paleontology and development, Asher reveals the remarkable evidence in favor of Darwinian evolution. In outlining the scope of Darwin's idea, Asher shows how evolution describes the cause of biodiversity, rather than the agency behind it. He draws a line between superstition and religion, recognizing that atheism is not the inevitable conclusion of evolutionary theory. By liberating evolution from its misappropriated religious implications, Asher promotes a balanced awareness that contributes to our understanding of biology and Earth history.

Author Biography

Michael Ruse, Florida State University, author of The Philosophy of Human Evolution (Cambridge, 2012) and Science and Spirituality: Making Room for Faith in the Age of Science (Cambridge, 2010).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xi
Prologue	p. xiii
Science and Religion	p. 1
Darwinism, Agency, and Cause	p. 3
The Most Gifted Biology Writer of Our Time	p. 8
Methodological Naturalism	p. 14
The Compatibility Delusion	p. 18
Theistic Christianity and Evolution	p. 21
Evolution as a Science	p. 27
Historical Science and Naturalism	p. 28
Uniformitarianism and Intelligent Design	p. 32
Science and Hypothesis Testing	p. 36
Hypotheses Derived from Natural Selection	p. 38
Characters and Common Descent	p. 42
Evolutionary Trees	p. 43
Living "Intermediates"	p. 45
Reproduction on Land and in Water	p. 47
Amphibians and the Puerto Rican Coqui	p. 48
Mammals and Monotremes	p. 50
Marsupials and Bandicoots	p. 54
The Marsupial Placenta	p. 56
Tarsiers	p. 59
Summary	p. 62
The Fossil Record	p. 63
Stratigraphy	p. 66
Micro- and Macroevolution	p. 71
Punctuated Equilibrium	p. 73
Creationists and Quote-mining	p. 77
Stephen Jay Gould and Neo-Darwinism	p. 80
"Macroevolution": Species as Individuals	p. 85
The Roots of Mammals	p. 89
Synapsid Jaw and Ear Bones	p. 93
Ear Bones and Development	p. 101
Mammalian Lactation	p. 107
Roots of Mammals: Summary	p. 110
A Brief History of Elephants	p. 112
Elephants and the Big Picture	p. 118
Elephants and English	p. 122
Whales are no Fluke	p. 125
Cetacean Origins: Molecules and Mesonychids	p. 125
Toothed and Baleen Whales	p. 132
Baleen Whale Development and Genetics	p. 136
Creationism: the Fossils Still Say No!	p. 140
Agency and Cause Revisited	p. 151
DNA and the Tree of Life	p. 154
Building Trees with Genes	p. 159
Anti-evolutionists and Trees	p. 166
The Nodes Anatomy got Wrong	p. 170
Afrotheria and the New Tree of Placental Mammals	p. 171
DNA and Information "Creation"	p. 179
What does DNA do?	p. 184
Pseudogenes	p. 186
Viral DNA and Function	p. 187
Mutation and Color Vision	p. 188
"Tuning knobs" and Skull Shape	p. 192
Origin of Information and "Macroevolution"	p. 195
Genetics, Development, and the Mammalian Ear	p. 196
Biology and Probability	p. 201
Contingency	p. 202
Convergence	p. 205
Evolution is not Random	p. 205
Selection and Stickleback Fish	p. 208
Probability and Anti-evolutionism	p. 213
Exaptation	p. 216
Evolution, Education, and Conclusions	p. 220
Academic Freedom	p. 221
What did Darwin Explain?	p. 225
Conclusions	p. 227
Notes	p. 232
Bibliography	p. 269
Index	p. 297
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