Undeniable Evolution and the Science of Creation

by Nye, Bill; Powell, Corey S.

• ISBN13: 9781250074225
• ISBN10: 1250074223
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2015-09-08
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Summary

The New York Times best seller by
the host of Bill Nye the Science Guy,
with a brand new chapter for the paperback edition!


"Evolution is one of the most powerful and important ideas ever developed in the history of science. Every question it raises leads to new answers, new discoveries, and new smarter questions. The science of evolution is as expansive as nature itself. It is also the most meaningful creation story that humans have ever found."-Bill Nye

Sparked by a controversial debate in February 2014, Bill Nye has set off on an energetic campaign to spread awareness of evolution and the powerful way it shapes our lives. In Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation, he explains why race does not really exist; evaluates the true promise and peril of genetically modified food; reveals how new species are born, in a dog kennel and in a London subway; takes a stroll through 4.5 billion years of time; and explores the new search for alien life, including aliens right here on Earth.

With infectious enthusiasm, Bill Nye shows that evolution is much more than a rebuttal to creationism; it is an essential way to understand how nature works-and to change the world. It might also help you get a date on a Saturday night.

Author Biography

Bill Nye is a scientist, engineer, comedian, and inventor. He has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University where he studied under Carl Sagan, and worked on the 747 as an engineer at Boeing before creating and hosting his much-loved Emmy award-winning PBS/Discovery Channel show Bill Nye the Science Guy. He holds six Honorary Doctorate degrees from Lehigh University, Willamette University, Quinnipiac University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Goucher College, and Johns Hopkins, and teaches at Cornell regularly as a visiting professor.

Corey S. Powell is the former editor in chief of American Scientist and Discover, where he is currently editor at large and continues to write the "Out There" column and blog. He is also a visiting scholar at NYU's SHERP science journalism program, as well as a freelance writer for Popular Science, Smithsonian, Nautilus, and Aeon; his article "The Madness of the Planets" appears in The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2014. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, two daughters, and a small collection of Permian-era fossils. Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation is his first collaboration with Bill Nye, but he hopes it will not be his last.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: Me and You and Evolution, Too

2. The Great Creationism Debate

3. Creation and the Second Law of Thermodynamics

4. Bottom-Up Design

5. Deep Time--Dive in

6. On the Origin of Evolution

7. Lamarck and His Not-Acquired Traits

8. My Prom and Sexual Selection

9. The Red Queen

10. Dogs Are All Dogs

11. The Tree of Life--Or Is It a Bush?

12. Biodiversity Comes in the Territory

13. Fossil Records and Explosions

14. Mass Extinctions and You

15. Ancient Dinosaurs and the Asteroid Test

16. Punctuated Equilibrium

17. Contingency, Bottlenecking, Founding

18. Mosquitoes in the Tube

19. Convergence, Analogy, and Homology

20. What Good Is Half a Wing?

21. Human Bodies Are Walking Talking and Good Enough

22. Evolution Is Why We Don't Believe in Evolution

23. Micro or Macro--It's Evolution

24. Michael Faraday and the Joy of Discovery

25. Medicine and You--Evolution at the Doctor's Office

26. Antibiotic Drug Resistance--Fight Back

27. The Urge of Altruism

28. Games Species Play

29. Costly Signals

30. Genetically Modified Foods--What the GMF?

31. Human Cloning--Not Cool

32. Our Skin Colors

33. Is the Human Species Still Evolving?

34. Astrobiologically Speaking--Is There Anyone Out There?

35. The Sparks That Started It All

36. A Second Genesis--of Life?

37. Life's Cosmic Imperative