Science and earth history : the evolution/creation controversy /

The creationist-evolutionist controversy has escalated during the last two decades to downright warfare. The evolutionists believe that science substantiates a very old age of the earth (around 4T billion years), that life began as a fortuitous combination of organic molecules, and that through the vast span of time life forms changed by evolving into the multitude of species inhabiting earth today. The creationists are convinced that the earth is not so very old, that each form of life was individually created by God, and that the survivors living today were those that survived the biblical deluge. The stake, insofar as creationists are concerned, is teaching of their viewpoint in public schools with equal time with the opposing evolutionary account. Strahler here counters each of the strong arguments of the creationists, case by case, but he does this with all-too-frequent strong satire and irony. He might have been more convincing to those undecided by keeping his arguments of a more even temper. Creationists are strongly organized, with their own societies and publications; to date, evolutionists have paid little attention to national unity, being individually concerned with their particular spheres of science. Inasmuch as this confrontation is continuing and promises to become more intense, this book sets forth the background for future participants.-R.V. Kesling, University of Michigan

This book assesses the attempts of fundamentalist Christians to blend science and religion into a coherent view of the universe, called ``creation science,'' through a literal reading of the book of Genesis. The author, an emeritus professor of geomorphology at Columbia University, examines evidence from astronomy to zoology, and shows that creation science does not meet the criteria of the scientific enterprise. He concludes that it is a belief system that constitutes a pseudoscience at best, a fraud at worst. His analysis is reasoned, balanced, and fair, but, in the end, devastating. Strongly recommended for public libraries. Robert Paul, Dickinson Coll., Carlisle, Penn. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.