Annotations from the Literature

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Bada JL. 1985. Amino acid racemization dating of fossil bones. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Science 13:241-268.

Summary. An up-to-date review of amino acid dating by a recognized authority on the subject. The introduction contains an explanation of the racemization process. The main text summarizes the amino acid dating of fossil bones from Olduvai Gorge (East Africa) and paleoindian sites in California (USA).

Comment. The author’s conclusion regarding the reliability of amino acid age estimates as an accurate indicator of real-time fossil age provide both agreement and contrast with the conclusions presented in Origins 12:8-25, 1985.

Bethell T. 1985. Agnostic evolutionists: the taxonomic case against Darwin. Harper’s 270(February):49-52, 56-58, 60-61.

Summary. A non-technical account of the controversy between cladistic evolutionary biologists who question the validity of the study of ancestral forms and the neo-Darwinists who follow more traditional lines. A number of thought-provoking questions are raised.

Cohen IL. 1984. Darwin was wrong — a study in probabilities. Greenvale, NY: New Research Publications, Inc. 225 p.

Summary. The author introduces in a simple style the concepts of probability and their application for evaluating concepts of the origin of biological systems. He shows how highly improbable it is that they could have arisen spontaneously. He then presents evidence of design using a number of complex biological systems as examples. The book concludes with a discussion of the implications of belief in evolution.

Davies P. 1983. God and the new physics. NY: Simon & Schuster, Inc. 225 p.

Summary. A thought-provoking analysis of the impact of the new physics on religious ideas. Some biological and cosmological concepts are also considered. In a lucid style the author, who is sympathetic to the concept of a God, presents various possibilities and few conclusions.

Godfrey LR, editor. 1983. Scientists confront creationism. NY and London: W. W. Norton & Company. 324 p.

Summary. A symposium volume with 15 contributors who address some of the main issues between creation and evolution. The authors, many of whom are world authorities in their field, are strongly sympathetic to evolution. A good reference for those interested in the evolutionary answers to some creationist challenges.

Comment. This is one of the more scholarly and least polemic of the recently published anti-creation books.

Hammer RE, et al. 1985. Production of transgenic rabbits, sheep and pigs by microinjection. Nature 315:680-683.

Summary. A human growth gene, previously transferred into mice and inherited by their offspring (Nature 311:65-67, 1984), has been transferred to rabbits, pigs and sheep. Will man be able to “create” better species? or new species?

Klemke ED, Hollinger R, Kline AD, editors. 1980. Introductory readings in the philosophy of science. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books. 373 p.

Summary. A compilation of 23 short essays on the nature and meaning of science. The last seven essays deal with the relation of science to human values. Most of the essays are reprints of classic publications by noted scientists or scientific philosophers. An easily understood and stimulating volume.

Taylor IT. 1984. In the minds of men. Toronto: TFE Publishing. 498 p.

Summary. A comprehensive and authoritative (except for chapters 11 and 12) review of the controversy between science and the Bible. A good source reference for many of the current issues. The author, who is sympathetic to the creation viewpoint, provides a rich background of information.