Why Evolution Is True (urspr publ 2009; utgåvan 2010)

Well-written, interesting, informative and in some parts amusing. Good basic book for those, like me, with no scientific background. ( )

This is a pretty good, and comprehensive, discussion of the evidence for evolution, in ways we don't always get it in reports of the latest new findings and the conclusions that scientists have reached.

Coyne's goal is to explain, clearly and thoroughly, how we know evolution is real and factual, and amply supported by solid scientific evidence. It's not "a theory" in the popular sense of that word.

How bacteria demonstrate evolution, the ways we can demonstrate evolution in plants, animals, and humans, are discussed. The evolution of the "camera eye" of modern mammals, including ourselves, from simpler, earlier structures, a thing Creationists and Intelligent Design advocates (the current incarnation of Creationism trying to force its way into science classrooms) have long insisted is impossible and therefore proof of an Intelligent Designer, is explained clearly and directly.

There is much, much more, and it's mostly very good.

I did have a few hiccups along the way, until I finally checked the original publication date. Original publication date 2008, twelve years ago! Of course it doesn't include everything we've learned in the last decade, and therefore has a few things "wrong." Not Coyne's fault!

It's still a good listen, and a clear, comprehensive presentation of the evidence, even if it was published twelve years ago, not two. (Always double-check those dates, if having misread the date wrong initially is going to bother you, the way it bothers me.)

Recommended.

I bought this audiobook. ( )

For some reason, Evolution is a touchy subject. You find people sometimes that doubt its authenticity, decrying it as ‘only a theory.’ Usually, these people don’t know what a theory is when it applies to science. I can say this because Gravity is also a theory, and I don’t see people nonchalantly floating off into space. There isn’t an alternative to the theory of Gravity unless you are really into Aristotle and never heard of Isaac Newton or Albert Einstein. Relativity is a theory as well and we use that all the time for GPS and Satellites and things.

However, Why Evolution Is True points out some interesting things about human nature that I did not consider before. Apparently, the idea of natural selection and anything that doesn’t involve a creator god challenges the identity of a person who believes in a creator god. Why Evolution is True is a book that I really enjoyed a great deal. It provides evidence for all of its statements. This is something that I find preferable to throwing up your hands and making up a magic sky man.

Let’s go back a bit though. This book provides tons of evidence for all of the statements it makes. It discusses the history of Evolution and how it was thought to be a thing but they couldn’t provide a mechanism by which it occurred until Charles Darwin came along. Once science had the mechanism of natural selection it really took off. Everywhere you look you can find evidence that it is the truth.

The author Jerry A Coyne carefully assembles his arguments against every parry that a creationist could invent. Take the idea of certain bacteria having a little molecular motor, or the old favorite of the complexity of the eye. Coyne argues that for each event it isn’t necessary to produce an eye from nothing, just that you have to have something functional that doesn’t hinder the organism. We learn about sexual selection and tons of other things along the way. Coyne even discusses the idea of molecular biology and how it is helped along by our more advanced science.

If you are a staunch creationist you probably won’t change your mind at this book, but I thought it was very compelling. Then again, I don’t know why you would want to read this book as a staunch creationist unless you were looking to argue. I could be wrong though. ( )

Very early into this book, I felt it was a bit too much like a classroom textbook for my taste, but it quickly transitioned into a master class taught by the best of teachers. It's overflowing with fascinating information strung together with solid logic. True, it never loses sight of its title's purpose, justifying why evolution is true and creationism is a religious position, not a scientific one. But, if the creationist reader can stand to overlook the "debate", even that person can find fascination in what is included. Ultimately, the author finds himself speculating on why creationists are so uncomfortable with the overwhelming evidence of evolution. I invite the future readers to come to their own conclusions, because ultimately, the lack of acceptance, in my mind, comes from a lack of openness to all the world around them, not just what someone tells them to see or not see. And we can't make someone see something they don't want to see. ( )

If you are an idiot you should be legally obligated to read this book to prevent you from saying the stupid idiot-things that you'll naturally want to say from time to time. If on the other hand you're a reasonably intelligent person you should read this book for the interesting facts you'll learn and to have your mind blown by the overwhelming convergence of evidence from vastly different scientific fields.

Some of the preditions and deductions were absolutely mind-boggling. That bit about the corals and the radiometric dating and the moon and tidal locking - I don't want to give it away, but that was some sherlock holmes sh.tuff.. right there. It was like seeing all the pieces fall together in the final scene of a detective novel. Every bit as entertaining, with the added benefit of being true.

I guess if your intelligence falls somewhere in the middle you maybe could pass? I don't know. Harry Potter is okay. ( )