A thrilling reconsideration of the tug of war between science and creationism.
A radically new approach to evolution seeks to harmonize reason and revelation.
Charles Darwin’s On the Origins of the Species was a groundbreaking work in 1859—all the more impressive given the limitations imposed by his time. He relied heavily on fossils, but they provide no direct evidence of ancestry and are only really helpful given some prior understanding of genetics, which was not yet an existing science. In fact, all of Darwin’s theories were proposed prior to the discovery of DNA, with the prescience of his contributions a triumph of the scientific method, or inductive reasoning. But in the last 130 years, debut author Jeanson argues, new leaps in the understanding of the mechanisms of evolution have given scientists the vision to correct Darwin’s missteps and inch closer to an account of the origins of human life. The author is particularly interested in the boost given by the development of genetics as a field of scientific inquiry. If the mystery of the origins of the species is essentially one about the origins of traits, and they are governed by DNA, then the science of genetics holds the key to an eventual solution to the mystery. Provocatively, Jeanson suggests that the current bank of evidence available today is consistent with a view that includes a designing God; in one of the more gripping discussions, the author shows how the rate of human mutation actually corresponds to a creationist time scale of 6,000 years. The author is a scientist with peer-reviewed publications and a Ph.D. in cell and developmental biology from Harvard University. His knowledge of the material—historical and contemporary—and the rigor of his analysis are unimpeachable. In addition, while the subject matter is likely to be intellectually challenging for even the highly educated layperson, it won’t be because of Jeanson’s prose, which is beautifully limpid. Furthermore, he clearly grasps the gravity of the matter at hand and rises to the occasion: “The reason that the origins debate provokes such emotional responses is because it inexorably converges on philosophical and religious themes. The science of origins reaches to our deepest viscera.”
A thrilling reconsideration of the tug of war between science and creationism.Pub Date: Oct. 9, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-68344-075-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Master Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An erudite and artful, though frustratingly restrained, look at Old Testament stories.
The Book of Genesis as imagined by a veteran voice of underground comics.
R. Crumb’s pass at the opening chapters of the Bible isn’t nearly the act of heresy the comic artist’s reputation might suggest. In fact, the creator of Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural is fastidiously respectful. Crumb took pains to preserve every word of Genesis—drawing from numerous source texts, but mainly Robert Alter’s translation, The Five Books of Moses (2004)—and he clearly did his homework on the clothing, shelter and landscapes that surrounded Noah, Abraham and Isaac. This dedication to faithful representation makes the book, as Crumb writes in his introduction, a “straight illustration job, with no intention to ridicule or make visual jokes.” But his efforts are in their own way irreverent, and Crumb feels no particular need to deify even the most divine characters. God Himself is not much taller than Adam and Eve, and instead of omnisciently imparting orders and judgment He stands beside them in Eden, speaking to them directly. Jacob wrestles not with an angel, as is so often depicted in paintings, but with a man who looks not much different from himself. The women are uniformly Crumbian, voluptuous Earth goddesses who are both sexualized and strong-willed. (The endnotes offer a close study of the kinds of power women wielded in Genesis.) The downside of fitting all the text in is that many pages are packed tight with small panels, and too rarely—as with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah—does Crumb expand his lens and treat signature events dramatically. Even the Flood is fairly restrained, though the exodus of the animals from the Ark is beautifully detailed. The author’s respect for Genesis is admirable, but it may leave readers wishing he had taken a few more chances with his interpretation, as when he draws the serpent in the Garden of Eden as a provocative half-man/half-lizard. On the whole, though, the book is largely a tribute to Crumb’s immense talents as a draftsman and stubborn adherence to the script.
An erudite and artful, though frustratingly restrained, look at Old Testament stories.Pub Date: Oct. 19, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-393-06102-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A quirky wonder of a book.
A Peabody Award–winning NPR science reporter chronicles the life of a turn-of-the-century scientist and how her quest led to significant revelations about the meaning of order, chaos, and her own existence.
Miller began doing research on David Starr Jordan (1851-1931) to understand how he had managed to carry on after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake destroyed his work. A taxonomist who is credited with discovering “a full fifth of fish known to man in his day,” Jordan had amassed an unparalleled collection of ichthyological specimens. Gathering up all the fish he could save, Jordan sewed the nameplates that had been on the destroyed jars directly onto the fish. His perseverance intrigued the author, who also discusses the struggles she underwent after her affair with a woman ended a heterosexual relationship. Born into an upstate New York farm family, Jordan attended Cornell and then became an itinerant scholar and field researcher until he landed at Indiana University, where his first ichthyological collection was destroyed by lightning. In between this catastrophe and others involving family members’ deaths, he reconstructed his collection. Later, he was appointed as the founding president of Stanford, where he evolved into a Machiavellian figure who trampled on colleagues and sang the praises of eugenics. Miller concludes that Jordan displayed the characteristics of someone who relied on “positive illusions” to rebound from disaster and that his stand on eugenics came from a belief in “a divine hierarchy from bacteria to humans that point[ed]…toward better.” Considering recent research that negates biological hierarchies, the author then suggests that Jordan’s beloved taxonomic category—fish—does not exist. Part biography, part science report, and part meditation on how the chaos that caused Miller’s existential misery could also bring self-acceptance and a loving wife, this unique book is an ingenious celebration of diversity and the mysterious order that underlies all existence.
A quirky wonder of a book.Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5011-6027-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 1, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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