The Top 10 Myths About Evolution - book review

The Top 10 Myths About Evolution by Cameron M. Smith and Charles Sullivan is a handy little book to hand to someone who has been convinced that evolution is wrong. Very likely they have been convinced by one of these "myths" and will recognize it easily. For example Myth #2 is called "It's just a theory." People will say that evolution is "just a theory" so scientists must not think much about it or they expect it should rank alongside other theories that might be disprove any day now. Smith & Sullivan proceed then to describe how scientific usage of the word "theory" differs from everyday usage. A scientific theory is, in fact, a paradigm for understanding the universe given what we know now. It is as close to fact as scientists get.

Another example is that "Evolution is random". Many people have latched onto this "myth" of evolution to say that we might as well think we could shake up a box of watch parts to create a watch. But a little closer evaluation of the myth shows it not to be stable enough to rest any sort of argument on. There are many definitions of random and many aspects of evolution. Some of these aspects may indeed be random in a certain sense while others are definitely NOT random. Some DNA mutations would, for example, appear to be" random" or haphazard but the effect that such mutations have on the ability of the organism to survive (natural selection) would be anything but random. Therefore, the next generation of DNA mutations would be a combination of random and non-random processes. The authors, of course, do a much better job of explaining each of the myths but then they have a whole book while I just have a small blog entry. (Not to mention that they are excellent writers.)

This book describes the following myths about evolution: 1) Survival of the Fittest; 2) Just a Theory; 3) Ladder of Progress; 4) Missing Link; 5) Evolution is Random; 6) People Descended from Monkeys; 7) Nature is in Perfect Balance; 8) Creationism Disproves Evolution; 9) Intelligent Design is Science; and 10) Evolution is Immoral.

The book is coherent and easily understood by non-scientists. It is well documented with copious end notes for each chapter. In any event, the book is a good read and a good reference book however you feel about evolution.