Essential Readings: What's Darwin Got To Do With It?
What's Darwin Got To Do With It? A Friendly Conversation About Evolution
By Robert C. Newman, and John L. Wiester with Janet Moneymaker and Jonathan Moneymaker
InterVarsity Press, 2000, 146 pages
Feeling primitive? Unevolved? Inorganic? Then try a bowl of Primordial Soup! What's Darwin Got To Do With It? is an illustrated friendly conversation about evolution and what science can explain about life. Aimed at younger students, this comic-book style work helps students understand if finch beaks really prove Darwinism is true or if the encoded message in DNA implies an intelligent designer.
The book opens by helping students to understand important terminology. What does evolution mean? Some people say evolution just means change through time. But simple evidence of change does not necessarily mean that new phyla can emerge or new body structures can evolve. Thus, we have microevolution and macroevolution.
The book explains in illustrated form why intelligent design is the best explanation for life. When we see letters on a hillside spelling out "Welcome to Victoria," we have a valid rationale to believe that that the letters were designed. Similarly, if a radio signal from outer space said "hello earthlings," we would have good reason to infer design. But what about when we find an encoded sequence in our DNA which, using a complicated sequence of biochemical commands, creates miniature motors which resemble human-designed engines? This and other topics concerning intelligent design are presented in clear language with a wealth of illustrations.
This book is a must read for young students who are still learning the basics of science but want to understand evolution and design. As Phillip Johnson wrote when he reviewed the book, it's "more fun than a barrel of Australopithecines."