This edition of Science and Creationism summarizes key aspects of several of the most important lines of evidence supporting evolution. It describes some of the positions taken by advocates of creation science and presents an analysis of these claims. This document lays out for a broader audience the case against presenting religious concepts in science classes. The document covers the origin of the universe, Earth, and life; evidence supporting biological evolution; and human evolution. (Contains 31 references.) (CCM)

The relationship between law and chance in the early evolution of life is the guidingtheme of this provocative study. The author explores modern ideas about the origin of life from thestandpoint of philosophy of science, emphasizing the contribution made by information theory.Küppersasserts that all life phenomena are steered by information and that this information is alreadydefined materially in a universal form at the level of the biological macromolecule. The question ofthe origin of life turns out to be the question of the origin of biological informationInformationand the Origin of Life takes up the fundamental problems of whether and, if so, to what extent theorigin of semantic information during evolution can be explained as a general phenomenon within theframework of physics and chemistry. The results could have far-reaching consequences for such fieldsas the philosophy of mind and artificial intelligence.Bernd-Olaf Küppers has long focused hisattention on basic questions of natural science and the philosophy of science at the borders ofphysics, chemistry, and biology. He has been engaged since 1971 in research at the Max PlanckInstitute for Biophysical Chemistry, and from 1979 to 1984 he held lecture courses in philosophy atthe University of Göttingen

A new, deluxe hardcover edition of one of the most important scientific works ever written In December 1831, Charles Darwin boarded the HMS Beagle, accompanying her crew on a five-year journey that crossed the Atlantic Ocean to survey the coasts of South America. As the expedition’s geologist and naturalist, Darwin collected evidence from the Galapagos Islands and other locations which prompted him to speculate that species evolve over generations through a process of natural selection. In 1859, Darwin published On the Origin of Species, a work of scientific literature considered to be the foundation of evolutionary biology. His revolutionary work presented evidence from the Beagle expedition as well as from years of subsequent research and experimentation. Written for non-specialists, Darwin’s book gained widespread interest from the scientific community, religious leaders, politicians and the general public. The theory Darwin presented in his book quickly became the subject of heated debate and discussion. Now accepted by the scientific community, Darwin’s concepts of evolutionary adaptation via natural selection are central to modern evolutionary theory and form the foundation of modern life sciences. Perhaps the most transformative scientific volume ever published, this volume of the first edition of On the Origin of Species: Outlines Darwin’s ideas, scientific influences and the core of his theory Details natural selection and address possible objections to the theory Examines the fossil record and biogeography to support evolutionary adaptation Features a "Recapitulation and Conclusion" which reviews key concepts and considers the future relevance of Darwin’s theory On the Origin of Species: The Science Classic is an important addition to the bestselling Capstone Classics series edited by Tom Butler-Bowdon. It includes an insightful Introduction from leading Darwin scholar Dr John van Wyhe of the University of Singapore, which presents new research and an offers an original perspective on Darwin and his famous work. This high-quality, hardcover volume is a must-have for readers interested in science and scientific literature, particularly evolutionary theory and life sciences.

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! From celebrated anthropologist Jennifer Raff comes the untold story—and fascinating mystery—of how humans migrated to the Americas. ORIGIN is the story of who the first peoples in the Americas were, how and why they made the crossing, how they dispersed south, and how they lived based on a new and powerful kind of evidence: their complete genomes. ORIGIN provides an overview of these new histories throughout North and South America, and a glimpse into how the tools of genetics reveal details about human history and evolution. 20,000 years ago, people crossed a great land bridge from Siberia into Western Alaska and then dispersed southward into what is now called the Americas. Until we venture out to other worlds, this remains the last time our species has populated an entirely new place, and this event has been a subject of deep fascination and controversy. No written records—and scant archaeological evidence—exist to tell us what happened or how it took place. Many different models have been proposed to explain how the Americas were peopled and what happened in the thousands of years that followed. A study of both past and present, ORIGIN explores how genetics is currently being used to construct narratives that profoundly impact Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It serves as a primer for anyone interested in how genetics has become entangled with identity in the way that society addresses the question "Who is indigenous?"

Since the beginning of civilization, the origins of the Earth and Moon have been the subjects of continuing interest, speculation, and enquiry. These are also among the most challenging of all scientific problems. They are, perhaps to a unique degree, interdisciplinary, having attracted the attention of philosophers, astronomers, mathematicians, geologists, chemists, and physicists. A large and diverse literature has developed, far beyond the capacity of individuals to assimilate adequately. Consequently, most of those who attempt to present review-syntheses in the area tend to reflect the perspectives of their own particular disciplines. The present author's approach is that of a geochemist, strongly influenced by the basic phil osophy of Harold Urey. Whereas most astronomical phenomena are controlled by gravitational and magnetic fields, and by nuclear interactions, Urey (1952) emphasized that the formation of the solar system occurred in a pressure-temperature regime wherein the chemical properties of matter were at least as important as those of gravitational and magnetic fields. This was the principal theme of his 1952 book, "The Planets," which revolutionized our approach to this subject. In many subsequent papers, Urey strongly emphasized the importance of meteorites in providing critical evidence of chemical conditions in the primordial solar nebula, and of the chemical fractionation processes which occurred during formation of the terrestrial planets. This approach has been followed by most subsequent geochemists and cosmochemists.