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What one book to recommend to a creationist?

Travis

Misanthrope of the Mountains
Travis
Joined
Mar 31, 2007
Messages
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My friend Dan works with an actual "out of the closet" creationist. They generally respect each others views since it doesn't involve their work. But they do sometimes talk and the creationist might agree to read a pro-evolution book if my friend reads a pro-creationist book.

So which one should Dan try and get his hands on? I told him he should perhaps find one that is specifically written to dispute creationist claims but now I'm rethinking this. Maybe something that just goes over the grand sum of converging evidence without mentioning creationism?

I own a copy of The Blind Watchmaker but I'm not sure it is really what should be passed over. It makes a bunch of really good arguments against some specific claims but doesn't touch on a lot of the big reasons evolution through natural descent is so obviously what really happened.

I should point out this creationist is rather intelligent and is above board in the character department generally. Meaning that if he says he'll read it he will and can understand complex concepts.

Also he was sort of home schooled. I don't know if that will mean anything to anybody.
 
The Demon Haunted World by Sagan.

This a book that promotes healthy critical thinking about a whole slew of what we would consider woo. Its not too focused on debunking religion so he shouldnt feel that his beliefs are under attack. Prying a mind loose from a belief like creationism is not a quick process and the best start to the process is encouraging healthy, critical thought.
 
I always try to be the better person when exchanging Courtier's Replies, so I'd recommend the first two thirds of Stephen Baxter's "Evolution." It's not a textbook, it's not an anti-religious screed, it's a novel whose protagonists are human ancestors throughout the ages. Once he catches up to modern society you may as well put the book down because he gets all depressing science fictiony, but until then there's some fantastic gems, like this (spoilered for length):

As the world recovered, so its changing conditions shaped its living inhabitants.

The mammals were beginning to experiment with new roles. The ancestors of the true carnivores, which would eventually include the dogs and cats, were still small, ferretlike animals, busy, opportunistic general feeders. But the oxyclaenus had begun to develop the specializations of mammalian predators to follow: vertical legs for sustained speed, strong permanent teeth anchored by double roots and with interlocking cusps designed to shred meat.

It was all part of an ancient pattern. All living things worked to stay alive. They took in nourishment, repaired themselves, grew, avoided predators.

No organism lived forever. The only way to counter the dreadful annihilation of death was reproduction. Through reproduction, genetic information about oneself was passed on to one’s offspring.

But no offspring was identical to its parents. At any moment each species contained the potential for much variation. But all organisms had to exist within a frame of habitability set by their environment— an environment, of weather, land, and living things, which they shaped in turn. As survival was sought with ruthless ferocity, the frame of the environment was filled up; every viable variation of a species that could find room to survive was expressed.

But room was at a premium. And competition for that room was relentless and unending. Many more offspring were born than could possibly survive. The struggle to exist was relentless. The losers were culled by starvation, predation, disease. Those slightly better adapted to their corner of the environment inevitably had a slightly better chance of winning the battle for survival than others— and therefore of passing on genetic information about themselves to subsequent generations.

But the environment could change, as climates adjusted, or as continents collided and species, mixed by migrations over land bridges, found themselves with novel neighbors. As the environment, of climate and of living things, changed, so the requirements of adaptation changed. But the principle of selection continued to operate.

Thus, generation by generation, the populations of organisms tracked the changes in the world. All the variations of a species that worked in the new frame were selected for, and those that were no longer viable disappeared, sinking into the fossil record, or into oblivion altogether. Such turnovers were unending, a perpetual churn. As long as the “required” variation lay within the available genetic spectrum, the changes in the population could be rapid— as rapid as human breeders of domesticated animals and plants would find as they strove for their own ideas of perfection in the creatures in their power. But when the available variation ran out, the changes would stall, until a new mutation came along, a chance event caused, perhaps, by radiation effects, that opened up new possibilities for variation.

This was evolution. That was all there was to it: It was a simple principle, based on simple, obvious laws. But it would shape every species that ever inhabited the Earth, from the birth of life to the last extinction of all, which would take place under a glowering sun, far in the future.

And it was working now.

It was hard.

It was life.
 
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jbjr said:
The Demon Haunted World by Sagan.

This a book that promotes healthy critical thinking about a whole slew of what we would consider woo. Its not too focused on debunking religion so he shouldnt feel that his beliefs are under attack. Prying a mind loose from a belief like creationism is not a quick process and the best start to the process is encouraging healthy, critical thought.
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Baby steps, my friend. While certainly a good book for critical thinking in general, I think Travis is looking for something geared toward evolution, specifically.

I'd recommend The Making of the Fittest, by Sean B. Carroll. I've found that when arguing with Creationists, genetic arguments compared to those from morphology and paleontology work far better. It's similar to trying to convince someone about paternity; what's more likely to work, arguing that a kid shares certain physical features with you, or that his STR sequences match yours, the odds of which being independent of yours is astronomical?
 
Just one?

The classic is, of course, "On the Origin of the Species..." by C. Darwin. It's pretty much yet to be refuted, and while it's not the final word by a long shot, it's certainly a very good starting point.

I would also recommend "Principles of Geology", by C. Lyelle. This answers the YEC believe that the world was created in 6 days, which leads logically to the refutation of Creationism as a whole (you need three things for evolution: heritable traits, variation in those heritable traits, and time; the first two are obvious, so the last is the key).

Darwin's Century is a fantastic look at the history of the theory of evolution, starting WELL before Darwin's time. In fact, the book starts with a brief overview of ancient views on biology, then goes into the Medieval view of biology. That's rather important, because while modern Creationism has its roots, ultimately, in those views. This book has the advantage of not only presenting the theory of evolution, but also the the specific refutations to the specific statements made by Creationists at the time, in the order they were refuted in. It's also pretty accessible as far as history books go.

Any decent university-level textbook on evolution will also be a good choice. I used "Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea) and another one which appears to be missing from my shelf...Think the wife borrowed it.

If the Creationist's objections tend to take a more detailed bent, arguing some specific area may be helpful. "Wonderful Life" by S. Gould is a fantastic overview of paleontology. I know a few more specific books (this one, this one, and this one, for examples), but I think leaving it general may be better....If the Creationist is more of a geochemist this book is a full, detailed refutation including case studies, as I recall including Mt. St. Hellens.

If you want my top picks, they'd be:
1) Darwin's Century
2) On The Origin of the Species...
3) Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea (or any other university-level evolution textbook).
 
"Plan and Purpose In Nature" by George C. Williams. Not written as criticism of religion as a lot of Dawkins work is, it is instead a good explanation of why some things appear intelligently designed, and yet when you look at the details show themselves to be the result of development through trial and error. It is an excellent introduction into evolutionary theory, not challenging but also not simplistic. Highly recommended for Creationists if you don't want to insult their intelligence.
 
The Bible.
Sit down and read it from cover to cover. Then tell me where it says anything that conflicts with the idea of evolution.
 
derchin said:
"Why Evolution is True" by Jerry Coyne
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That's a hard one to read if you have no understanding of biology though =P I bought that for my mother for the same reason but she couldn't really read it, even if she was receptive to it.

I recommend "The Bible Unearthed"
 
Lowpro said:
That's a hard one to read if you have no understanding of biology though =P I bought that for my mother for the same reason but she couldn't really read it, even if she was receptive to it.

I recommend "The Bible Unearthed"
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Yeah, I just realized that as well.
 
Paul C. Anagnostopoulos said:
No need to read a book. Just point him here:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/04/07/104989/-How-To-Open-Up-A-Can-Of-Whup-Ass-On-Creationists

~~ Paul
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If you're going to recommend a web site instead of a book, I would much rather point him here:

"Evolution 101": http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evo_01

Very good, basic intro to the whole concept. Full of good examples of things.
Once he finishes the 101 material, he can go here for tons of more resources:
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/home.php

My favorite section is here: http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/search/topics.php?topic_id=15
Describes how the theory impacts our lives.
 
Is it worth more to use evolution or cosmology to answer a creationist on this? Wouldn't you get farther with a book like "Atom" by Lawrence Krauss to show how the universe actually is why it is and how the stuff actually came here without God.

I think creationists are far too primed to not be receptive to evolution, but may not be so ready against books like those of Krauss (before "A Universe from Nothing; he jabs at religion a lot in that one). Other than that, Dawkins "The Ancestor's Tale" is probably better. Maybe "Your Inner Fish" but it falls within Coyne's problem of that it's not easily accessible. Also anything by Gould should be accessible to read but I doubt it'll answer a creationist's beliefs as Gould makes moves to avoid taking them head-on.
 
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Wow, a lot of good suggestions.

But I might need to be more specific. If I had to pick just one for paleontology and just one for the genetics where should I go?

Probably I'm gonna take this list from you guys to the library and see what they have on hand.
 
Madalch said:
One with small words and lots of pictures.
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Taking this as serious (and I agree) I can recommend The Magic of Reality by Dawkins. It addresses the topics you mention, Travis, but covers many more in a very readable style. I think this might be a good book since you say he was home schooled so he may have many other misconceptions about science and reality than just evolution. It is, after all, a very broad topic.
 
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