We havent yet seen a copy of A.N. Wilsons forthcoming anti-Darwin book, which isnt out in the United States until December 12. See David Klinghoffers post, Ouch: A Slashing New Anti-Darwin Biography from Darwins Own Publisher. However, if all you knew was that the biographer and literary critic has written a book titled Charles Darwin: Victorian Mythmaker, and a preview op-ed titled Its time Charles Darwin was exposed for the fraud he was, the response would be predictable.
The book could be good, or it could be bad. Were agnostic. But Darwinists defend their man ferociously, and the offense is worse coming not from a creationist but someone who, given class loyalties, ought to be on their side. A creationist they would simply ignore. Its the class treachery angle that really stings them.
Thus we have an early review for New Scientist, Radical new biography of Darwin is unreliable and inaccurate, by historian of science John van Wyhe who edits the website Darwin Online.
Excerpts from the review:
This book provides an appallingly inaccurate rendition of Darwins theory and its scientific context. According to Wilson, Darwin told his contemporaries that their land-grabs in Africa, their hunger for stock-market wealth in the face of widespread urban poverty, their rigid class system and their everlasting wars were not things to be ashamed of, but actually part of the processes of nature. The theory is not science, Wilson concludes, just another offering in a bazaar of ersatz religions.
Wilsons book contains numerous and serious factual errors such as if Darwin were correct, there would be hundreds, thousands of examples of transitional fossils. There are. Darwins first grandchild did not die in childbirth as Wilson states. A fragment of Wallaces letter to Darwin from when Wallace was living in Ternate does not survive. Darwin believed that his own theory made it impossible to believe in the Bible. Not so. The first 50 pages of Darwins evolution notebook are not missing, they were located and published by 1967. (Wilson copied this claim from a conspiracy-laden essay, Darwin, Coleridge, and the Theory of Unconscious Creation, published by Loren Eiseley in 1965, two years before Darwins pages were published.)
Throughout, Wilson bashes Darwin for supposed arrogance, dishonesty and incompetence and trots out a long line of old anti-Darwin myths: for example, that Darwin stole ideas fromEdward Blyth, whom Wilson mistakes for an evolutionist. (This too is borrowed from Eiseley.) Wilson invents and condemns a towering ambition Darwin had to be a universal genius. And eugenics and Nazi race laws are also blamed (incorrectly) on Darwin.
Wilsons competence or incompetence on Darwin remains to be seen with our own eyes.
Having said that, John van Wyhe is a Darwinian partisan so some of what he says is surely to be anticipated. His claims of thousands of transitional fossils supporting Darwins theory (contra Wilson) and that Darwins theory does not rely upon slow, gradual change are simply incorrect, as Jonathan Wells and Stephen Meyer have thoroughly explained. The Cambrian explosion really is a problem for Darwinism.
The reviewer is too quick to dismiss the influence of Darwinian theory on Nazi ideology (see Richard Weikarts books) and its social implications (see John Wests Darwin Day in America). Van Wyhe is also wrong to criticize Wilson for claiming that Darwins theory made it impossible to believe in the Bible. In his Autobiography,Darwin states his emerging belief in the unreliability of Bible and his rejection of design in nature clearly enough.
Yet van Wyhes criticisms of some factual errors, if accurate, make Wilsons book problematic. Some of the issues attributed to the book are more than just Darwinian talking points, e.g., incorrect dates, bad references, and other basic errors of fact which are, again, if correct, serious matters.
We noticed that, contrary to what Wilson wrote in the previously referenced newspaper article, Cuvier was not an evolutionist. And van Wyhe is correct in describing the giraffe stretching his neck as the iconic illustration of classic Lamarckian inheritance of acquired characteristics, not Darwinism, as he says Wilson suggests.
Also, it is true that the early notebooks of Darwin were discovered in the mid 1960s and published in 1965. They are not missing, as van Wyhe claims Wilson asserts.
The key is exactly what does Wilson say and how does he say it. We know well by now to be cautious of Darwins defenders. They are often cagey and misleading. So at this point, who knows?
Photo credit: Patche99z (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons.
Visit link:
Early Review of AN Wilson's Anti-Darwin Biography Could Have Been Predicted - Discovery Institute
- Modern evolutionary synthesis - Wikipedia [Last Updated On: December 11th, 2016] [Originally Added On: December 11th, 2016]
- Why Darwinism Is False | Center for Science and Culture [Last Updated On: December 11th, 2016] [Originally Added On: December 11th, 2016]
- Difference between Darwinism and Neo-Darwinism | Major ... [Last Updated On: December 15th, 2016] [Originally Added On: December 15th, 2016]
- Natural selection - Wikipedia [Last Updated On: December 15th, 2016] [Originally Added On: December 15th, 2016]
- Social Darwinism - University of Colorado Boulder [Last Updated On: December 22nd, 2016] [Originally Added On: December 22nd, 2016]
- Social Darwinism - Dr. Hartnell's Nutty the A.D.D. Squirrel [Last Updated On: December 25th, 2016] [Originally Added On: December 25th, 2016]
- Darwinism and World War One - creation.com [Last Updated On: January 20th, 2017] [Originally Added On: January 20th, 2017]
- Tom Bethell's Rebuke to Fellow Journalists: A Skeptical Look at Evolution Is Not Beyond Your Powers - Discovery Institute [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- Darwin Americanus - lareviewofbooks [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- Darwin Americanus - Los Angeles Review of Books - lareviewofbooks [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- Biologist Ann Gauger: Apoptosis (Cell Death) Is an Enigma for Darwinism - Discovery Institute [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- Tom Bethell on Mind, Matter, and Self-Defeating Darwinism - Discovery Institute [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- The Curious Romance of Darwinism and Creationism -- And Why Intelligent Design Must Be Silenced - Discovery Institute [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- With Darwin Day Approaching, It's Time for a Look Back at Evolution ... - Discovery Institute [Last Updated On: February 8th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 8th, 2017]
- The Lord's Day, Meet Darwin Day and Shudder | The American ... - American Spectator [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2017]
- Criticism of Darwinism - MOLWICK [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2017]
- With Darwin Day Coming Tomorrow, Here's Tom Bethell on Darwin's ... - Discovery Institute [Last Updated On: February 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 11th, 2017]
- The Truth about Soviet Science and Darwinian Evolution Isn't as Darwinists Would Like Us to Believe - Discovery Institute [Last Updated On: February 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 11th, 2017]
- Happy Darwin Day! German Natural History Museum Is Our 2017 Censor of the Year - Discovery Institute [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2017]
- What Darwinists Don't Tell You: Valentine's Day Edition - Discovery Institute [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2017]
- COLUMN: Trump Train driving a new type of Darwinism - Jacksonville Daily News [Last Updated On: February 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 18th, 2017]
- Disregarding Fake News from Darwin Promoters, South Dakota Scientist Applauds Academic Freedom Bill - Discovery Institute [Last Updated On: February 22nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 22nd, 2017]
- Astronomers Use Darwinism To Plot Stellar Family Tree - Forbes - Forbes [Last Updated On: February 23rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 23rd, 2017]
- Doug Axe: Hidden Figures and the Engineering Challenge to Darwinism - Discovery Institute [Last Updated On: February 25th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 25th, 2017]
- The Envelope, Please? Doug Axe and Undeniable Are World Magazine 2016 Science Book of the Year! - Discovery Institute [Last Updated On: March 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 3rd, 2017]
- HOWS THAT MINIMUM WAGE LAW WORKING?: Increase sets social Darwinism in motion - Aztec Press [Last Updated On: March 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 3rd, 2017]
- "Darwin's Dice" -- Michael Flannery on the Role of Chance in ... - Discovery Institute [Last Updated On: March 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 11th, 2017]
- 'Mating' Robots Take a Fast-Forward Leap in Digital Darwinism - Live Science [Last Updated On: April 8th, 2017] [Originally Added On: April 8th, 2017]
- In China We Can Criticize Darwin, Continued - Discovery Institute [Last Updated On: June 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 6th, 2017]
- 'Darwinism doesn't quite cut it,' says Tonko, rallying North Country Democrats - Sun Community News [Last Updated On: June 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 6th, 2017]
- Survival of the fittest: AI perfectly illustrates Darwinism at a business level - Information Age [Last Updated On: June 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 7th, 2017]
- The First Church of Darwin - Personal Liberty Digest [Last Updated On: June 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 9th, 2017]
- Evolution as Bingo: Darwinists Seek Better Ways to Indoctrinate - Discovery Institute [Last Updated On: June 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 11th, 2017]
- The Darwin Project is the Overwatch-Hunger Games crossover you never knew you wanted - GamesRadar [Last Updated On: June 12th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 12th, 2017]
- For the Public School Biology Teacher, Zombie Science Makes an Outstanding Resource - Discovery Institute [Last Updated On: June 16th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 16th, 2017]
- On Amazon buying Whole Foods: 'The ramifications for all of retail are seismic' - Yahoo Finance [Last Updated On: June 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 17th, 2017]
- Orphan Black Season 5 Episode 2 Review: Clutch of Greed - Den of Geek US [Last Updated On: June 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 18th, 2017]
- Darwinism - RationalWiki [Last Updated On: June 20th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 20th, 2017]
- Social Darwinism - RationalWiki [Last Updated On: June 20th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 20th, 2017]
- From the Recesses of My Mind - ChicagoNow (blog) [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2017]
- Are aliens more likely by design than black holes? - SYFY WIRE (blog) [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2017]
- Turkey to stop teaching evolution in secondary schools as part of new national curriculum - The Independent [Last Updated On: June 23rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 23rd, 2017]
- Botany: He made plants a profession - Nature.com [Last Updated On: June 24th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 24th, 2017]
- Social Darwinism Is What Truly Guides Trump - New York Magazine [Last Updated On: June 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 26th, 2017]
- Scott Turner's Purpose and Desire An Important New Voice in the Evolution Debate - Discovery Institute [Last Updated On: June 27th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 27th, 2017]
- PETYA Darwinism applied to cyberspace - CSO Online [Last Updated On: June 30th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 30th, 2017]
- UK police to embrace IoT in age of 'Digital Darwinism' - The Internet of Business (blog) [Last Updated On: June 30th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 30th, 2017]
- Darwinism Will Fix the Investment Industry - Bloomberg [Last Updated On: June 30th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 30th, 2017]
- We Hold These Truths to Be Self-Evident - Discovery Institute [Last Updated On: July 4th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 4th, 2017]
- Woodrow Wilson & Donald Trump's Darwinian vs. Newtonian ... - National Review [Last Updated On: July 5th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 5th, 2017]
- Will Darwinism Kill Feminism? - Heat Street [Last Updated On: July 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 7th, 2017]
- Bluebirds, babies, and orgasms: the women scientists who fought Darwinism's sexist myths - Prospect [Last Updated On: July 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 7th, 2017]
- Pundit Calls Proverbs the "Most Republican Book in the Bible" Because It Preaches "Social Darwinism" - Independent Women's Forum... [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2017]
- Biologist Laments, I Want Deeply for [Darwinism] to Make Sense - Discovery Institute [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2017]
- Here's Why We Can't Just Ignore The Racism In The Dawn Of Evolutionary Theory - The Daily Caller [Last Updated On: July 16th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 16th, 2017]
- Does Darwinism Lead to Infanticide Acceptance? - National Review [Last Updated On: July 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 17th, 2017]
- Biologist J. Scott Turner's Rediscovery How Darwinism Fatally Overlooks What Life Is - Discovery Institute [Last Updated On: July 20th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 20th, 2017]
- EDITORIAL: Republicans can't turn anger into viable health policy - Waco Tribune-Herald [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2017]
- Darwinism: Old politics will perish - The Hans India [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2017]
- Why Aristotle and Aquinas? - Discovery Institute [Last Updated On: July 25th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 25th, 2017]
- An RX for Social Darwinism - HuffPost [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2017]
- Creationism vs. Darwinism - Creation - AllAboutCreation.org [Last Updated On: August 2nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 2nd, 2017]
- Home Movies/Out on Digital: Aug. 3, 2017 - Shepherd Express [Last Updated On: August 2nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 2nd, 2017]
- AN Wilson: It's time Charles Darwin was exposed for the fraud he was - Evening Standard [Last Updated On: August 4th, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 4th, 2017]
- Devouring Capitalism - Bloomberg [Last Updated On: August 4th, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 4th, 2017]
- Fintan O'Toole: There will always be a market for misogyny - Irish Times [Last Updated On: August 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 6th, 2017]
- Business times are a changin' - White Bear Press [Last Updated On: August 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 9th, 2017]
- ANALYSIS-Buoyant bitcoin stirs crypto-bubble fears - Nasdaq [Last Updated On: August 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 10th, 2017]
- Liberals Are For ScienceUntil They're Not - Power Line (blog) [Last Updated On: August 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 10th, 2017]
- Social media a double-edged sword, IG cautions students - The Hindu [Last Updated On: August 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 14th, 2017]
- Prohibition of dagga was racist - historian | News24 - News24 [Last Updated On: August 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 14th, 2017]
- Social Darwinism - American Museum of Natural History [Last Updated On: August 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 14th, 2017]
- Prohibition of dagga was racist historian - DestinyConnect [Last Updated On: August 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 18th, 2017]
- The alt-right loves Nietzsche, but Nietzsche would not love them - Boing Boing [Last Updated On: August 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 18th, 2017]
- Curricula on Intelligent Design Are Urgently Needed And Here They Are! - Discovery Institute [Last Updated On: August 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 18th, 2017]
- The birth of Geotrumpism - Guardian (blog) [Last Updated On: August 20th, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 20th, 2017]
- How can I keep my employees from jumping ship? - New York Post [Last Updated On: August 20th, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 20th, 2017]
- Curricula on Intelligent Design Are Urgently Needed -- And Here ... - Discovery Institute [Last Updated On: August 21st, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 21st, 2017]
- American lit, conservative thought and Trump - St. Augustine Record [Last Updated On: August 22nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 22nd, 2017]
- Digital transformation: It's not a destination - Econsultancy (blog) [Last Updated On: August 22nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 22nd, 2017]