DARWIN'S GIFT TO SCIENCE AND RELIGION

THE BOOK BY FRANCISCO J. AYALA

DARWIN'S GIFT to Science and Religion was published in 2007 by John Henry Press in Washington, D.C.  The 237 pages are easy reading.  The shock to me was its content did a remarkable job of covering some of the main points I made in my unpublished Evolution Insights a few years later.

The Scientific Method

I particularly liked his comment on page 186 about the scientific method, saying.

 "The most interesting and fruitful scientific hypotheses are not simple generalizations.  Instead scientific hypotheses are creations of the mind, imaginative suggestions as to what might be true."

His accompanying discussion is well worth reading if you want to be a scientist.

The Molecular Clock

He does a good job of discussing the conventional view without indicating his expertise and publications which place him among the national leaders.  On page 135 at the end of the four pages on the topic, he says.

"As the length of time increases, periods of rapid and slow evolution in any lineage are likely to cancel one another out."

The faulty opinion of canceling out was included over half a century ago in the first major publication of the science of molecular clocks by Zuckerkandl and Pauling (1965).  The opinion has plagued attempts to use molecular clocks in determining the higher level evolutionary relationships of organisms ever since.  My post on May 31, 2013 was part of my attempt to alert professional biologists to the problem.  Other posts on the deep sea and pogonophorans are important aides to understanding a solution to the problem.

About Ayala

His experience in biology and early exposure to more philosophical subjects  make him well suited to write the book he did.  His youthful picture on the dust-jacket of his book must have been taken in mid-life between his birth in 1934 and his book's 2007 publication.  He is a credit to both science and religion.  I am about six years older than he is and have far less to show for it professionally.

On page 3 in his introduction he says-

"Evolution, I learned in my theology classes, had provided theologians with the "missing link" in the explanation of evil in the world . . . . .".  Maybe you will find his explanation more intelligible on the topic than my post of March 22, 2016.

I was unaware of his book before today (April 25, 2016) but the above was the outcome from a two-hour visit to the library, with perhaps less than an hour spent on the book.  His book is of special interest if you are interested in the unnecessary conflict between science and religion. 

Joseph G. Engemann    Kalamazoo, Michigan    April 25, 2016