HOW BLIND IS THE WATCHMAKER?: Nature's Design and the Limits of Naturalistic Science

Broom, a biomaterials engineer writing from a Christian perspective, makes a spirited but ungainly case against Darwinism as he defends a return of purpose and intentionality to biological explanation. The book's most helpful material is found in chapters four through seven where Broom reviews life-origins research, comparing the failure or limited success of most studies with widespread and extravagant claims in the "pop science" realm that the basic problem of biogenesis has been solved. The second half of Broom's treatise takes a turn for the worse as the subject matter shifts from specific research results to evolutionary theory and the philosophy of biology, a conceptual thicket where careful distinctions and judicious arguments become crucially important. In this section, Broom's lack of sympathy for his opponents often colors his presentation of their arguments; in some cases it is unclear whether he has really understood them. An uncharitable reading of Darwinism lures him into a tendentious and muddled argument about natural selection in which he seems to be forcing Darwinists to interpret the metaphor of "selection" in terms of literal intention—an interpretation any orthodox or neo-Darwinist is bound to disavow. Readers looking for an accessible critique of Darwinism and scientific materialism will fare better with Phillip Johnson's The Wedge of Truth (also from IVP), which offers clearer arguments and more sure-footed reasoning as it covers much of the same ground. (May)