Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation

“The Science Guy” jumps off from and expands the arguments from his public debate with creationist Ken Ham, positing that to deny the reality of evolution is tantamount to denying science as a whole, ignoring the advances in medicine and agriculture that make modern human life possible, and destroying our children’s future by leaving them ill-equipped to understand the world. With his conversational wit, Nye both counters classic creationist tactics—such as the appeal to the Second Law of Thermodynamics and the idea of the uselessness of half a wing—and explains evolutionary concepts such as punctuated equilibrium, bottlenecking, the theory of the Red Queen, and “good-enough design.” Connections to fields like geochemistry and oceanography support his stance that “the natural world is a package deal; you don’t get to select which facts you like and which you don’t.” Nye takes advantage of his soapbox to address hot-button issues like vaccines and antibiotics, genetically modified foods, and cloning (perhaps overstepping when he dives into the psycho-evolutionary basis of evolution denial). Nye’s popularizing talents shine in this one, and if he’s preaching to the science-loving choir, at least he’s giving them easy-to-understand explanations to bolster their inevitable dinner-table or internet arguments. [em](Nov.) [/em]