Taking Evolution Seriously

brightlights said:

I label myself as a theistic evolutionist but as of late I've decided to start taking evolution seriously.[] Could you please recommend books, websites, or anything else that can educate the lay-man.

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Others have suggested www.talkorigins.org, I just want to specify the faq pages. Then, as someone else has suggested, a general biology course at a Community college would be good.

Brightlights, I would say read up on the Big Bang and star/solar sytem formation as well so that you can effectively debate people who lump the Big Bang and evolution into the same theory.

I recommend: "What Evolution Is", by Ernst Mayr.

Try some of those Idiot's Guide or For Dummies books. You might also want to check out "Darwin for Beginners" by Jonathan Miller & Borin Van Loon. Its a good introduction to Darwinism.

Later, if you are brave, read "Darwin's Dangerous Idea" by Daniel C. Dennett.

I recommend two books before you read about evolution
One is "Little Red Riding Hood ' and the other is "Three Little Pigs"

I would suggest Dawkins' "The Selfish Gene". After that, anything else by him, as well as works by Jared Diamond, Stephen Jay Gould, Matt Ridley, and Daniel Dennett. Evolutionary theory has been well served by popular science writers, probably better than any other scientific field.

Once you've been through several works by the authors above, you'll be in a good position to have an overall perspective on modern evolutionary thinking. Then I'd recommend looking for some creationist books. You have to have an understanding of how they attempt to disparage evolution to be able to counter their arguments - "know thine enemy."

Carl Zimmer's "Evolution:The Triumph of an Idea" is great. It is the companion book to the PBS series, which would be very worthwhile to buy or rent.

A4C said:

I recommend two books before you read about evolution
One is "Little Red Riding Hood ' and the other is "Three Little Pigs"

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Ah, the mystery unfolds. So that is why you don't know anything about evolution.

www.AnswersinGenesis.org

I like AiG

Novaknight1 said:

www.AnswersinGenesis.org

I like AiG

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*pats Novaknight gently on back*
I'm sure you do.

Tomk80 said:

*pats Novaknight gently on back*
I'm sure you do.

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i'd also have to recommend some textbook that covers the basics of biochemistry. understanding basic cell function, how DNA molecules are pieced together, how the protiens work and such is a very important base on which to build up the other principles of evolution.

A4C said:

I recommend two books before you read about evolution
One is "Little Red Riding Hood ' and the other is "Three Little Pigs"

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Please let us know, A4C, when you have finished them yourself.

Orihalcon said:

i'd also have to recommend some textbook that covers the basics of biochemistry. understanding basic cell function, how DNA molecules are pieced together, how the protiens work and such is a very important base on which to build up the other principles of evolution.

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Where Do We Come From?: The Molecular Evidence for Human Descent by Jan Klein, Naoyuki Takahata

This is simply the best book i've found on human evolution. The subtitle is "The Molecular Evidence for Human Descent", don't be put off if you don't have a degree in biochemistry. Unlike most other technical and scientifically sophisticated books, in this one, the author holds your hand. He does it very well, introducing binominal and poisson distribution analysis both in the text and in appendices, for example. You are aware of his careful setting up the pieces that you need in order to understand the take home message of each chapter, and you are grateful, even if you already know the material, for the 'nice' way he does it. I finished the book wishing he would rewrite many biology and engineering textbooks i have been subjected to over the years by authors who assumed if you didn't know exactly what you were reading, then you shouldn't have bought and tried to read his book in the first place. For this characteristic alone the book is deeply and joyfully to be praised.

Even though it sounds odd, I highly reccomend "How to Think about Psychology".

Although specific to psychology, it goes into great depth on how validity is established in experimentation, and all the mental traps that foil science.

I consider it the most important book I've ever read, and a must-read for anyone interested in science.

rmwilliamsll said:

I finished the book wishing he would rewrite many biology and engineering textbooks i have been subjected to over the years by authors who assumed if you didn't know exactly what you were reading, then you shouldn't have bought and tried to read his book in the first place.

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I think what they assume is that people know more than what they really know. They make a mistake in determining what is common knowledge and what is not common knowledge. That is why the dummie books are so popular, they do not assume that you already know anything. For example I was reading a book on computers and it talked about how to turn on a computer. Most authors would assume that you know that much at least. But in the dummie books, they do not assume anything. Or they assume that you know nothing about the subject and need everything explained to you.

Jetgirl said:

Even though it sounds odd, I highly reccomend "How to Think about Psychology".

Although specific to psychology, it goes into great depth on how validity is established in experimentation, and all the mental traps that foil science.

I consider it the most important book I've ever read, and a must-read for anyone interested in science.

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i found How to think straight about psychology
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...102-8508987-0332123?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

is this the book?

Novaknight1 said:

http://home.att.net/~nathan.wilson/sodom.htm

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And your point would be?

rmwilliamsll said:

i found How to think straight about psychology
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0205360939/qid=1103667491/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/102-8508987-0332123?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

is this the book?

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Yeah! That's it!

Wooo... expensive bugger ain't it?