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IntellectualConservative.com Reviews Traipsing Into Evolution

Over at Intellectualconservative.com, attorney Steven Laib has a short review of Traipsing Into Evolution: Intelligent Design and the Kitzmiller vs. Dover Decision.

All things considered, this is a book worth reading. Anyone who takes an interest in the legal battles over how science is to be taught in the public schools will find it informative and potentially a roadmap to where the next cases in this area will be argued.

Laib isn’t the only who’s read and complimented Traipsing. Here are some additional comments from reviewers of the book.

“The mainstream science establishment and the courts tell us, in censorious tones that sometimes sound a bit desperate, that intelligent design is just a lot of fundamentalist cant. It’s not. We’ve heard the Darwinist story, and we owe it to ourselves to hear the other side. Traipsing Into Evolution is the other side. …

A disturbing feature of the debate over evolution, especially for those of us who are distantly interested but have no settled conviction on the matter, is the aggressive campaign by many in the scientific and judicial establishments to silence the opposition so that only the Darwinist story will be heard. That campaign was in full force in the recent Dover, Pennsylvania intelligent design case, and it was rewarded with a dubious victory in Judge Jones’ mammoth, meandering opinion. “Traipsing Into Evolution” is a gallant attempt to present the other side of the story. If you followed the Dover controversy and especially if you managed to wade through all or part of Judge Jones’s opinion, you owe it to yourself to read this book.”

Steven D. Smith, Warren Distinguished Professor of Law, University of San Diego and author of “Law’s Quandary” (Harvard University Press, 2004) and “The Constitution and the Pride of Reason” (Oxford University Press 1998)

“A revolution in evolution education is underway and the Discovery Institute continues to illuminate the path of critical thinking with its penetrating analysis of Judge Jones’ opinion in the Kitzmiller v. Dover School Board case. It’s a sad irony that, while Darwin devoted three of the fifteen chapters in Origins of Species to discussing weaknesses associated with his theory of natural selection, America’s current crop of science textbooks leave students largely in the dark by failing to address new and vital developments in the area of origins science. In the interests of academic freedom, it’s time all Americans – and especially our youth – learn the full story about evolutionism. Discovery Institute’s publication of Traipsing into Evolution: Intelligent Design and the Kitzmiller vs. Dover Decision sheds valuable light along that trail.”

Honorable Judge Darrell White (retired), founder and president of the Retired Judges of America
“Traipsing Into Evolution is a timely criticism of judicial overreaching arising out of the Kitzmiller v. Dover intelligent design trial. It gives a thoughtful, yet succinct, analysis of the errors of the Kitzmiller court. This book is a must read for both proponents and critics of intelligent design. Unless critics of intelligent design grapple with the arguments in this book, their criticisms will be as intellectually anemic as that of the court.”

Randall L. Wenger, Esq., Attorney specializing in constitutional law and public policy litigation
“I read Traipsing into Evolution in its entirety … and it is simply excellent.
On December 20th, 2005, Judge Jones was called to make a decision on the educational policy of a Dover school board that had already been ousted. Instead of simply doing this, Jones attempted to rule for perpetuity that Intelligent Design is not science. Traipsing into Evolution is a sharply focused rebuttal to Jones’ decision. The authors show that: (1) the law is not competent to rule on what is science, since the consensus of the relevant experts, philosophers of science, is that there is no satisfactory demarcation criterion between science and non-science; (2) Jones fallaciously argues that science is what most scientists claim is science, which implies that the unpopular theories of Copernicus, Newton and Darwin were not science; (3) Jones’ decision is filled with factual errors about the Intelligent Design movement, many taken verbatim from Barbara Forrest’s unreliable accounts; (4) Jones’ ruling violates the Establishment clause by siding with secular humanists and those followers of revealed religion who think Darwinism is compatible with their faith against anyone who thinks otherwise.

Logically organized, clearly written, and well argued, Traipsing Into Evolution is a point-by-point rebuttal to Judge Jones’ Kitzmiller v. Dover Decision. Anyone who believes in genuine academic freedom and who sees the value of fully disclosing to students all sides of the controversy about neo-Darwinism and Intelligent Design will want this helpful volume.”

Angus Menuge, Ph.D., DCA, Author, Agents Under Fire (Rowman and Littlefield, 2004) Professor of Philosophy, Associate Director, The Cranach Institute, Concordia University Wisconsin

If you missed the book publication parties in either Washington –Seattle or DC– you can watch the Seattle event here, and the DC discussion will be televised in the near future on C-SPAN’s Booknotes. As soon as we know a date and time we’ll post that information.

Robert Crowther, II

Robert Crowther holds a BA in Journalism with an emphasis in public affairs and 20 years experience as a journalist, publisher, and brand marketing and media relations specialist. From 1994-2000 he was the Director of Public and Media Relations for Discovery Institute overseeing most aspects of communications for each of the Institute's major programs. In addition to handling public and media relations he managed the Institute's first three books to press, Justice Matters by Roberta Katz, Speaking of George Gilder edited by Frank Gregorsky, and The End of Money by Richard Rahn.

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