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SCIENCE AND CREATIONISM:
RECOMMENDED
READINGS
Evolution:
- Dawkins, Richard
- 1996 Climbing Mount Improbable, W.W.
Norton: New York and London. An authoritative and elegant account
of the evolutionary explanation of the "design" of organisms.
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- Fortey, Richard
- 1998 Life: A Natural History of the First
Four Billion Years of Life on Earth, Alfred P. Knopf: New
York. A lively account of the history of life on Earth.
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- Gould, Stephen J.
- 1992 The Panda's Thumb, W.W. Norton:
New York. Gould's Natural History columns have been
collected into a series of books including Hen's Teeth and
Horse's Toes, An Urchin in the Storm, Eight Little Piggies, The
Flamingo's Smile, and Bully for Brontosaurus. All are
good popular introductions to the basic ideas behind evolution,
and extremely readable.
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- Horner, John R., and Edwin Dobb
- 1997 Dinosaur Lives: Unearthing an
Evolutionary Saga, HarperCollins: New York. What it's like to
uncover fossilized bones, eggs, and more, plus Horner's views on
dinosaurs.
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- Howells, W.W.
- 1997 Getting Here: The Story of Human
Evolution, Compass Press: Washington, D.C. A very readable
survey of human evolution by one of the fathers of physical
anthropology.
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- Johanson, Donald C., Lenora Johanson, and Blake Edgar
- 1994 Ancestors: In Search of Human
Origins, Villard Books: New York. The companion volume to
Johanson's NOVA series, "In Search of Human Origins."
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- Mayr, Ernst
- 1991 One Long Argument: Charles Darwin and
the Genesis of Modern Evolutionary Thought, Harvard University
Press: Cambridge, MA. An easily understandable distillation of
Charles Darwin's scientific contributions.
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- National Academy of Sciences
- 1998 Teaching
About Evolution and the Nature of Science, National
Academy Press: Washington, DC. An engaging, conversational, and
well-structured framework for understanding and teaching
evolution.
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- Nesse, Randolph, and George C. Williams
- 1996 Why We Get Sick: The New Science of
Darwinian Medicine, Vintage Books: New York. The principle of
natural selection as applied to modern-day health and disease.
Helps to illustrate evolution as an ongoing phenomenon.
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- Tattersall, Ian
- 1998 Becoming Human, Harcourt Brace:
New York. A description of the current state of understanding
about the differences between Neanderthals and Homo
sapiens.
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- Weiner, Jonathan
- 1994 The Beak of the Finch: A Story of
Evolution in Our Time, Alfred P. Knopf: New York. Discussion
of basic evolutionary principles and how they are illustrated by
ongoing evolution on the Galápagos Islands.
-
- Whitfield, Philip
- 1993 From So Simple a Beginning,
Macmillan: New York. A large-format, beautifully illustrated book
explaining evolution from genetic, fossil, and geological
perspectives. A good general introduction for nonspecialists.
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- Zimmer, Carl
- 1999 At the Water's Edge: Macroevolution
and the Transformation of Life, Free Press: New York. Some
creatures moved from water to land (the evolution land
vertebrates) and others from land to water (the evolution of
whales from land animals). Zimmer clearly explains these two
events in the history of vertebrates and what might have brought
them about.
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Evolution: Books for Children and
Young Adults
- Cole, Joanna, and Juan Carlos Barberis
- 1987 The Human Body: How We Evolved,
Illustrated by Walter Gaffney-Kessell, William Morrow and
Company: New York. This book traces the evolution of humans, from
early prehistoric ancestors to modern tool-users. Grades 4-7
-
- Lauber, Patricia, and Douglas Henderson
- 1994 How Dinosaurs Came to Be, Simon
and Schuster: New York. A description of the ancestors to the
dinosaurs. Grades 4-7.
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- Matsen, Brad, and Ray Troll
- 1994 Planet Ocean: A Story of Life, the
Sea, and Dancing to the Fossil Record, 10 Speed Press:
Berkeley, CA. Whimsically illustrated tour of history for older
kids and adults. Grades junior high to high school.
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- McNulty, Faith
- 1999 How Whales Walked into the Sea,
Illustrated by Ted Lewin, Scholastic Trade: New York. This
wonderfully illustrated book describes the evolution of whales
from land mammals. Grades K-3.
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- Stein, Sara
- 1986 The Evolution Book, Workman
Publishing Co., Inc.: New York. A hands-on, project-oriented
survey of evolution and its mechanisms. Grades 4-8.
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- Troll, Ray, and Brad Matsen
- 1996 Raptors Fossils Fins and Fangs: A
Prehistoric Creature Feature, Tricycle Press: Berkeley, CA. A
light-hearted trip through time ("Good Gracious -- Cretaceous!")
with similes kids will like ("Pterosaurs -- some as big as jet
fighters."). Grades 4-6.
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Origin of the Universe and
Earth
- Dalrymple, G. Brent
- 1991 The Age of the Earth, Stanford
University Press: Stanford, CA. A comprehensive discussion of the
evidence for the ages of the Earth, moon, meteorites, solar
system, Galaxy, and universe.
-
- Longair, Malcolm S.
- 1996 Our Evolving Universe, Cambridge
University Press: New York. A brief discussion of the origin and
evolution of the universe.
-
- Silk, Joseph
- 1994 A Short History of the Universe,
Scientific American Library: New York. Popular treatment of the
evolution of the universe.
-
- Weinberg, Steven
- 1993 The First Three Minutes: A Modern
View of the Origin of the Universe, Basic Books: New York. An
explanation of what happened during the Big Bang.
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Evolution and Creationism
Controversy
- Godfrey, Laurie, ed.
- 1983 Scientists Confront Creationism,
W.W. Norton: New York. A collection of articles by scientists
analyzing and refuting arguments of creation science.
-
- Kitcher, Philip
- 1982 Abusing Science: The Case Against
Creationism, MIT Press: Cambridge, MA. A philosophical as well
as scientific analysis of creation science.
-
- Matsumura, Molleen
- 1995 Voices for Evolution, National
Center for Science Education, Inc: Berkeley, CA. A collection of
statements supporting the teaching of evolution from many
different types of organizations: scientific, civil liberties,
religious, and educational.
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- Numbers, Ronald
- 1992 The Creationists: The Evolution of
Scientific Creationism, University of California Press:
Berkeley, CA. A thorough history of the American creationist
movement.
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- Pennock, Robert T.
- 1999 Tower of Babel: The Evidence Against
the New Creationism, MIT Press: Cambridge, MA. A philosopher
of science analyzes the newer "intelligent design" theory and
"theistic science" creationism.
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- Skehan, James W.
- 1986 Modern Science and the Book of
Genesis, National Science Teachers Association: Washington,
DC. Written by a geologist (former Director of the Weston
Seismological Observatory) and bible scholar, trained as a Jesuit
priest.
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- Strahler, Arthur
- 1987 Science and Earth History: The
Evolution/Creation Controversy, Prometheus Press: Buffalo, NY.
A comprehensive analysis of creationist scientific claims.
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- Toumey, Christopher P.
- 1994 God's Own Scientists: Creationists in
a Secular World, Rutgers University Press: New Brunswick, NJ.
An anthropologist's view of creationism as a belief system
upholding the moral authority of both science and religion.
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