Darwin on Trial - 20th Edition by Phillip E Johnson (Paperback)

About the Book

In this edition of Phillip Johnson's classic book he responds to critics of the first edition and maintains that scientists have put the cart before the horse when it comes to evolution, regarding as scientific fact what really should be regarded as a yet unproved hypothesis. Also included is a new introduction by noted biologist Michael Behe.

Book Synopsis

Is evolution fact or fancy? Is natural selection an unsupported hypothesis or a confirmed mechanism of evolutionary change?These were the courageous questions that professor of law Phillip Johnson originally took up in 1991. His relentless pursuit to follow the evidence wherever it leads remains as relevant today as then.The facts and the logic of the arguments that purport to establish a theory of evolution based on Darwinian principles, says Johnson, continue to draw their strength from faith--faith in philosophical naturalism.In this edition Johnson responds to critics of the first edition and maintains that scientists have put the cart before the horse, regarding as scientific fact what really should be regarded as a yet unproved hypothesis. Also included is a new, extended introduction by noted biologist Michael Behe, who chronicles the ongoing relevance of Johnson's cogent analysis.

Review Quotes

"Darwin on Trial is unquestionably the best critique of Darwinism I have ever read. Professor Johnson combines a broad knowledge of biology with the incisive logic of a leading legal scholar to deliver a brilliant and devastating attack on the whole edifice of Darwinian belief."

Michael Denton, molecular biologist and author of Evolution: A Theory in Crisis

"This cogent, succinct inquiry cuts like a knife through neo-Darwinist assumptions."

Publishers Weekly

"This Berkeley law professor's takedown of scientific naturalism launched Intelligent Design and gained creationists a level of public attention they hadn't enjoyed since the Scopes trial."

Christianity Today, October 2006

"Very impressive in its examination of scientific evidence on its own terms. It is careful, scrupulously fair, and consistent in its application of the rules (and the spirit of the rules) of evidence. Johnson argues that naturalist evolution is not based on a fair assesment of the scientific evidence. He concludes that evolution is not only unproven, but contrary to the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence. Evolution is another kind of fundamentalism. This is a very well written book. Professor Johnson's approach is calm, but his arguments have a quiet urgency that prove to be compelling to the intelligent reader. His case is invigorating and persuasive."

The Appellate Practice Journal and Update

Johnson begins his critique of the Darwinian theory of evolition by discussing several legal issues, unsurprising since Johnson is a legal scholar by profession. He then moves to dealing with the question of whether or not the teaching of Darwinian theories in schools amounts to the establishment of a religion of another sort, an athiestic and naturalistic one. He finally uses statements by the late Stephen Jay Gould to show that criticism of the "fact of eveolution" is not allowed, even if biologists and other scientists are in disagreement over the means of evolution.

Not Thunder.com, March 7, 2008

Praise for the first edition: "Darwin on Trial is unquestionably the best critique of Darwinism I have ever read. Professor Johnson combines a broad knowledge of biology with the incisive logic of a leading legal scholar to deliver a brilliant and devastating attack on the whole edifice of Darwinian belief."

Michael Denton, molecular biologist and author of Evolution: A Theory in Crisis

About the Author

Phillip E. Johnson is a graduate of Harvard University and the University of Chicago Law School. He taught law for more than thirty years at the University of California at Berkeley where he is professor emeritus. For the last decade Johnson has also been at the forefront of the public debate over evolution and creation. He has taken his message to such places as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. His InterVarsity Press titles include Reasonin the Balance, The Wedge of Truth, The Right Questions and Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds.