Darwin Devolves: The New Science About DNA That Challenges Evolution

by Michael J. Behe

Overview

The scientist who has been dubbed the “Father of Intelligent Design” and author of the groundbreaking book Darwin’s Black Box contends that recent scientific discoveries further disprove Darwinism and strengthen the case for an intelligent creator.

In his controversial bestseller Darwin’s Black Box, biochemist Michael Behe challenged Darwin’s theory of evolution, arguing that science itself has proven that intelligent design is a better explanation for the origin of life. In Darwin Devolves, Behe advances his argument, presenting new research that offers a startling reconsideration of how Darwin’s mechanism works, weakening the theory’s validity even more.

A system of natural selection acting on random mutation, evolution can help make something look and act differently. But evolution never creates something organically. Behe contends that Darwinism actually works by a process of devolution—damaging cells in DNA in order to create something new at the lowest biological levels. This is important, he makes clear, because it shows the Darwinian process cannot explain the creation of life itself. “A process that so easily tears down sophisticated machinery is not one which will build complex, functional systems,” he writes.

In addition to disputing the methodology of Darwinism and how it conflicts with the concept of creation, Behe reveals that what makes Intelligent Design unique—and right—is that it acknowledges causation. Evolution proposes that organisms living today are descended with modification from organisms that lived in the distant past. But Intelligent Design goes a step further asking, what caused such astounding changes to take place? What is the reason or mechanism for evolution? For Behe, this is what makes Intelligent Design so important.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062842688
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/16/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	333
Sales rank:	227,741
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

MICHAEL BEHE is a biochemist, intelligent design advocate, and author of Darwin’s Black Box and Edge of Evolution. He is a professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University, and a founding Senior Fellow of Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part I Problems

1 The Pretense of Knowledge 15

2 Fathomless Elegance 39

Part II Theories

3 Synthesizing Evolution 67

4 Magic Numbers 93

5 Overextended 115

Part III Data

6 The Family Line 141

7 Poison-Pill Mutations 171

8 Dollo's Timeless Law 199

9 Revenge of the Principle of Comparative Difficulty 227

Part IV Solution

10 A Terrible Thing to Waste 255

Appendix: Clarifying Perspective 283

Acknowledgments 303

Notes 305

Credits 331

Index 333

Editorial Reviews

I highly recommend this book to both proponents and skeptics of Darwinian evolution as it will open new avenues of thought and creativity regarding this important subject.” — Russell Carlson, professor emeritus of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Georgia

“Behe’s latest masterpiece takes the evidence marshaled in defense of the unbounded power of blind evolution and deftly brings it to the opposite conclusion: evolution is self-limiting by design. Time for the Behe-bashers to retire.” — Douglas Axe, director of Biologic Institute and author of Undeniable

“Behe introduces new molecular-level facts that sink the Darwinian view of life once and for all: Darwinian mechanism sometimes helps survival of an organism but always by damaging or breaking genes. The conclusion is clear: life is the product of a mind.” — Matti Leisola, DSc, professor emeritus of bioprocess engineering at Aalto University, Finland

“Darwin Devolves is a must read. Behe presents comprehensive and convincing arguments that genomic reduction is responsible for numerous classic examples of species adaptive radiation, challenging Darwin’s ‘mutation and selection’ mechanism as the source of life’s diversity.”    — Scott A. Minnich, Professor and Program Coordinator NIH Idaho INBRE

“Michael Behe has been keeping committed Darwinists awake nights for years. Built on solid science, it’s going to be harder than ever for critics to spit it out just because they don’t like its taste. Darwin Devolves is going to cause a lot more sleepless nights.” — The Stream

From the Publisher

I highly recommend this book to both proponents and skeptics of Darwinian evolution as it will open new avenues of thought and creativity regarding this important subject.

Russell Carlson

“Darwin Devolves is a must read. Behe presents comprehensive and convincing arguments that genomic reduction is responsible for numerous classic examples of species adaptive radiation, challenging Darwin’s ‘mutation and selection’ mechanism as the source of life’s diversity.”   

Scott A. Minnich

Behe’s latest masterpiece takes the evidence marshaled in defense of the unbounded power of blind evolution and deftly brings it to the opposite conclusion: evolution is self-limiting by design. Time for the Behe-bashers to retire.

Douglas Axe

Behe introduces new molecular-level facts that sink the Darwinian view of life once and for all: Darwinian mechanism sometimes helps survival of an organism but always by damaging or breaking genes. The conclusion is clear: life is the product of a mind.

Matti Leisola

Michael Behe has been keeping committed Darwinists awake nights for years. Built on solid science, it’s going to be harder than ever for critics to spit it out just because they don’t like its taste. Darwin Devolves is going to cause a lot more sleepless nights.

The Stream