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    Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation
    Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation
    Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation
    Ebook364 pages7 hours

    Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation

    By Bill Nye and Corey S. Powell

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    "Evolution is one of the most powerful and important ideas ever developed in the history of science. Every question it raises leads to new answers, new discoveries, and new smarter questions. The science of evolution is as expansive as nature itself. It is also the most meaningful creation story that humans have ever found."—Bill Nye

    Sparked by a controversial debate in February 2014, Bill Nye has set off on an energetic campaign to spread awareness of evolution and the powerful way it shapes our lives. In Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation, he explains why race does not really exist; evaluates the true promise and peril of genetically modified food; reveals how new species are born, in a dog kennel and in a London subway; takes a stroll through 4.5 billion years of time; and explores the new search for alien life, including aliens right here on Earth.

    With infectious enthusiasm, Bill Nye shows that evolution is much more than a rebuttal to creationism; it is an essential way to understand how nature works—and to change the world. It might also help you get a date on a Saturday night.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateNov 4, 2014
    ISBN9781466869882
    Author

    Bill Nye

    Bill Nye is a scientist, engineer, comedian, and inventor. He has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University where he studied under Carl Sagan, and worked on the 747 as an engineer at Boeing before creating and hosting his much-loved Emmy award-winning PBS/Discovery Channel show Bill Nye the Science Guy. He holds six Honorary Doctorate degrees from Lehigh University, Willamette University, Quinnipiac University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Goucher College, and Johns Hopkins, and teaches at Cornell regularly as a visiting professor.

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    Reviews for Undeniable

    4/5

    173 ratings27 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Absolutely fantastic audio book narrated by the author himself, Bill Nye, the Science Guy, on evolution and evolutionary theory. Compellingly written and produced, the subject and possibilities make for fascinating listening.
    • 3/5
      While I agree with what Bill Nye states in his book, I think in general his discussions are information that is well known. The book is written for a general public and thus is written at a somewhat simple level. I appreciate that he is promoting a scientific view of the world. Bill's debate with Ken Hamm seems to be a significant event discussed. I recommend the book to those with limited scientific understanding.
    • 5/5
      If classes in American middle and high schools could be taught with the enthusiasm found in this book, our students would be much more engaged with the natural sciences. Presented in a series of essays on various topics centered on evolution, the book is as entertaining as it is educational. The last few chapters, in particular, had me pausing more than once to ponder things I'd never considered before. Highly recommended!
    • 4/5
      After his much-hyped debate with Ken Hamm over evolution, Bill Nye decided he had more to say on the subject. It manages to be pretty light-hearted while covering a wide range of topics related to evolutionary biology. I don't know that this book would convince a die-hard creationist, but I'm also not sure it's meant to. I appreciate its additions to my understanding of how life works on this planet, and opened my eyes to a large number of discoveries I wasn't aware of. More importantly, Nye offers numerous examples of why it's important to ask these questions and understand the answers. And that's where this book works best: as a jumping off point to learn more.
    • 5/5
      Evolution is such a controversial subject. It seems to either make perfect sense to a person or the complete opposite. For the record, I'm on the side of evolution, it just makes sense to me, so in this case Bill was preaching to the choir. This was a fun listen for me because I enjoy science talk when the person lecturing is excited about their subject and can make it fun. Bill is well versed in doing exactly that having had his Bill Nye the Science Guy show, aimed at getting kids interested in science. He's conversational and humorous and just super excited about it! He also makes no bones about which side of the fence he's on, and what he thinks of those who are on the other side. I'm not sure how this would go over with someone who is undecided about evolution vs. creationism, but it certainly isn't going to change the mind of someone firmly on the Creationist side. Instead I think it would put them on the defensive and make them even more determined to fight their case. And lets face it, in most subjects where there are such opposing views that are passionately defended, neither side is going to change the mind of the other.

      I'm going to say, if you're already on board, and want a fun science lecture packed with interesting information, definitely give it a listen since Bill narrates himself. If you're undecided, still give it a listen and see what you think, and try to give Bill a pass for being not so diplomatic about the opposing side. If you're firmly on the side of Creationism... well... I don't know, I'll have to leave that up to you. :)

      Read/Listened to for the 2016 I Love Libraries Challenge
    • 5/5
      I purchased a copy of this book when it was first published, because, well, BILL NYE. I grew up watching Bill Nye the Science Guy on television (usually in science class at school) and just fell in love with his extremely approachable take on science. A lot of science teachers, unfortunately, tended to make the subject seem really boring - but Bill Nye made science exciting! I loved seeing how into his experiments, and science in general, he was, and it really made me look at science a different way. Maybe that's why I chose a career that uses physics on a daily basis! And my adoration of Bill Nye has only continued into adulthood - I have a Bill Nye sticker on the back of my car to this day, and of course I bought the autographed copy of the book from B&N (BILL NYE TOUCHED MY COPY OF THIS BOOK OMG - ahem). ;) I also downloaded the audiobook from Audible, and it has been sitting on my ipod for at least two years, unfortunately. But yesterday, during a long drive to the Agate Fossil Beds National Monument in Nebraska (about five hours one way for me), I decided to listen to the book - and what an incredible experience! It totally jazzed me up for the National Monument trip. (The NM, by the way, was amazing, and I would highly recommend it if you are within driving distance. This isn't a "postcard" stop - it's dedicated mostly to a collection of fossils found on this property, which are displayed in the very nice, modern museum at the Visitor's Center. I hiked both trails and enjoyed myself immensely. They also had several brochures available, including - gasp! - one on climate change, which I snatched up instantly, because this "so-called" administration is so freaking anti-science, and anti-facts in general, that I am sure that it is only a matter of time before those brochures aren't allowed to be displayed or even printed by the park service. Sad.) Anyway, it's rare for me to give a book five stars, but this is BILL FREAKING NYE we're talking about here. I thoroughly enjoyed the hell out of every second of this book, and if that isn't worthy of five stars, I don't know what is.The seeds for this book were sown when Bill Nye debated Ken Ham, the curator of the Creation "Museum" in Kentucky. Of course Nye eviscerated Ham quite efficiently in the debate, which is to be expected, as Nye views facts and then logically tries to fit them into a reasonable framework, while Ham is only interested in twisting, distorting, or outright ignoring facts to make sure that his precious fairy tales aren't diminished in his eyes. (Having grown up in a very backwards area in which science is denigrated in favor of the ridiculousness of creationism, I feel that my bitterness is justified.) Nye continues to effectively and efficiently skewer creationism and the pseudo"science" that fuels it in this book, but he's quite polite about the whole thing.He also goes further than this with various topics about science and evolution - racism (human beings are human beings), GMOs, how life started in the first place, etc, etc. And he just makes the entire journey damned fun. He's a great narrator, and I was transported back to my childhood, when I would watch him for hours and dream of being a cool scientist like Bill Nye someday (unfortunately, I didn't go into the experimental side, which I kind of regret now, haha). I would recommend this book to anyone - creationist (be prepared to have your "beliefs" completely razed to the ground), those who value science, those who don't (WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?), and just anyone in general. It's a great book, and not just because Bill Nye admits that he's read Fifty Shades of Grey (brb loling forever).
    • 4/5
      I grew up very confused about religion and science. The church was teaching us God created Adam & Eve and that lead to us. School was teaching evolution and showing us proof of it with fossils, including dinosaurs. This lead me to think Adam & Eve and all the people around Jesus time were created then somehow destroyed and evolution restarted things, I thought this until I was 9. I think once you have a basic understanding of science (especially evolution) it puts major pressure on your religious beliefs. Science can explain things with proof, it doesn’t guarantee to be right but its making a guess at it using measurable and observable metrics, where as religion you are told just to have faith and not think too deeply about it. Luckily I didn’t learn much about creationism in school, at most it was a definition or a paragraph in my text books that was read and moved on from. Basically I don’t think this book is targeted to me, I already believed in evolution and took advance geology classes that explain some of the more complicated chapters of Undeniable, but I enjoyed the book non the less, it was a refresher for me.

      I loved Bill Nye growing up and he writes about science beautifully, can really feel the passion and the way he explains things makes it very understandable. The shade he throws at creationism is hilarious. Undeniable makes me wish Bill Nye will write a text book for evolution, because it is a difficult concept to grasp, but he explains it so well. He explains the history, importance and the possible future of evolution throughout the book and calls out ignorance from religious leaders while doing so. Unfortunately I don’t think the people who need to read this book will because they are stuck in their way, but its great for people who like science or are just curious. If you were a fan of Bill Nye growing up you won’t be disappointed!
    • 5/5
      It was very informative and funny at the same time. There are so many interesting facts that I had never heard before. There also were a lot of interesting philosophical questions he brought up, such as the issue with microbes being brought into outer space where there might be other life. And what would man microbes do to the alien life. The one thing that bothered me was that the book was condescending towards creationists. I feel like there is a way to make your point without belittling people who disagree with you, even if you think your opponent is completely wrong.
    • 4/5
      Although I did not learn much new about evolutionary science, I did enjoy the stories Bill Nye told about being an engineer.
    • 5/5
      This is a tale of the how, why, and when of life (although not necessarily in that order). It's a nontechnical explanation and an enjoyable read.
    • 4/5
      I found this a really enjoyable and educational read. Beyond the straight talk about evolution, Nye helped me to understand some of the issues surrounding genetically modified crops, the search for life on other planets, and cloning that I had not understood before. Nye is the science guy for a layperson like me.
    • 4/5
      The undeNYEable science book.

      Ok. There are more in depth science books out there, especially for those that are more interested into understanding the gritty details of science fact. And because I like to read those books, I can say that there was nothing groundbreaking about some of the evidence that Nye presents to the reader. But that's exactly his point! If science education were more robust and there was more awareness of evidence that's right in front of us, there really wouldn't be any need for Bill Nye to write this book in the first place. But alas, when he found himself facing off against the not so infallible arguments of creationism, it was his impetus to share the knowledge.

      For anyone looking to get their feet wet with some scientific facts on why evolution is a proven theory, this is a great place to start. And honestly, there are a number of other great works out there. A few I can think off of the top of my head? On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin; A Brief History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson; and The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert. All great reads that further support why evolution is evidence based and allows for sound predictions to be made. That's science.

      Bill Nye offers a witty humor to his writing, only pausing to reflect on how horrible of a boss he once had every now and then. Worth the read for anyone looking for fun science reads.
    • 5/5
      The Good StuffI want to bow down and thank (insert higher power or evolution) for Bill Nye. He made me become fascinated by science. I am 45 years old and with the exception of Chemistry (also thanks to a book, in this case Alan Bradley's Flavia mysteries) had no interest in science and quite frankly thought I was too stupid to understand it. Nye explained things in a way that made sense and made me want to know more. I want to go back to school and learn everything. But lets face it the teachers I had made it all sound so boring. Hmm new plan - win lottery and pay Bill Nye to teach meMade evolution sound sexy and coolExplains some very complex issues in a straight forward relatively easy to understand wayFrickin hilarious at timesTreated those who have faith with respect (well maybe not the Creationists)So much passion for his work, it was hard not to get excited as him with the enthusiasm in his voice (Yeah listened to this one)I now want to watch every episode of Bill Nye the Science Guy with my kids - I want them to experience science in the way it should be taughtHighly recommend you listen to this, Nye has a wonderful fun speaking voiceWalking whale - trust me, fascinatingThe chapter on intelligent design really makes you think (and laugh)Really want to look into more about research into growing new spinal nerves in mice (or rats forgot to write down notes) as my son has Spina BifidaAlways thought that Racism was stupid (yes I am being simplistic) but the chapter on skin colour and evolution scientifically shows us that we are all basically the same genetically - so if you hate someone based on the colour of the skin, you are a moron (again being simplistic)Love where he paraphrases the gorilla and them getting the shorter end of the genetic stick - funny and sadly true - worth the price of the book aloneExplains a scientific concept using that Carrie Underwood song that Jeff hates The Not So Good StuffI now want to meet someone more than David Tennant - seriously!Um must remember not to talk to someone about this book who is extremely religious - oops sorry wonderful ladyOk sometimes it was over my head - but it did make me want to go look things upFavorite Quotes/Passages"To be successful as a living thing, you have to have offspring, who have offspring, who have offspring. Rest assured, your family did, or you wouldn’t be here. As troubling as it may seem, your parents had sex—at least once. If you have brothers and sisters, more than once … One shudders to think of it.” "We are all going to die - I know, it sucks. But its the way of our world."“To leave the world better than you found it, sometimes you have to pick up other people’s trash.” “This is one of the reasons I get such joy from studying evolution. This kind of science is amazing and sexy.” 5 Dewey's I borrowed this audio book from Jen and I want to thank her so much for encouraging me to listen to it
    • 4/5
      “Teach the controversy”, they say. The “gaps” in evidence on evolution validates an alternate theory. “Irreducible complexity” of certain anatomical features (e.g. the human eye) must mean that sequential modifications were not possible since without all of its parts the whole would be non-functional. Evolution is, after all, just a “theory”, little more than speculation or a guess. Bah!Few things make my blood boil more than the deceitful attempts of Christian/politico groups to impose religiously motivated doctrine on school curricula. These proponents of “creationism” and, lately, its thinly masqueraded cousin “intelligent design” claim that the theory of evolution has deep flaws and that other “scientific” explanations for the origins of the earth and the species deserve a place in classrooms alongside, if not instead of, evolution of life via the mechanism of natural selection.It is astonishing that these arguments have received even the slightest hearing and very troubling that many school districts have caved in to such pressures. The unwillingness of many Americans to accept evolution as an established scientific principle throws unsettling light on the state of education and thinking in our supposedly advanced nation. Creationism and intelligent design may indeed have a place in the classroom, but it is in the social studies or civics classes considering issues related to church-state separation, not in the teaching of biology.Theologians and religiously minded people have had difficulty with Darwin’s precepts from the instant of its publication. If you are a bible literalist the idea of an aeons-old earth and the incremental development of the vast species extant on the planet via random genetic mutations that help or hinder life to sustain is turned completely on its head by Darwin’s theory. Those willing to abandon literalism find comfort in reconciling religion and evolution by opining that evolution, while certainly at play, was started by and guided by a supreme being whose shining creative apotheosis is human kind. I personally find this notion incompatible with science since it requires a great conceptual leap from evidence-based, provable theory to a supernatural etiology beyond the reach of science. Religion has many useful functions for man, but explaining the natural world just isn’t one of them.Creationists seem to hold on to the “it just ain’t so” approach to disputing the theory of evolution. This is acceptable for the pulpit, but not for public school classrooms since our constitutional principles forbid promoting religious doctrine in organs of the state. The tactic employed successfully by the creationists for decades was to get authorities to prohibit the teaching of evolution in biology classrooms. As the pressure of science educators to teach real science increased, the creationists "evolved" a new approach, the so-called intelligent design theory. Intelligent design (ID) claims to be a scientifically grounded theory that says because life is so complex it follows that it must have been purposely designed; ergo, there must be a designer. After all, the most complex machines such as airplane or computers could not exist unless designed by someone. While this notion has a certain intuitive cache its mortal flaw is that it is untestable, hence unprovable. Unlike all valid theories, intelligent design has no predictive potential. (Evolution by contrast has had enormous success in predicting the presence of once undiscovered evidence that supports the theory.) The intelligent design crowd is careful never to suggest that the “designer” is the Christian God or any other supreme being; that would undermine their advocacy that ID is constitutionally permissible in the public sector. They often resort to tautology in trying to support their assertions of the rationality of ID. They make use of “arguments of ignorance”, i.e. that flaws or gaps in proof for one theory prove the validity of an alternate theory. So, by this thinking, gaps in evidence (say, the so-called missing links in transition of species) of natural selection prove that another theory must be right. Well, a brick wall with a few missing bricks is still a brick wall. While careful to avoid sounding theological in public pronouncements ID advocates in their strategy sessions have been clear that they are seeking to advance religious credo. In the well-known federal court case Kitzmiller v Dover Area School District, the judge held, after a long bench trial where the views of ID and evolution were closely argued, that intelligent design was a ruse blatantly misrepresented as science whose introduction into classrooms was an impermissible crossing of the church-state boundaries.Nye’s book is a collection of short chapters outlining the principles upon which the theory of evolution is grounded. Intended for the lay reader, Nye cogently describes how evolution works and, importantly, how the advance of theoretical, exploratory and experimental work since Darwin has cemented the validity of the theory. (For instance, the role of genes in passing along functions and traits was unknown for years after Darwin’s work.) Nye is a well-known science educator and recently engaged in a televised debate with a prominent creationist. This man’s position was so outlandish in its total adherence to the narrative of the bible that debating him was almost valueless until you consider that many people believe this version of history. It is a bit of a puzzle that Nye did not critique in much detail the positions of the intelligent design proponents as these are much more subtle and beguiling to the general public than strict biblical literalism
    • 5/5
      This book came out of a debate between the author and a leading spokesperson for creationism. In layman's terms Nye presents a vast array of evidence to support the rational logic of evolution. Things like how did the ark hold all the plants to feed the animal's unique diets and after the flood was over how these plants mature to the point they could feed them to their final destinations? Also, how did species like the platypus and koala bear make it the whole way to Australia?. Nye ponders many other things like life in outer space and cloning. He handles everything with wit and enthusiasm in a very understandable way.
    • 5/5
      Excellent, thorough, accessible explanation of the science and biology behind evolution. Nye's almost unbridled enthusiasm really comes through on the audio as you can hear the excitement and wonder in his voice. He never gets too technical even when talking about the chemical makeup of the most basic of building blocks, amino acids, while always keeping his eye on the big picture. His argument that the importance of science education can not be underestimated, is well-defended and compelling. Recommended to anyone who is interested in science and wants to learn from a man who is still completely enthralled with the natural world.
    • 4/5
      I'm no scientist, but this was an incredibly accessible, fun book. Bill Nye's enthusiasm and humor enliven every page. I learned a lot! Deserves to become a classic in science education.
    • 3/5
      Bill Nye decided to write this book after debating so-called Creation Science with Ken Ham. So one might expect a point by point demolition job, but No. Instead, he puts his own case for evolution theory in a series of standalone chapters rather like separate TED talks. As a result the book is best read episodically, dipping into whatever angle you want to approach from. It's a light read, making complex ideas accessible. Will it persuade a dyed in the wool Creationist who believes God made the world about 6,000 years ago in less than a week? Of course not. But if one is already persuaded by Nye's general argument you will find the latest state of evolution science clearly and pleasantly delivered.
    • 4/5
      Entertaining like his TV program. Basically a point by point refutation of Creationist claims. Much of it derived from when he debated the Creationist Ham. Interesting commentary on intermediate species which Creationist claim would be a a death blow to Darwinian theory.
    • 5/5
      In February of this year (2014), Bill Nye the Science Guy debated Ken Ham, a Creationist over the question of evolution. Who won, of course, depends on which side of the question you fall on but one thing was very clear: in his own calm, inimitable way, Bill is very passionate about the subject. This passion comes through in his new book Undeniable in which he discusses evolution and all the ways it matters. He talks about the scientific basis for evolution including Darwin’s theories and what they really mean. According to Nye, it is not as straightforward as ‘survival of the fittest’. Evolution occurs, mainly, in small increments, some small advantage that, as it is passed down through generations, becomes a big advantage, allowing the offspring to survive when others of the species are lost to history: it is not so much ‘survival of the fittest’ as ‘survival of the just good enough’: the giraffe with the slightly longer neck, the bird with the slightly hooked beak, the group of hominids with a slightly bigger brain in relation to their size. Whatever this small advantage is, over generations, it evolves incrementally within the species. That first giraffe with the slightly longer neck eventually leads to the giraffes we see today with their extremely long necks.He also discusses how evolution affects us today in terms of science and ethics: cloning, GMOs, and stem-cell research among other issues. He explains the difference between micro- and macro- evolution and how it is happening all around us not to mention to us and has been happening for approximately 3.5 billion years from the first one-celled organism to us, homo sapiens and why the idea of different races doesn’t exist scientifically – we are all descended from that same one-celled creature that appeared an eon or two ago or, if that’s just too far back to imagine, the same pair of hominids who ‘got it on’, 100,000 years ago give or take a millennium. And he goes further, speculating about what the future holds for future generations as well as what might be out their among the stars waiting for us to discover or perhaps to discover us. He also explains why Creationism fails as a theory in explaining the diversity of ecosystems and species extant today or the discovery of fossils of animals long gone, as well as its inability to predict future possibilities – denying evolution means denying any effect we might have on the planet or that there is anything we can do to change outcomes. Undeniable is a fascinating read. Nye makes the science behind evolution easily accessible to those of us who don’t come from a scientific background. He infuses the work with interesting anecdotes about his own life as well as just a touch of humour to help those of us who never paid attention in biology because boring. So here’s to Bill Nye the Science Guy for making it clear why choosing evolution over creationism isn’t just a matter of philosophy but that it has real-world consequences and here’s to us, the survivors, the just good enoughs.
    • 5/5
      In Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation, Bill Nye examines the theory of evolution with the excitement and enthusiasm which he brings to all of his work. He describes the evidence and processes of evolution from the earliest microorganisms 3.5 billion years ago up to modern Homo sapiens, outlining the story of life on Earth in a logical, highly-readable form. From the beginning, he explains that evolution, like gravity, is a scientific theory and that, unlike the vernacular use of the term, a theory in science denotes something that has continually stood up to repeated testing and can be used to predict future outcomes. He respectfully addresses the problems inherent in creationist ideology, explaining how, beyond providing a useless answer which can offer no use as a predictor of future outcomes, it fails to explain the diversity of life today or the observable processes in nature. My only complaint is that he is perhaps too respectful in dealing with an ideology that revels in and celebrates willful ignorance. Undeniable is a wonderful book for explaining evolution and his discussion on race offers insights that, taken to heart, could help people put an end to their racial biases. Truly, one of the best books about science in the past decade.
    • 1/5
      So many of these theories have repeatedly been proven false.
    • 3/5
      For such a short book, it took me a surprising amount of time to finish it (partly due to business, but still). It's a little hard to review because I'm not the target audience- there were no mindblowing observations made because I have a background in science. For someone less familiar with evolutionary concepts (or even the scientific process and the joy of discovery), this book does a good job of explaining in informal Nyeisms how the world works.

      I take issue with some of the end chapters (30 onwards), though. This is where Nye gets into cutting edge, sometimes controversial science and in some cases he leaves it up to the reader (while providing questions that should be applied to any field). But for others, he takes a clear stand- no on genetic modification, no on human cloning. The ethics of the latter are obvious, but genetic modification has so much potential for a wide array of uses. Nye's criticisms are based on effects a new modified species would have on the ecosystem (regardless of the kind of modification- gene silencing and insertion are considered in the same boat). He then cites hybridization as a method we've proven to work... completely ignoring that hybridizing IS modification, albeit at a much cruder level, and that through domestication we've already irreparably changed ecosystems! I can't help but feel this difference of opinion could be due to background- Nye is an engineer while I have a genetics degree. As one of the recognizable popular scientists, he has a huge platform that people follow, and I worry sentiments like these will kill much-needed research. These later chapters also include debunking the concept of race (that at a genetic level, it's nonexistent- skin tone is more reflective of what latitude your ancestors lived in) and astrobiology, which are worthy ideas to chew on.

      Recommended for that waffling creationist uncle at Thanksgiving or people looking for an easy to digest way to learn evolution. With anecdotes from his past, Nye is a friendly guide to these concepts.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 1/5
      He completely lost me when he misrepresented what creationists believe. This from a man who believes that life came from inanimate material, matter. Matter can exist without life. In fact, matter does exist without life. Matter can exist without DNA. In most of the universe matter exists without both life and DNA. Except in living beings. Us. We are definitely not part of a highly improbable chance event of magic dirt that created proteins, which magically self-constructed, became self directing, self-replicating, self-aware, intelligent, multiplied and evolved into every living creature. By chance of course. That takes more faith and belief than believing in God. Sorry bud!

      6 people found this helpful

    • 1/5
      Evolution (i.e. MACROevolution) is pseudoscience. Not one time, did Nye the Pseudoscience Guy give evidence for evolution in the debate with Ken Ham... he just kept mocking the Bible. I must say though, that I was disappointed with Ham, only in that he kept preaching about the Bible instead of shoving evolution right down Nye's throat. With that said, Nye isn't even a scientist... that is, one with a PhD in science. But then again, to be an authority in the pseudoscience of Darwinism, one does not need a PhD in anything.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 1/5
      Please, I got this book on Amazon as a gift, it was so poorly written and boring.
      Definitely he is not a scientist, this guy should try to take some courses like genetics and molecular biology or boichemistry then earn a masters and talk about it.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 1/5
      The Creator God opens the eyes of those who are chosen and blinds the eyes of those who are not His. End of subject. On Judgement Day, you will be placed on either His left side or His right side, denied salvation for your lack of faith, or given eternal life through Jesus, your Kinsman Redeemer, for keeping the faith through the trials we endure in this world of Satanic deception. Choose this day whom you will serve.

      Bill Nye and Ken Ham are deceivers who choose not to follow the Laws of God, preaching instead Universalism, Satan's lie, as well as practicing miscegenation, an abomination to the Lord God, and a reason for the Great Floodof Noah, all while lining their pockets with filthy lucre. Come out of her, my people.

    Book preview

    Undeniable - Bill Nye

    1

    ME AND YOU AND EVOLUTION, TOO

    I think it started with the bees. I was about seven years old, and I watched them … all day. That Sunday, I had read the Ripley’s Believe It or Not column in The Washington Post, which claimed, The Bumblebee: Considering its size, shape, and wingspan, is an aerodynamic misfit—which should be unable to fly! It was frustrating, because here they were flying. I got caught up in the details. Their wings looked like decoration, no more useful than a store-bought bow glued to a gift. I looked closely at my mother’s azalea flowers—so many delicate parts. Somehow, the bees were able to get in there, fill their pollen baskets from the flowers, and fly away again and again.

    How did bees learn to do all that? Where did they come from? Where did the flowers come from? Come to think of it, how did any of us get here? Why did Ripley’s have it so obviously wrong? I was getting pulled into something much larger than myself. The yearning to know about nature and where or how we fit in is deep within all of us. As I learned about evolution and descent by natural selection, the answers fell into place.

    We are all aware that evolution happens, because we all have parents. Many of us have, or will have, children. We see the effects of heredity up close and personal. We’ve also experienced firsthand what Charles Darwin called descent with modification: the way that an entire population of living things can change from generation to generation. Think about the food grown on farms. For about twelve thousand years, exploiting the phenomenon of evolution, humans have been able to modify plants through a process known as artificial selection. In wheat farming and horse racing we call it breeding. Darwin realized that breeding (and domesticating) plants and animals involves exactly the same process that occurs naturally in evolution, only accelerated with the help of humans. This natural process produced you and me.

    Once you become aware—once you see how evolution works—so many familiar aspects of the world take on new significance. The affectionate nuzzling of a dog, the annoying bite of a mosquito, the annual flu shot: All are direct consequences of evolution. As you read this book, I hope you will also come away with a deeper appreciation for the universe and our place within it. We are the results of billions of years of cosmic events that led to the cozy, habitable planet we live on.

    We experience evolution every day in our culture as well. People everywhere are fascinated with other people. That’s why we have sidewalk cafés, televisions, and gossip magazines. We interact to produce more of us for future generations. People are fascinated with their bodies. Turn on the television to any channel. If it’s youth-oriented music programming, you’ll see advertisements for skin medicines to make you look healthy, for deodorants to modify your natural scents, and for hair and makeup products to render you more attractive to a potential mate. If it’s a staid news channel, you’ll see ads for improving your breathing, your bones, and, of course, your sexual performance. None of these products would be produced were we not walking, talking products of evolution.

    We are all so much alike, because we are all human. But it goes deeper than that. Every species you’ll encounter on Earth is, near as we can tell, chemically the same inside. We are all descended from a common ancestor. We are shaped by the same forces and factors that influence every other living thing, and yet we emerged as something unique. Among the estimated 16 million species on Earth, we alone have the ability to comprehend the process that brought us here. Any way you reckon it, evolution is inspiring.

    Despite all of that, a great number of people in many parts of the world—even in well-educated parts of the developed world—are resistant or hostile to the idea of evolution. Even in places like Pennsylvania and Kentucky, here in the United States, the whole idea of evolution is overwhelming, confusing, frightening, and even threatening to many individuals. I can understand why. It’s an enormous process, unfolding over times that dwarf a human lifespan—across billions of years and in every part of the world. And it’s profoundly humbling. As I learned more about evolution, I realized that from nature’s point of view, you and I ain’t such a big deal. Humans are just another species on this planet trying to make a go of it, trying to pass our genes into the future, just like chrysanthemums, muskrats, sea jellies, poison ivy … and bumblebees.

    Many people who are troubled by evolution want to suppress teaching the whole concept of descent through natural selection in schools. Others try to push it aside or dilute it by casting doubt on the established science that supports it. State education standards allow the teaching of fictitious alternatives to evolution in Texas, Louisiana, and Tennessee. Even though the people who support these curricula live lives that are enriched in many ways by science and engineering (everything from running water and abundant food to television and the Internet) they avoid the exploration of evolution, because it reminds us all that humankind may not be that special in nature’s scheme. What happens to other species also happens to us.

    I continually remind people what is at stake here. Our understanding of evolution came to us by exactly the same method of scientific discovery that led to printing presses, polio vaccines, and smartphones. Just as mass and motion are fundamental ideas in physics, and the movement of tectonic plates is a fundamental idea in geology, evolution is the fundamental idea in all of life science. Evolution has essential practical applications in agriculture, environmental protection, medicine, and public health. What would the deniers have us do? Ignore all the scientific discoveries that make our technologically driven world possible, things like the ability to rotate crops, pump water, generate electricity, and broadcast baseball?

    Even the theological objections to evolution stand on shaky ground. For the last century and a half, ever since the publication of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species in 1859, many people have come to believe that evolution is in conflict with their religious beliefs. At the same time, many people around the world who hold deep religious convictions see no conflict between their spiritual beliefs and their scientific understanding of evolution. So the naysayers are not only casting doubt on science and nonbelievers; they are also ignoring the billions of non-conflicted believers around the world, dismissing their views as unworthy.

    I’ll admit that the discovery of evolution is humbling, but it is also empowering. It transforms our relationship to the life around us. Instead of being outsiders watching the natural world go by, we are insiders. We are part of the process; we are the exquisite result of billions of years of natural research and development.

    Frankly, my concern is not so much for the deniers of evolution as it is for their kids. We cannot address the problems facing humankind today without science—both the body of scientific knowledge and, more important, the process. Science is the way in which we know nature and our place within it.

    Like any useful scientific theory, evolution enables us to make predictions about what we observe in nature. Since it was developed in the nineteenth century, the theory itself has also evolved, by which I mean that it’s been refined and expanded. Some of the most wonderful aspects and consequences of evolution have been discovered only recently. This is in stark contrast to creationism, which offers a static view of the world, one that cannot be challenged or tested with reason. And because it cannot make predictions, it cannot lead to new discoveries, new medicines, or new ways to feed all of us.

    Evolutionary theory takes us into the future. As the foundation of biology, evolution informs big questions about emerging agricultural and medical technologies. Should we genetically modify more of our foods? Should we pursue cloning and genetic engineering to improve human health? There is no way to make sense of these issues outside of an evolutionary context. As an engineer trained in the U.S., I look at the assault on evolution—which is actually an assault on science overall—as much more than an intellectual issue; for me, it’s personal. I feel strongly that we need the young people of today to become the scientists and the engineers of tomorrow so that my native United States continues to be a world leader in discovery and innovation. If we suppress science in this country, we are headed for trouble.

    Evolutionary theory also takes us into the past, offering a compelling case study of the collaborative and cumulative way that great scientific discoveries are made. In some sense the concept of evolution can be traced to the Greek philosopher Anaximander. In the sixth century BC, after evaluating fossils, he speculated that life had begun with fishlike animals living in the ocean. He had no theory of how one species gave rise to another, however, nor did he have an explanation of how Earth acquired its stunning biodiversity. Nobody would, for another two millennia. Ultimately, the mechanism of evolution was discovered by two men at very nearly the same time: Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace.

    You’ve probably heard a great deal about Darwin. You may not have heard so much about Wallace. He was a naturalist who spent a great deal of time in the field studying and collecting specimens of flora and fauna. He traveled in the Amazon River basin and in what is now Malaysia. Through his far-flung geographic and intellectual explorations, Wallace formulated his theory of evolution independent of Darwin, and described an important aspect of the evolutionary process, often still referred to as the Wallace effect (more about that in chapter 12). Wallace recognized humans as just one part of a much broader living world. Quoting from his 1869 book The Malay Archipelago, … trees and fruits, no less than the varied productions of the animal kingdom, do not appear to be organized with the exclusive reference to the use and convenience of man… In Victorian England, such a point of view was controversial to say the least.

    Darwin had the earlier start. Wallace was just eight years old in 1831 when the twenty-two-year-old Darwin had a remarkable opportunity as an energetic young man to go to sea aboard the HMS Beagle. He realized that if humans could turn wolves into dogs, then new species could come into existence by the same means naturally. He also saw that populations do not grow and grow indefinitely, because their environment will always have limits on the resources available. Darwin connected these ideas by observing that living things produce more offspring than can survive. The individuals compete for resources in their respective ecosystems, and the individuals that are born or sprout with favorable variations have a better shot at survival than their siblings. He realized that, left unchecked, the process of natural selection would result in the great diversity of living things that he would go on to observe.

    Recognizing the two scientists’ convergent views, colleagues arranged for Wallace and Darwin to present a paper together at a meeting of the Linnaean Society in London in 1858. The paper was based on a letter that Wallace had written to Darwin, along with an abstract for a paper that Darwin had written in 1842. The revolutionary impact of the joint presentation was not immediately obvious to all of those in attendance. Thomas Bell, the president of the Linnaean Society, infamously reported that no important scientific breakthroughs had occurred that year: The year which has passed has not, indeed, been marked by any of those striking discoveries which at once revolutionize, so to speak, the department of science on which they bear…

    The publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859 created a sensation and proved President Bell spectacularly wrong. It also made Darwin far more famous than Wallace, as Darwin remains to this day. His ability to articulate the theory of evolution is still astonishing. On the Origin of Species remains a remarkable and remarkably readable book, readily available in hardback, paperback, and online a century and a half later. In it, Darwin gives us example after example of evolution and explains the means by which it happens, providing both the facts and the mechanism in one volume.

    Evolution is one of the most powerful and important ideas ever developed in the history of science. It describes all of life on Earth. It describes any system in which things compete with each other for resources, whether those things are microbes in your body, trees in a rain forest, or even software programs in a computer. It is also the most reasonable creation story that humans have ever found. When religions disagree about just creation, there is nothing to do but argue. When two scientists disagree about evolution, they confer with colleagues, develop theories, collect evidence, and arrive at a more complete understanding. Every question leads to new answers, new discoveries, and new smarter questions. The science of evolution is as expansive as nature itself.

    Evolution goes a long way toward answering the universal question that ran through my brain as a kid, and still does: Where did we come from? It also leads right into the companion question we all ask: Are we alone in the universe? Today, astronomers are finding planets rotating around distant stars, planets that might have the right conditions for supporting life. Our robots are prospecting on Mars looking for signs of water and life. We’re planning a mission to study the ocean of Jupiter’s moon Europa, where there is twice as much seawater as there is here on Earth. When we go seeking life elsewhere, the whole idea of what to look for, and where to look for it, will be guided by our understanding of evolution. Such a discovery would be profound. Proving that there is life on another world would surely change this one.

    The great questions of evolution bring out the best in us: our boundless curiosity, and our boundless ability to explore. After all, evolution made us who we are.

    2

    THE GREAT CREATIONISM DEBATE

    For those readers who might be deeply religious, welcome. I very much hope you make it through this chapter. It’s about my recent debate with a creationist in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which in many ways was the impetus for me to write this book. Our issue was whether or not creationism is viable (the term agreed upon) as an explanation of … well, of anything. I emphasize that I did not disparage anyone’s religion. I did not mention anything about The Bible. I had no reference to Jesus from the city of Nazareth. But I was, and remain, concerned about the extraordinary claim that Earth is extraordinarily young, which is an assault not just on evolution but on the whole public understanding of science.

    Having a few thousand people make use of a few million dollars to promote their point of view is not unusual. This is actually what a great many not-for-profit organizations do, including the Union of Concerned Scientists, the National Center for Science Education, and my own Planetary Society. It’s also part of how government policies are developed and put into law. In the case of creationism however, certain not-for-profit groups set out to indoctrinate our science students in their central idea: that the first book of The Bible’s assertion that Earth is only six or ten thousand years old (the exact number depends on their interpretation) is supported by scientific evidence. Such an idea is laughable and could be easily dismissed were it not for the political influence of these groups. In general, creationist groups do not accept evolution as the fact of life. It’s not just that they don’t understand how evolution led to the ancient dinosaurs, for example, they take it another step and deny that evolution happened at all anywhere, let alone that it is happening today. They want everyone else in the world to deny it, too, including you and me.

    Inherent in this rejection of evolution is the idea that your curiosity about the world is misplaced and your common sense is wrong. This attack on reason is an attack on all of us. Children who accept this ludicrous perspective will find themselves opposed to progress. They will become society’s burdens rather than its producers, a prospect that I find very troubling. Not only that, these kids will never feel the joy of discovery that science brings. They will have to suppress the basic human curiosity that leads to asking questions, exploring the world around them, and making discoveries. They will miss out on countless exciting adventures. We’re robbing them of basic knowledge about their world and the joy that comes with it. It breaks my heart.

    I got the chance to write this book after expressing my concern about the future of the U.S. economy on an Internet Web site called BigThink.com. I pointed out that without young people entering science fields, especially engineering, the country will fall behind other nations who do educate their kids in real science rather than the pseudoscience of creationism. Subsequent to that, I was challenged to a debate by Ken Ham, an Australian-born evangelical leader who has managed to oversee the construction of an amazing building that he calls the Creation Museum in Kentucky. His organization is called Answers in Genesis. He claims that his interpretation of The Bible is more valid than the basic facts of geology, astronomy, biology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, and especially evolution.

    After a few months of mulling it over, I agreed to go to the Creation Museum and take the guy on head-to-head, or lectern-to-lectern. I chose to participate in this debate to raise awareness of the creationist movement and its inherently deleterious effects on our society, as it dulls our resolve to tackle big scientific challenges like producing energy for the burgeoning human population. Perhaps it’s not surprising that along with his other extraordinary claims, my opponent doesn’t feel that he or his followers should be concerned with climate change.

    We were each given time to make our case before the audience. Mr. Ham holds to a fascinating pair of doublespeak phrases: observational science and historical science. He says that there’s a difference between things that happen while you’re alive and watching and things that happened before you were born. So for him, anything in the fossil record is subject to question. For him, any astronomical observation is automatically irrelevant, because the stars are older than any person that could have observed them. Perhaps a mischievous deity put them all there in a flash. Using the word science in these Orwellian ways is unsettling. As a science educator, I also find this practice deeply irresponsible.

    When it was my turn, I hammered away at Mr. Ham’s claim that there was a big ole flood and that all the animals we see today are descendants of the few pairs that Noah and his family were able to save on a big boat, the ark of Biblical myth. By the way, neither The Bible nor Mr. Ham offers any insight into the fate of every surface-dwelling plant during this supposed episode.

    I started by discussing stratigraphy, the layering (strata) of the rocks that make up Earth’s crust. I could not help but point out that the Creation Museum building sits atop millions of years of limestone layers. The famous landmark Mammoth Cave is right there in Kentucky not far away. On the way to the event, I had no trouble finding a piece of limestone with a small shelly ancient sea creature fossil clearly visible. It was just off the shoulder of Interstate 69. I showed the audience photos of the Grand Canyon, including the striking Muav limestone, the Temple Butte formation, and the Red Wall limestone. They are 505 million, 385 million, and 340 million years old, respectively. What’s so striking about them is how distinct they are from one another. Clearly there were three different spans of time during which these three very-different-colored deposits were formed.

    I made the significant paleontological point that in each of these strata, there exist certain fossils that are specific to that time. Impressions of creatures like trilobites that lived in the more distant past are found in the lowermost layers. Creatures like ancient mammals that lived in the most recent times are found in the topmost layers. And creatures that lived in between are found in the in-between layers. There is no place, not one single example, of a fossil from one layer trying to swim its way up into a more recent deposit. If there were a great flood and every living thing was drowning all at once, we would expect one of them somewhere to be caught trying to save its life. There is not one instance of this in any stratum anywhere on Earth. If you find one, you will turn science on its head. You will be famous. Believe me, people are looking.

    Early in my presentation, I talked about the ice cores, long cylinders of ice extracted by researchers from ice sheets (in Greenland and Antarctica, especially). There are samples with 680,000 layers of snow-ice. Every year a layer of snow falls. It gets compacted by each subsequent year’s precipitation. I asked how there could be 680,000 layers, if there weren’t 680,000 seasons of snow (in other words a period of 680,000 years). I explained that in Ham’s natural history, you’d have to have 170 winter-summer seasons every single year, for every time Earth went around the Sun. Such a turn of events is just not possible.

    Did you know that there are bristlecone pine trees in the western United States that are significantly older than 6,000 years? If you put a tree under water for a year, you kill it, and that’s exactly what would have happened according to the creationists’ literal reading of Noah’s flood. There is a tree in Sweden called Old Tjikko that is apparently 9,550 years old. I, and apparently most of the online audience, was thinking: For cryin’ out loud Mr. Ham, what sort of weird world do you live in? If a tree is 9,000 years old, the Earth is not 6,000, etc.

    As a lover of math, this was a fun one: Mr. Ham claims there were 7,000 kinds of animals on Noah’s ark; there are about 16 million species extant today (that’s my very conservative estimate based on recent surveys of life). To get from 7,000 species 4,000 years ago to 16 million today, we’d need to find 11 new species every day. Not every year! And not 11 individual animals! Eleven new species would need to be identified every single day! It’s a multiplication and division problem. Not difficult, but very difficult to refute.

    It was fun for me also to point out that this brand of young-Earth creationism claims that kangaroos came from a huge ship, the ark, which is supposed to have safely run aground on Mount Ararat in modern-day Turkey. It’s a respectable peak—5,165 meters (almost 17,000 feet)—and it’s snowcapped. It’s not clear to me how all the animals and humans made the arduous descent. The kangaroos, both of them, are supposed to have made it down the mountain, ran or hopped from there to Australia—and no one saw them. Furthermore, if they took a reasonable amount of time to make the trip, you’d expect some kangaroo pups or joeys to have been born and some adults to have died along the way. You’d expect some kangaroo fossils out there somewhere in what is now Laos or Tibet. Also, they are supposed to have run across a land bridge from Eurasia to Australia. But there’s no evidence of such a bridge or any kangaroo fossils in that area, not any.

    Speaking of the ark itself, I pointed out that very skilled shipwrights in New England built the Wyoming, a six-masted wooden tall ship. The boat is huge by wooden ship standards, over 100 meters (300 feet) long. The creationists’ imagined ark is said to have been 500 feet long and able to hold 14,000 animals and 8 people. The real ship, the Wyoming, had a crew of 14. Although it was built by the best shipbuilders in the world in 1909, they could not manage the inherent elasticity of wooden timbers and strakes. The Wyoming twisted in rough seas, opening uncontrollable leaks in the hull. She foundered and sank, with the loss of all hands. If the best in the modern world couldn’t build a large seaworthy ship, what reason would anyone have to think that 8 unskilled ancient people could?

    I pointed out the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., has about 400 species on 66 hectares (163 acres) of land. Zookeepers work around the clock to maintain the health of those wonderful creatures. How could 8 unskilled people keep 14,000 animals alive and well? Doesn’t seem to me that they could.

    I pointed out the spectacular boulders one can see along highways in the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S. They were washed there by ancient floods, when ice dams periodically gave way in what is now Montana. If there had been a worldwide flood, and the heavier rocks sank to the bottom as Mr. Ham et al. assert, what are these boulders doing there on top of the ground and not under the soil? Well, they wouldn’t be there, but they are. So, the creationists are wrong about the natural history of their world.

    I mentioned also the key feature of any scientific theory, whether it’s about evolution or anything else: One should be able to use it to make predictions. I briefly mentioned the remarkable story of Tiktaalik, the fishapod (transition between fish and tetrapod, or land animal with four legs), whose fossil was predicted to exist in certain types of swamps from the Devonian Period. Scientists led by the tireless Neil Shubin of the University of Chicago found exactly such a fossil swamp in northeastern Canada, and went there and found Tiktaalik. Think about it, an ancient animal was surmised to have once existed. Researchers figured out where it would have lived. They went there and proved it.

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