Introduction
Indeed, whenever evolution is mentioned, it opens doors for arguments on whether in occurred or not. However, majority of scientists argue that, on a daily basis, human beings stumble on many experiments and observations that go on record to proof that for a fact, evolution took place. Hundreds of fossils and DNA molecules that have been sequenced by experts have all confirmed that evolution took place. This essay will focus on the textbook, Why Evolution Is True by Jerry Coyne. The main purpose of the essay is to offer a critique and personal reflection on the textbook. The paper begins by giving a brief overview of the book. Then, it reflects on the general themes on the chapters of the book. It also includes philosophical, theological, and sociological reflections, as well as a demonstration of my scientific understanding of the concept of evolution. Additionally, it will critique and evaluate the ideas presented in the book using my scientific understanding of the process of evolution.
Summary of the Textbook
In his book, Why Evolution Is True Jerry Coyne seeks to answer numerous questions. Some of them include how do scientists test evolution?, what are the scientific predictions of the theory of evolution? And is there evidence to support these predictions? In this book, the author presents a detailed analysis of the most modern and impressive discoveries of animal, plant and fossil fuel data, which have been published in diverse scientific domains, that contribute to and hinge on the theory of evolution. Also, in the last chapter, Coyne has included an interesting section that explores the fear which evolution brings to many religious groups. According to Coyne, religious opposition to the concept of evolution does not derive from the lack of scientific evidence. On the contrary, it stems from the fear that if human beings accept the fact that they descended from ape looking creatures, the society’s moral fabric will collapse. However, Coyne proceeds to acknowledge that religious beliefs do not yield ethics at all. Moreover, he deploys scientific discoveries to examine human beings in the context of their evolutionary ancestry and postulates that this discovery means a great deal for the future evolution of humanity.
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Themes in the Book
In Why Evolution Is True, the main theme of the first chapter is conceptual framework of evolution (Coyne, 2010). Also, in this chapter author clarifies the various misconceptions regarding the creationists’ misuse of the word “theory” and how science works. In the second chapter, the author gives a brief and compelling account about the fossil evidence of evolution, Coyne draws largely from the most familiar and some obscure examples, for instance the origin of tetrapods and tiktaalik, the origin of whales and how birds originated from dinosaurs (Rogers, 2011). Although Coyne believes in neontologism, he indeed appreciates the challenges that paleontologists encounter in their pursuit for fossils, the pros and cons of the fossil records and the relevance of fossil evidence in determining the true course of evolution. Considering the inaccurate, outdated and limited coverage of fossil records in most evolutionary textbooks, Coyne is among the most respected paleontologists who have made significant contributions to the field of evolutionary biology. Though I would like to question Coyne’s emphasis on gradualism and his outdated taxonomy, I must admit that overall, this chapter presents one of the best summaries about fossil evidence for evolution ever done by a non-paleontologist (Woodmorappe, 2010).
In the third chapter, Coyne dives details of the mute witnesses of evolution manifested as vestigial organs and poor design (Rogers, 2011). More than anything, the chapter points to the awkward examples of poorly or bad designed features which is a strong argument in favor of evolution? However, Coyne is quick to disarm individuals likely to be attracted to the design argument. This chapter covers many of the classics and other uncommon examples from human tails, whales, legs, hips and other features of the human body, which are badly designed. He also looks at the junk in the human DNA and other dead genes in humans (Rogers, 2011). Personally, I was impressed by the bizarre course of the laryngeal nerve that takes an unnecessarily prolonged course from the throat down to the aorta and vice versa. This is extraordinary because at one time, the laryngeal nerve was attached to a gill in the embryo.
The fourth chapter focuses on the evidence from the islands, biotas, biogeography and the odd patterns resulting from the split of Pangaea (Coyne, 2010). In chapter 5, 6 and 7, Coyne offers unique deontological arguments. He covers the theory of speciation, the concept of genetics and the evidence, which modern biologists have documented for the past centuries (Darwin & Watson, 2005). Given that Coyne has specialized in this area, it therefore follows that this is the strength of this textbook. Actually, in these chapters, he truly displays his familiarity with this area. Among these themes is a thought provoking discussion about how sex is a driver of evolution. This theme is an updated version of Charles Darwin’s classic sexual arguments that were modified when genetic theorists discovered the relevance of sexual recombination in speciation and genetic variability (Darwin & Watson, 2005).
The next chapter deals with the theme of human evolution as a key driver of the creationist movement (Darwin & Watson, 2005). Creationists would completely give evolution a blind eye were it not for the argument that human beings are related to the entire animal kingdom and originated from non-human ancestors. This chapter presents a brief but clear overview of all evidence from paleontology, human anatomy and genetics, which connect human beings to the animal kingdom, particularly the great apes. Therefore, in this view, it follows that this relationship is indisputable (Darwin & Watson, 2005).
The sixth chapter of the text delves on sex, as a means that played a role in promoting evolution. While this is a serious and significant theme in the text, it begs the question on whether living things were reproduced or they simply evolved. While at it, the author has mentioned that it remains a mystery whether sex evolved or not; as a matter of fact, it remains common knowledge that earth’s species reproduce sexually (Coyne, 2010). Even so, the author ensures to connect the evolutionary theory with sexual matters. Gladly, he mentions that for both sexes, the aim is to produce or bring forth some strong offspring. According to the theory of evolution, the females are always looking forward to mate with the best male capable of being a good father. This is obviously the case with both humans and animals.
Coyne has labeled the final chapter, “Evolution Redux” (Coyne, 2010). The theme of this chapter is the major implications of evolution. The author presents some of the philosophical justifications why scientists can argue that evolution is true, the implications of evolution on the human worldview and the emerging field of evolutionary psychology (Coyne, 2010). Though he spends little time engaging the creationists and debunking most of their arguments, he gently convinces me by simply and clearly, explaining and describing the overwhelming evidence supporting the occurrence of evolution. In this manner, the author of Why Evolution Is True adopted a balanced approach that gently persuades without being combative. This textbook is recommended to anyone who is unsure about the facts of evolution. Obviously, advocates of creationism are likely to trash such a book but it is strong in convincing those with doubts about the matter.
Critique
Coyne opens his book by describing the six elements of evolutionary theory (Coyne, 2010). These are natural selection, common ancestry, speciation, gradualism, evolution and nonselective processes of evolutionary transformation. Often, it is believed that those who are against evolution do so because they do not understand it. It would be obvious and easy to trash a theory that argues that one day a bizarre lizard gave birth to a bird. This would be so if especially one believes this theory implies a wild guess. In my own opinion, the most appropriate way to debunk creationists such as this is through books like that of Coyne. In his book, Coyne has simply laid down the facts logically and described what evolution in a way that enables the reader to understand.
Even so, I have an important point of contention with regards to this book; throughout this book, Coney has occasionally attacked creationism (Darwin & Watson, 2005). He proposes a piece of evidence like creatures that like only on the oceanic islands, for instance, Hawaii and not those that live on continental islands, for instance Britain. Then, he would accompany this evidence by uttering statements that warn creationists against refuting this evidence for evolution. According to Coney, this would not match with the creation theory because a god would not have any rationale for placing creatures in particular locations. For me, Coney’s arguments are particularly weak because creationists have no issues trying things that seem to be impossible. In addition, the book presents information, which struck me as adequate evidence suggesting that biblical creationist is not true.
Coney has presented his evidence in a fascinating but ultimately overwhelming manner. He has gathered details from diverse fields including biogeography, embryology, and the existence of vestigial structures in today’s living things, the presence of suboptimal designs in nature and the fossil record itself. All these details seek to illustrate that species have evolved and the mechanism of natural selection is accountable for the vast difference in design. Darwin’s evolutionary theory has yielded vast volumes of successful predictions and explained information, which would otherwise not make sense. Importantly, anomalous observations have never falsified this theory; a good example is the lack of fossils n cretaceous rock strata.
The greatest strength of this textbook lies in the author’s ability to put together evidence from diverse inquiry lines and to illustrate convergence of the inference chains. The book convinces the reader why currently, there is no serious biologist who doubts the major propositions of the evolutionary theory, like the claims that organisms adapt solely through natural selection and that species evolve over time. The area of evolutionary biology seems to highly vibrant, but the major propositions are purely controversial in the field of science because vast volumes of converging data support them.
Though there is no scientific controversy regarding the position of evolutionary theory, there certainly is a social controversy (Woodmorappe, 2010). A good number of common people refute the theory and well established organizations; for example, the Discovery Institute of America has initiated concerted efforts to reject it. In this view, I personally believe that this theory is unique given that no one would engage in an aggressive, high profile campaign to spark public doubts regarding things such as Einsteinian physics or plate tectonics or the claim that micro-organisms are responsible for causing many diseases.
Personal Reflection
Personally, my favorite sections were the chapters about human evolution, geography and fossils (Coyne, 2010). I believe that evolution refers to the gradual genetic changes which species experience because of environmental forces. The DNA is an important element in the cells of living organisms. This element has served to take all living things to a common ancestor. Before evolution occurred, most animal creatures had a common DNA pattern. Eventually, evolution hit the world and organisms became geographically and biologically differentiated from each other. Evolution occurred in three different forms; natural selection, speciation and gradualism (Lewontin, 2009). Gradualism evolution involves creatures taking numerous generations to obtain the desired transformation expected to improve their survival. From this, it can be seen that it takes many years for creatures to achieve full evolution. Speciation refers to the process by which creatures split into different species. Different species which cannot interbreed evolve to form distinct sets of organisms. According to Coyne, natural selection is the process whereby species improve features that they already have (Coyne, 2010). This implies that species undergo a process of natural selection to attain perfection of the original features. In his book, Coyne brings forth a number of theories such as cell theory, evolution theory, atomic theory and plate tectonic theory. But, he pays particular attention to the concept of evolution that argues that hypothesizes that all living things originated from a single ancestor (Lewontin, 2009).
Coyne’s book is a good read, however it contains some minor errors and oversimplifications. With respect to content on fossils, the author has paraded transitional forms but he failed to illuminate their interconnections (Lewontin, 2009).Coney has not given a precise explanation of how early tetrapods originated from lobe-fined fish and birds from feathered dinosaurs. With this, the textbook promotes a belief in the concept of evolution but has failed to cultivate the reader’s understanding of the concept. At the same time, I find it weird that, despite the fact that the text strongly advocates for evolution as the major cause of life, sex still comes into play at some point (Lewontin, 2009). The author has tried his best to explain why he still considers the fact that, sex played a role in evolution. The text acknowledges that, males and females exist. In that case, it means that reproduction happened and as such, its right to question and doubt evolution. However, the author admits that sex also evolved. Notably, majority of what people see in the world, human beings inclusive, was sexually reproduced. The process has been taking place since the world began. In that sense, it raises the question whether indeed evolution ever took place or not. Notably, the text is on record that sexual reproduction has been witnessed over around billion years.
I am not trying to be overly harsh on Coney’s book. Growing up, I spent many years researching on the idea of evolution. I spent many hours on books and other literature works trying to understand the matter. For instance, when I look at the evolution of whales, I am not simply interested in knowing the names of the different animals but how they differ, why they differ and the meaning of this with respect to the evolution of whales. Then, I am frustrated by the text Why Evolution Is True because Coney has focused on rehashing common summaries but ignored the details that are readily availed in the existing literature. For me, I think Coney’s treatment of transitional fossils in his book was gleaned from already available common summaries and he dedicated little actual research to these chapters.
The text would have been incomplete without the author talking about human beings in length. Chapter 8 delves majorly on human beings. Sections of human beings have been reluctant to believe that they evolved from ancestors different from their current appearance. According to them, religious beliefs go a long way in showing that human beings were specially created by God on the 7 th day. They were equipped with advanced way of thinking, in a bid to have control over other creations. In that sense, it becomes difficult to believe that they evolved from some weird looking creatures. In fact, some countries have been in the forefront to issue lawful directions on any person teaching anything contrary from the creation narrative. The author provides a candid and real example of State of Tennessee. It prohibited teachers in the universities and other learning institutions from teaching theories contrary from Divine Creation.
Coney’s Why Evolution Is True would be a valuable read to a particular audience. This would be a good starting point for those who do not know much about evolution but yearn to know more. Otherwise, I personally think there is nothing that sets the book apart from other popular works, which aim to summarize the concept of evolution.
References
Coyne, J. A. (2010). Why evolution is true . Oxford: University press.
Darwin, C., & Watson, J. D. (2005). The indelible stamp: The evolution of an idea . Philadelphia, Pa: Running Press.
Lewontin, R. (January 01, 2009). Why Evolution Is True - by Jerry A. Coyne. The New York Review of Books, 56, 9, 19.
Rogers, A. R. (2011). Evidence for Evolution . Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Woodmorappe, J. (2010). Why evolution need not be true. Journal of Creation24 (1):17–22
