Creation/Evolution Quotes:
Design #3 Creation/Evolution Quotes:
Design #3[Contents] [Design, #1, #2, #4]
"Biology is the study of complicated things that give the appearance of having been designed for a purpose." (Dawkins, Richard [Zoologist and Professor for the Public Understanding of Science, Oxford University], "The Blind Watchmaker," [1986], Penguin: London, 1991, reprint, p.1).
[top of page]"That Darwin's question is universal, wherever there is life, is surely undeniable. The feature of living matter that most demands explanation is that it is almost unimaginably complicated in directions that convey a powerful illusion of deliberate design. Darwin's question, or rather the most fundamental and important of Darwin's many questions, is the question of how such complicated "design" could come into being. All living creatures, everywhere in the universe and at any time in history, provoke this question. It is less obvious that Darwin's answer to the riddle-cumulative evolution by nonrandom survival of random hereditary changes-is universal." (Dawkins, Richard [Zoologist and Professor for the Public Understanding of Science, Oxford University], "Darwin Triumphant: Darwinism as a Universal Truth," in Robinson M.H. & Tiger L., eds., "Man & Beast Revisited," Smithsonian Institution Press: Washington DC, 1991, p.24).
[top of page]"Biologists must constantly keep in mind that what they see was not designed, but rather evolved." (Crick F.H.C., [Co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, Nobel laureate 1962, professor at the Salk Institute, USA], "What Mad Pursuit: A Personal View of Scientific Discovery," [1988], Penguin Books: London, 1990, reprint, p.138).
[top of page]" "The Duke of Argyll (Good Words, April 1885, p. 244) has
recorded a few words on this subject, spoken by my father in the last year of his life. as ...
in the course of that conversation I said to Mr. Darwin, with reference to some of his own
remarkable works on the Fertilisation of Orchids, and upon The Earthworms, and various other
observations he made of the wonderful contrivances for certain purposes in nature-I said it
was impossible to look at these without seeing that they were the effect and the expression
of mind. I shall never forget Mr. Darwin's answer. He looked at me very hard and said, 'Well,
that often comes over me with overwhelming force; but at other times,' and he shook his head
vaguely, adding, 'it seems to go away."' (Darwin, Francis [son of Charles Darwin], in Darwin
F., ed., "The Life of Charles Darwin," [1902], Senate: London, 1995, reprint, p.64).
"I remember perfectly well the intense satisfaction and delight with which I had listened, by the hour, to Bach's fugues ... and it has often occurred to me that the pleasure derived from musical compositions of this kind ... is exactly the same as in most of my problems of morphology-that you have the theme in one of the old masters' works followed out in all its endless variations, always reappearing and always reminding you of the unity in variety." (Huxley, Thomas Henry [Anatomist, Dean of the Royal College of Science, and "Darwin's Bulldog"], (1895), in Gilbert S.F., "Developmental Biology," Sinauer Associates: Sunderland MA, Fourth Edition, 1994, p.3. Ellipses Gilbert's).
[top of page]"The theory of species selection, growing out of that of punctuated equilibria, is a stimulating idea which may well explain some single dimensions of quantitative change in macroevolution. I would be very surprised if it could be used to explain the sort of complex multidimensional adaptation that I find interesting, the 'Paley's watch', or 'Organs of extreme Perfection and Complication', kind of adaptation that seems to demand a shaping agent at least as powerful as a deity." (Dawkins, Richard [Zoologist and Professor for the Public Understanding of Science, Oxford University], "The Extended Phenotype: The Long Reach of the Gene," [1982], Oxford University Press: Oxford UK, 1983, p.108).
[top of page]"After Watson and Crick, we know that genes themselves, within their minute internal structure, are long strings of pure digital information. What is more, they are truly digital, in the full and strong sense of computers and compact disks, not in the weak sense of the nervous system. The genetic code is not a binary code as in computers, nor an eight-level code as in some telephone systems, but a quaternary code, with four symbols. The machine code of the genes is uncannily computerlike. Apart from differences in jargon, the pages of a molecular-biology journal might be interchanged with those of a computerengineering journal." (Dawkins, Richard [Zoologist and Professor for the Public Understanding of Science, Oxford University], "River out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life," Phoenix: London, 1996, pp.19-20).
[top of page]"It is perhaps clear to the reader that the genetic system is, in principle, isomorphic with communication systems designed by communications engineers. As a matter of fact, genetical systems have historical priority since organisms have been using the principles of information theory and coding theory for at least 3.8 x 109 years!" (Yockey, Hubert P.[Physicist, Army Pulse Radiation Facility, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, USA], "Information Theory and Molecular Biology," Cambridge University Press: Cambridge UK, 1992, p.7).
[top of page]"Masterpiece of Engineering. Of all the organs of the body, few accomplish as much in so little space as the ear. If an engineer were to duplicate its function, he would have to compress into approximately one cubic inch (16 cm3) a sound system that included an impedance matcher, a wide-range mechanical analyzer, a mobile relay-and amplification unit, a multichannel transducer to convert mechanical energy to electrical energy, a system to maintain a delicate hydraulic balance and an internal two-way communications system. Even if he could perform this miracle of miniaturization, he probably could not hope to match the ear's performance. It can set itself to hear the low throb of a foghorn at one end of its range and the piercing wail of a jet engine at the other end. It can make the fine distinction between the music played by the violin and the viola sections of a symphony orchestra. It can reject the hubbub of a cocktail party while picking out a single familiar voice. Even during sleep the ear functions with incredible efficiency. Because the brain can interpret and select signals passed to it by the ear, a man can sleep soundly through noisy traffic and the blaring of a neighbor's television setand then awaken promptly at the gentle urging of a chime alarm clock." (Stevens S.S. [Professor of Psychophysics, Harvard University] & Warshofsky, Fred [science writer], "Life Science Library, Time-Life Books: Alexandria VA, Revised Edition, p.38)
[top of page]"HUMAN EARS are not much to look at. Some seashells, which they vaguely resemble, are more delicately shaped and more appealingly colored. Most animals can swivel their outer ears to locate the source of a sound the few humans who can move their outer ears at all use their skill mainly to amuse children. Yet behind these unprepossessing flaps of skin and cartilage lie structures of such delicacy that they shame the most skillful craftsman, of such reliable automatic operation that they inspire awe in the most ingenious engineer. The outer ear extends only as far as the eardrum, a pressure-sensitive membrane. Beyond this point lies the middle ear, in which three tiny bones transmit and amplify the vibrations of the eardrum. And beyond the middle ear lies the inner ear, filled with liquid and containing the most intricate structures of all: the spiral-shaped cochlea, where sound is converted to nerve impulses, and the semicircular canals, the organs of our sense of balance. Working together the structures of the outer, middle and inner ears perform acts of amazing range and virtuosity. A sound so weak that it causes the eardrum to vibrate less than the diameter of a hydrogen molecule can be heard; a sound 10 million million times stronger will not damage the hearing mechanism." (Stevens, S.S. [Professor of Psychophysics, Harvard University] & Warshofsky, Fred [science writer], "Sound and Hearing," Life Science Library, Time-Life Books: Alexandria VA, Revised Edition, p.31).
[top of page]"THE LAND EGG or reptilian egg, as it is also called has a very special place in the story of life as it lived on earth. The land egg is one of nature's greatest innovations. It made possible the conquest of the land, first by reptiles and then by birds and mammals. If the land egg had not developed, the land would have remained largely empty except for plants, invertebrate life and amphibians. As we have seen, amphibians are not strictly land animals; they cannot venture far from water, and most must return to the water to lay their soft, jelly-coated eggs. Some time after the first amphibians developed, evolution took a decisive leap forward. The first reptiles invaded the land. (The word "reptile" is derived from the Latin root repere, to creep or crawl.) These first reptiles, which had evolved from the amphibians, were able to do so because they had acquired an egg that could be laid and incubated on land. This land or reptilian egg was much more complicated than the simple amphibian egg. The water cradled and protected the amphibian egg against mechanical injury and desiccation. The developing amphibian got its oxygen and most of its food from the water, and its waste matter was discharged into the water. A land egg if it was to be successful had to provide everything the water had." (Stivens, Dal [nature writer], "The Incredible Egg: A Billion Year Journey," Weybright & Talley: New York NY, 1974, pp.168-169)
[top of page]"To have any hope of success the neo-Darwinian theory must therefore appeal to a reproductive model quite different from the model mostly adopted by single-celled organisms. This is already an immense climb down from what is usually claimed for the theory. Gone is its "obvious" status. Only if a model can be found that contrives to uncouple the selective properties of one gene from another, permitting the occasional good mutation to survive and prosper in a sea of bad mutations, can evolution be made to work at all. How exquisitely complex the model needs to be to achieve such a remarkable result will be discussed in the next chapter." (Hoyle, Fred [late mathematician, physicist and Professor of Astronomy, Cambridge University], "Mathematics of Evolution," [1987], Acorn Enterprises: Memphis TN, 1999, p.10).
[top of page]"Aviation engineers look with envy on birds and especially insects. Their flapping wings lift and propel them far more efficiently than the fixed wings of aircraft. One reason is their ability to exploit the subtleties of stalling. If the angle of attack of a wing is increased, it ultimately stalls, with sudden disastrous loss of lift. No fixed-wing aircraft dare risk stalling But an insect with oscillating wings can exploit an intriguing loophole in the laws of aerodynamics. Accelerated at a high angle of attack into the stalling regime, a wing takes a short while to stall. And until it does, it generates enormous lift. By speeding into stall and out again at each flap, an insect wing develops amazingly high average lift. (Jones, David E.H. [science writer, consultant & physical chemist], "The insect plane," Nature, Vol. 400, 5 August 1999, p.513).
[top of page]"Dr. Waddington recognizes a trend or tendency in evolutionary changes; so do I. Now, when statesmen control human affairs so that they move towards a definite end, we say that a policy is being pursued. Do not the trends and tendencies we note in evolutionary changes represent a policy, although no council meeting has been held and no written draft ever prepared? I hold that the factors which control evolutionary events are so regulated as to produce automatically the direction of change, giving all the appearance of a devised policy. Mr. Robertson and I agree that man has been evolved, but whereas he regards man's evolution as a result of chance, I see in it the successful result of a trend or policy which affected progressively the development and equipment of the human brain. The brain, from being an instrument fit for anthropoids, passed on to a state in which the range of feeling, understanding, and of manipulative skill, became fit for men. To ask me to believe that the evolution of man has been determined by a series of chance events is to invite me to give credit to what is biologically unbelievable." (Keith, Sir Arthur. [British anthropologist and leading Darwinist], "Replies to Critics," in "Essays on Human Evolution," [1946], Watts & Co: London, Third Impression, 1947, p.217).
[top of page]"Both Mr. Benjamin and Mr. Robertson object to the meaning which I attach to the word "purpose." They agree with Dr. Julian Huxley that purpose should be reserved for a plan or end emanating from the living conscious human brain. What are we to say, then, about such a complicated and efficient instrument as if it had been made of wood, brass, and glass, it would have been said to have been planned for a purpose, but because it has been " evolved," is made up of living tissues, and came into existence without a preliminary "blue print," it is not purposive. Are not my critics, by the use of a verbal quibble, seeking a sophist's escape from a real difficulty? Would it not be more honest to say that the finer purposive adaptations we see in plants and animals remain, as yet, unexplained? The eye has been evolved; that much is quite certain; the living vital forces which have moulded it are probably still at work, but as yet we have not isolated them. I could as easily believe the theory of the Trinity as one which maintains that living, developing protoplasm, by mere throws of chance, brought the human eye into existence. The essence of living protoplasm is its purposiveness." (Keith, Sir Arthur. [British Darwinist anthropologist], "Replies to Critics," in "Essays on Human Evolution," [1946], Watts & Co: London, Third Impression, 1947, pp.216-217).
[top of page]"Dr. Waddington recognizes a trend or tendency in evolutionary changes; so do I. Now, when statesmen control human affairs so that they move towards a definite end, we say that a policy is being pursued. Do not the trends and tendencies we note in evolutionary changes represent a policy, although no council meeting has been held and no written draft ever prepared? I hold that the factors which control evolutionary events are so regulated as to produce automatically the direction of change, giving all the appearance of a devised policy. Mr. Robertson and I agree that man has been evolved, but whereas he regards man's evolution as a result of chance, I see in it the successful result of a trend or policy which affected progressively the development and equipment of the human brain. The brain, from being an instrument fit for anthropoids, passed on to a state in which the range of feeling, understanding, and of manipulative skill, became fit for men. To ask me to believe that the evolution of man has been determined by a series of chance events is to invite me to give credit to what is biologically unbelievable." (Keith, Sir Arthur. [British anthropologist and leading Darwinist], "Replies to Critics," in "Essays on Human Evolution," [1946], Watts & Co: London, Third Impression, 1947, p.217).
[top of page]* Authors with an asterisk against their name are believed to be creationists.
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