Acknowledgments; Prologue; 1. Science and religion; 2. Evolution as a science; 3. Characters and common descent; 4. The fossil record; 5. The roots of mammals; 6. A brief history of elephants; 7. Whales are no fluke; 8. Creationism: the fossils still say no!; 9. DNA and the Tree of Life; 10. DNA and information 'creation'; 11. Biology and probability; 12. Evolution, education, and conclusions; Bibliography; Index.
Asher draws on his experiences as a paleontologist and a religious believer, arguing that science does not contradict religious belief.
Robert J. Asher is a vertebrate paleontologist, specializing in mammals, and since 2006 has been the Curator of Vertebrates in the Museum of Zoology, Cambridge. Over the past two decades, his work in paleobiology has taken him to Argentina, Britain, Canada, Kenya, Madagascar, Mongolia, South Africa, Spain, western USA and Venezuela.
'Evolution and Belief is a great read. There is a lot of serious
science, there is sensible thinking about religion, and above all
there is a humility before the big questions that comes from
strength of intellect and purpose. I recommend it strongly.'
Michael Ruse, Florida State University and author of The Philosophy
of Human Evolution and Science and Spirituality: Making Room for
Faith in the Age of Science
'Rob Asher writes as a scientist who is also religious, as a great
many are. His brief in this book is to show other believers how
science is done and how real religious faith should not see it as a
threat. The main thing, though, is that this is a really good book
on evolution, particularly the evolution of mammals, with many
wonderful insights that will be new to readers.' Kevin Padian,
Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley
'Page after page of the most brilliant science is eloquently and
knowledgably explained, with myriad demonstration of why there is
vanishingly little cause to doubt that evolution is true.' New
Humanist
'Written from a theistic perspective, Asher's account is a richly
detailed and authoritative source book on the evolution of mammals.
He carefully distinguishes between cause and agent, explaining that
evolutionary theory treats the 'how' but appropriately leaves the
question of 'why' to the philosophers and theologians.' Owen
Gingerich, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and author
of God's Universe
'Robert Asher's Evolution and Belief offers a sure-footed,
faith-friendly, and articulate presentation of the evidence for
evolution as good as any in print. Asher, a respected
paleontologist and religious believer, writes as an insider from
both perspectives. He charts a most helpful course between his
atheistic colleagues who wrongly suppose that evolution rules out a
Creator, and his fellow believers attracted to the uninformed
pseudo-science of the Intelligent Design movement. Along the way he
provides an up-to-date primer of the current state of evolutionary
theorizing sprinkled with tactful demolitions of the standard
arguments against Darwin's Theory. I highly recommend Evolution and
Belief as a balanced and most helpful contribution to this
important conversation.' Karl Giberson, author of The Anointed:
Evangelical Truth in a Secular Age
'NS recommends: This book is a very useful contribution to the
often sterile debate about the relationship between science and
religion.' New Statesman
'Readers without prior knowledge of the subject would be hard
pressed to find a clearer and more persuasive introduction than
this.' BBC Wildlife Magazine
'The strengths of Evolution and Belief lie in its rigorous
attention to the scientific data and in its polite but insistent
message that creationism and ID are hopelessly inadequate to give a
rational account of the rich tapestry of life's diversity.' The
Tablet
'… Asher does a truly excellent job with many aspects of this book.
It is commendable for a religious scientist to articulate so
adequately how to embrace both scientific and religious world views
… [He] does a spectacular job documenting a wealth of
cross-disciplinary data that support evolution.' Reports of the
National Center for Science Education
'… the author's thorough command of fossil and genetic evidence is
the most impressive strength of the book.' John R. Schneider, The
Quarterly Review of Biology
'One of life's joys is that of finding things out and discovering
their marvelous order. Darwin experienced a full measure of this
joy. Asher effectively communicates the joy of seeing how much of
biology makes sense in the light of evolution.' Evolution:
Education and Outreach
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