The New York Times bestselling author of Why Evolution is True explains why any attempt to make religion compatible with science is doomed to fail
Jerry A. Coyne is professor emeritus at the University of Chicago
in the Department of Ecology and Evolution, where he specialized in
evolutionary genetics. His New York Times bestseller, Why Evolution
Is True, was one of Newsweek's "50 Books for Our Times" in
2010.
From the Hardcover edition.
“Timely and important. Jerry Coyne expertly exposes the incoherence
of the increasingly popular belief that you can have it both ways:
that God (or something God-ish, God-like, or God-oid) sort-of
exists; that miracles kind-of happen; and that the truthiness of
dogma is somewhat-a-little-bit-more-or-less-who’s-to-say-it-isn’t
like the truths of science and reason.”
—Steven Pinker, Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology, Harvard
University; author of The Better Angels of Our Nature
“[N]one make the case for the final divorce of religion and
science, with permanent restraining orders against harassment and
stalking of science by religion, better than Coyne.”—Ray Olson,
Booklist (starred review)
“An important book that deserves an open-minded readership.”—Kirkus
Reviews
“Many people are confused about science—about what it is, how it is
practiced, and why it is the most powerful method for understanding
ourselves and the universe that our species has ever devised. In
Faith vs. Fact, Coyne has written a wonderful primer on what it
means to think scientifically, showing that the honest doubts of
science are better—and more noble—than the false certainties of
religion. This is a profound and lovely book. It should be required
reading at every college on earth.”
—Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith, The Moral Landscape,
and Waking Up
“The distinguished geneticist Jerry Coyne trains his formidable
intellectual firepower on religious faith, and it’s hard to see how
any reasonable person can resist the conclusions of his superbly
argued book. Though religion will live on in the minds of the
unlettered, in educated circles faith is entering its death throes.
Symptomatic of its terminal desperation are the ‘apophatic’
pretensions of ‘sophisticated theologians,’ for whose empty
obscurantism Coyne reserves his most devastating sallies. Read this
book and recommend it to two friends.”
—Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion
Praise for Why Evolution is True
“Outstandingly good . . . Coyne’s knowledge of evolutionary biology
is prodigious, his deployment of it as masterful as his touch is
light.”
—Richard Dawkins, The Times Literary Supplement
“Coyne is as graceful a stylist and as clear a scientific explainer
as Darwin himself (no mean feat) . . . one of the best
single-volume introductions to evolutionary theory ever.”
—Wired
“The joy Coyne takes in his work is evident on every page, whether
he’s offering a bone-by-bone analysis of how dinosaurs evolved into
birds or describing how docile Japanese honeybees have come up with
their particularly incendiary defense against marauding giant
hornets.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“[Coyne] makes an unassailable case.”
—New York Times
“In nine crisp chapters . . . the respected evolutionary biologist
lays out an airtight case that Earth is unspeakably old and that
new species evolve from previous ones.”
—Boston Globe
“Coyne’s book is the best general explication of evolution that I
know of and deserves its success as a best seller.”
—R.C. Lewontin, New York Review of Books
“I recommend that Mr. Coyne’s insightful and withering assessment
of evolutionary studies of human psychology and behavior be taped
to the bathroom mirrors of all those (perhaps especially
journalists) inclined to be swept into excited announcements of
What Evolution Shows About Us.”
—Philip Kitcher, The Wall Street Journal
“With logic and clarity, Coyne presents the vast trove of
scientific evidence that supports Darwin's theory.”
—Cleveland Plain Dealer
“It’s always a pleasure to tell people about a wonderful book,
especially when the subject of the book is of universal and
critical importance. Evolutionary geneticist Jerry A. Coyne has
given us such a book. . . . A book that may change the way you look
at things—if you dare.”
—The Huffington Post
“In this 200th anniversary year of Darwin’s birth, Why Evolution is
True ranks among the best new titles flooding bookstores.”
—Christian Science Monitor
“Why Evolution is True is the book I was hoping would be written
someday: an engaging and accessible account of one of the most
important ideas ever conceived by mankind. The book is a stunning
achievement, written by one of the world's leading evolutionary
biologists. Coyne has produced a classic—whether you are an expert
or novice in science, a friend or foe of evolutionary biology,
reading Why Evolution is True is bound to be an enlightening
experience.”
—Neil Shubin, author of Your Inner Fish
“Jerry Coyne has long been one of the world's most skillful
defenders of evolutionary science in the face of religious
obscurantism. In Why Evolution is True, he has produced an
indispensable book: the single, accessible volume that makes the
case for evolution. But Coyne has delivered much more than the
latest volley in our "culture war"; he has given us an utterly
fascinating, lucid, and beautifully written account of our place in
the natural world. If you want to better understand your kinship
with the rest of life, this book is the place to start.”
—Sam Harris, founder of the Reason Project and author of the New
York Times best sellers The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian
Nation
“Scientists don't use the word 'true' lightly, but in this lively
and engrossing book, Jerry Coyne shows why biologists are happy to
use it when it comes to evolution. Evolution is 'true' not because
the experts say it is, nor because some worldview demands it, but
because the evidence overwhelmingly supports it. There are many
superb books on evolution, but this one is superb in a new way — it
explains out the latest evidence for evolution lucidly, thoroughly,
and with devastating effectiveness.”
—Steven Pinker, Harvard University, and author of The Stuff of
Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature
“For anyone who wishes a clear, well-written explanation of
evolution by one of the foremost scientists working on the subject,
Why Evolution is True should be your choice.”
—E. O. Wilson, author of The Social Conquest of Earth and Letters
to a Young Scientist
“I once wrote that anybody who didn't believe in evolution must be
stupid, insane, or ignorant, and I was then careful to add that
ignorance is no crime. I should now update my statement. Anybody
who doesn't believe in evolution is stupid, insane, or hasn't read
Jerry Coyne. I defy any reasonable person to read this marvellous
book and still take seriously the "breathtaking inanity" that is
intelligent design "theory" or its country cousin, young earth
creationism.”
—Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion
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