SWIFT

Dieses Buch lohnt sich: David Swift's Evolutionskritik ist gelungen, soweit ich das als Nicht-Biochemiker beurteilen kann. Swift setzt nicht auf "Showeffekte", sondern präsentiert auch die überzeugenderen Aspekte des evolutionären Denkens.
Nur der Bereich "Intelligent Design" kommt in Swift's Buch etwas kurz: Von ca. 410 Seiten behandeln etwa 10 Design.
Ein wesentlicher Pluspunkt des Buches ist, dass es vom US-ID-Movement unabhängig ist - nur Behe ("Darwins Black Box") wird einmal kurz erwähnt. D.h., dass Swift insgesamt sicher ziemlich unabhängig zu seinen Schlüssen gekommen ist, ein Eindruck der sich mir auch beim Lesen immer wieder bestätigt hat.

The best book I have read up to now about evolution!
In the first few chapters the author gives a concise overview over the history of natural science and the involvement of the church, including it's misconceptions.
He then summarizes the development of the idea of evolution, which culminates in Darwin's theory of mutation and selection. All the arguments for evolution are made, to a point that I was wondering why I bought the book. Arguments that are made in biology textbooks for decades are repeated so that this book seems not to fulfill itﾕs promise 'to make a distinctive and valuable contribution' and that the author would 'expose funcamental flaws in the overall theory of evolution'.
But in the second half of the book this masterpiece of an analytical mind shows that it is well worth it's price.
It is awesome to read how, one by one, the 'convincing arguments' for evolution are analyzed and shown to be flawed. Especially the recent new findings in cell biology and genetics shows the impossibility of complex live to have evolved from 'simple' cells. The author also dips briefly into the issue of prebiotic evolution, debunking the common perception that, given enough time, self-replicating molecules could have risen spontaneously.
The authors shows that evolution of living matter from non-living matter could not have occured.
I just wish the author had dealt in more detail about Popper and science philosophy in general.
There are many books where you cannot wait to finish it early, so that you might know the outcome.
This book is different. The closer I came to the last chapter, the slower I read. I didnﾕt want to finish this book - I wanted to continue to read more about the facts behind the theory of evolution.
Great piece, with deep insight - a lot of biological and chemistry facts - written in easy to understand English for the scientific layperson, who is interested in evolution

Science is meant to be based on facts. This book is very thorough in its research and presents its arguments in a very logical manner. This book is a definate need for all scientists as it challenges us to take a fresh look at the facts.
This has got to be one of the most clear and precise book on the history and science of evolution to date, and Mr Swift's challenge to the science community is, are all the facts there?

What a poignant and eloquent account of life (or at least the illusion of being alive) by an obviously seasoned and sensitive artist! Swift describes the sublimely vivid yet hazy realizations about a bookish yet intuitive academic's quest for the pure meaning in his life. Delicious portraits of life in Paris, recollections of finding and losing true love and friendship, and a yearning to prove or disprove the validity of doctrinized religion are blended amidst the collage of dabbles with sexuality, betrayal, perceptions of human nature, and the tragic Hamlet condition of jealousy pangs for a mother who, upon close character inspection, has even further muddled the once secure ideals regarding family and lineage. There is hardly any well-defined escape out of this complicated entangling, but the seemingly nonexistent resolution may actually shed an enlightening view upon the meaning of existence... if you read closely enough between the lines. Savor this one and enjoy.

Graham Swift is the last great story teller-- a combination of Ernest Hemingway and Aesop. By juxtaposing the first person narrative of a disenchanted college proffessor (sp?) and the diaries of an early believer in the evolutionary theaory of nature (Darwin), Swift spins a tale of morality without a moral, and draws paralells between the two protagonists and their respective searches for the answer to one untimelly question- does anythnig really matter? Swift's vivid yet spare prose mirrors the paradoxical nature of both his main characters. Each is at once vulnerable and cynical, courageous but exhausted, afraid to be alone, and afraid of intimacy. Swift could have ended by providing a clearly defined answer to his own characters question thus weakening the realistic tone he had set throughout. However, he refuses to tie such a neat bow. Swift merelly aknowledges that asking the question "is anything divine?" is more important than finding a concrete answer. Swift supposes finally that life is a journey made of questions and we can either rejoice in the precarious nature of such a subjective path, or allow it to cause us to despair. On the way from page one to the last paragraph, the reader is made to sift through interesting musings concerning Shakespeare, Darwinism, Paris, male/female relationships, suicide, and academic politics. Graham Swift is possibly the finest modern English writer, and this is quite possibly his finest novel to date.