Includes bibliographical references (pages 155-188) and index.

Darwin's theory of evolution is accepted by most educated Americans as fact, This easy acceptance, however, hides the many ways in which evolution--as an idea--shapes our thinking about a great many things. But what if this idea is wrong? What if it turned out that the evidence for Darwin's theory is in tatters and science is hanging on to it only because no other theory is in prospect? Berkeley law professor Phillip Johnson looks at the evidence for Darwinian evolution the way a lawyer would--with a cold, dispassionate eye for logic and proof. His discovery is that scientists have prematurely accepted Darwin's theory as fact and have been scrambling to find evidence for it--mostly unsuccessfully. As the evidentiary difficulties have piled up, they have clung to the theory out of fear of encouraging religious fundamentalism, and in the process have turned belief in Darwin into their own religion.--From publisher description.

Includes material on Charles Darwin, Richard Dawkins, and Stephen Jay Gould.

SACFinal081324