This is my original review of the book, retrieved from
the EvC forum. Now that I think of it, this is the only book I've ever reviewed. Guess it really is my favourite.
No mystery, really. With the term "Entropy" in the title, you know how this one has to end. I just spent the last 2 days on this book.
Dr. Sanford was a professor for Cornell University. Ah why bother. Here's a bio link to wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._SanfordDr. Sanford, a former Darwinist, begins like a veteran: "Modern Darwinism is built on what I will be calling 'The Primary Axiom'. The Primary Axiom is that man is merely the product of random mutations plus natural selection." No quibbling about "change" here. He defines his target.
Some may contend that it has nothing whatsoever to do with evolution; in that case they won't shed any tears over this book. After defining his target, Sanford takes only a little time to deal it a death blow. But he's just getting warmed up. The fatal blows continue. Can't blame him.
And this book is so readable! Unable to fault the science, some critics put it down on this account. Don't you just love it! Sanford's experience as a teacher shows. He's able to communicate complicated scientific concepts using uncomplicated language (usually) and vivid, accurate analogies.
Here's an overly simplified analogy of my own, so as not to steal from the author. Evolution can't make much progress taking 50 steps backward for every step forward. That's something I've long believed, but I haven't proven it myself.
How convincing is this book? Here's a link I found to an evolutionist in crisis. Read carefully: He's forced to categorize ALL mutations as beneficial in order to save his faith! Then he criticizes Sanford for failing to "understand evolution".
(link no longer available)http://thatsbs.blogspot.com/2006/12/genetic-entropy-first-impressions.html
And for the record, Sanford's models and math assume beneficial mutations. He's pretty consistent about giving his target the most generous estimates scientifically available.
I should give links to some other reviews, since I'm a rookie.
http://www.amazon.com/Genetic-Entropy-Mystery-Genome-Sanford/dp/customer-reviews/1599190028http://www.uncommondescent.com/inte...st-rejects-darwinism-in-his-recent-book/
