Recommended Literature Pertaining to Intelligent Design
The following is my "top ten" list of recommended literture pertaining to Intelligent Design.
These are the books that anyone interested in ID must read- and that goes for anyone who wants to refute ID (you can't refute what you don't understand).
1) Nature, Design and Science: The Status of Design in Natural Science by Del Ratzsch
2) The Design Matrix: A Consilience of Clues by Mike Gene
These first two books are not just recommended, they are required to get an understanding of what is being debated and how it should be approached. IOW they help set the table for the context of the debate.
The rest of the books finish setting the table and provide scientific data, observations and evidence that supports the design inference.
3) Signs of Intelligence: Understanding Intelligent Design edited by Wm. Dembski & James Kushiner (15 authors weigh in on the side of Intelligent Design)
4) The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design by Jonathon Wells (replaced Darwin’s Black Box by Michael Behe, because Behe makes the same points in books 3 & 5)
5) Darwinism, Design and Public Education edited by John Angus Campbell and Stephen C. Meyer (several topics covered with entries from both sides)
6) The Edge of Evolution by Michael Behe
7) The Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos is Designed for Discovery by Guillermo Gonzalez & Jay Richards
8) Not By Chance by Lee Spetner (on the list because it deals with “The Blind Watchmaker” by Richard Dawkins)
9) No Free Lunch by Wm. Dembski (low on the list because it is very technical- may substitute The Design Revolution by Wm. Dembski if you would rather pass on the very technical NFL)
10) The Design of Life by Dembski & Wells (replacied "Darwin on Trial")
These are the books that anyone interested in ID must read- and that goes for anyone who wants to refute ID (you can't refute what you don't understand).
1) Nature, Design and Science: The Status of Design in Natural Science by Del Ratzsch
2) The Design Matrix: A Consilience of Clues by Mike Gene
These first two books are not just recommended, they are required to get an understanding of what is being debated and how it should be approached. IOW they help set the table for the context of the debate.
The rest of the books finish setting the table and provide scientific data, observations and evidence that supports the design inference.
3) Signs of Intelligence: Understanding Intelligent Design edited by Wm. Dembski & James Kushiner (15 authors weigh in on the side of Intelligent Design)
4) The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design by Jonathon Wells (replaced Darwin’s Black Box by Michael Behe, because Behe makes the same points in books 3 & 5)
5) Darwinism, Design and Public Education edited by John Angus Campbell and Stephen C. Meyer (several topics covered with entries from both sides)
6) The Edge of Evolution by Michael Behe
7) The Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos is Designed for Discovery by Guillermo Gonzalez & Jay Richards
8) Not By Chance by Lee Spetner (on the list because it deals with “The Blind Watchmaker” by Richard Dawkins)
9) No Free Lunch by Wm. Dembski (low on the list because it is very technical- may substitute The Design Revolution by Wm. Dembski if you would rather pass on the very technical NFL)
10) The Design of Life by Dembski & Wells (replacied "Darwin on Trial")
posted by Joe G @ 9:20 AM
8 Comments:
At 2:13 PM,
Matteo said…
Good list. I like the (optional) inclusion of The Design Revolution, because it methodically and specifically addresses the most common objections. I've also found "God's Undertaker" by John Lennox to be an exceedingly cogent and well-expressed argument against scientism. I agree with your high priority for "The Design Matrix". Mike Gene takes the overall argument to a much higher level. It is a work of great insight.
At 4:39 PM,
Joe G said…
Thanks Matteo.
There is just too much rampant misrepresentation when it comes to ID and the debate.
These books, to me, represent the best available literature on the subject.
I haven't read "God's Undertaker"- I will look for it at the local libraries.
At 10:15 PM,
Robin Edgar said…
Be assured that the "Watchmaker" is anything but blind. . .
Promoting, advancing and defending Intelligent Design via data, logic and bona fide revelation of God since 1992. Feel free to drop me a line at - robinedgar59@yahoo.ca
At 10:45 AM,
Matteo said…
Also, I took a quick gander again at the "Politically Incorrect Guide", which I read a couple of years ago. Good Heavens, this book by page 8 corrects about 90% of the sophistry you find (from the Darwinist side) in most web discussions pertaining to the very definition of ID.
At 9:39 AM,
Joe G said…
Matteo,
I almost didn't include The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design in my list.
That would have been a serious mistake IMHO.
I could have included "Evolution: A Theory in Crisis" but I didn't know or couldn't decide, which book to remove.
At 7:28 AM,
Tom Gilson said…
Thanks for the list.
"These are the books that anyone interested in ID must read- and that goes for anyone who wants to refute ID (you can't refute what you don't understand)."
By the same token, anyone who wants to support ID should be reading a good list of evolution books. I would certainly start with Blind Watchmaker. Mayr's What Evolution Is is also very good, and I suppose a person ought to read at least something from Dennett.
What else should go on this list?
At 3:41 AM,
Exile from GROGGS said…
"The God Delusion" ought to be on the ateleologist list - because it is regarded by the author and many of its proponents as a defining work.
At 12:19 PM,
Joe G said…
Tom,
I have read "The Blind Watchmaker" and "What Evolution Is", along with a host of other books- like "Making of the Fittest" (S Carroll), "Sudden Origins- fossils, genes and the emergence of species" (J Schwartz), "Darwin's Ghost" (S Jones), SJGould' "Full House" and even Dennett (forgot the book).
And we shouldn't forget "On the Origins of Species...".
I would add those to any list for those wanting to understand the evolutionary standpoint.
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