BKCREVCN.RVW   990306

"The Creation/Evolution Controversy", James L. Hayward, 1998,
0-8108-3386-7, U$37.50
%A   James L. Hayward
%C   4720 Boston Way, Lanham, MD   20706
%D   1998
%G   0-8108-3386-7
%I   Scarecrow Press Inc.
%O   U$37.50 800-462-6420 717-794-3802 fax 800-338-4550 717-794-3803
%P   253 p.
%S   Magill Bibliographies
%T   "The Creation/Evolution Controversy: An Annotated Bibliography"

This work annotates, at reasonable and useful length, 447 books
related to the ongoing fight between those examining the evidence for
the origins of life and the universe (and everything), and those
postulating a creation that cannot be ultimately examined.  The
difficulty in defining those two groups is one measure of the work
that had to go into this book.

Chapter one provides an introduction to the debate, citing the major
players and theories over time.  Doing more, though, it establishes
that there is no single camp of either evolutionists nor creationists,
and notes that both perspectives are continua with a fair amount of
overlap towards the middle.  Hayward manages to present the
mainstream, and a few discredited, theories on both sides as a
background to the materials to be tendered later.

Hayward convincingly dates the "modern era" of creationism from 1981,
and so chapter two outlines those important works published prior to
that time.  (Since Hayward uses publication date and the King James
Version, Copernicus gets the jump on the Bible.)  Early works include
those scientific works that came into conflict with religious
authorities over the origin and place of the earth, books examining
the nature of science, and arguments (for the existence of God) from
design.  It is interesting to note that, prior to "The Origin of
Species," the creationist debate was conducted against the evidence of
the geological record, still a prime component of the debate today. 
Following Darwin, a number of works examine the "evolution" of
evolutionary theory itself.  Sticking with the historical outlook,
books on the history of the debate are covered in chapter three.  The
author presents a brief background on each author, and, as well as
describing the contents of the books, notes obvious biases, even
pointing out where these might be of use to the serious student. 
Chapter four deals with what can be seen as three separate topics;
philosophy, theology, and general references; so at times the jump
between works can be a bit jarring.  Here also the book starts
dividing chapters into theistic and non-theistic references, which
does not seem to serve much purpose.  The discussion of works on
physics and cosmology, in chapter five, seems to have some weaknesses
in regard to non-Newtonian mechanics.  Given its pre-eminence, as
noted in chapter two, it is surprising that there is not more material
on earth science, in chapter six.  As might be expected, chapter
seven, on biology and anthropology, is fairly lengthy.  Author, title,
and subject indices close off the book.

Hayward tries to be fair.  For the most part he is.  Occasionally,
though, the stain of the attempt does show through, and it is fairly
clear where his sympathies lie.  On the other hand, having read some
of this stuff, I can understand the relatively rare lapse, and applaud
his more common forbearance.

The author cannot be faulted, of course, for the lack of material that
does not exist.  I found it odd, however, that such areas as the
argument from thermodynamics seem so tangential to the debate.  (The
subject index does point out that the topic appears more frequently
than seems to be the case when reading through the book.)  Speaking
personally, I have almost no interest in the creation/evolution
argument.  However, I found this text to be not only an excellent
guide and pointer to other resources, but readable and even
entertaining in its own right: no small feat for a bibliography.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKCREVCN.RVW   990306