What reading do you recommend about evolution for someone who is not so hot with science?

Question

I'd like to read about evolution and how close it is to becoming a law versus a theory. But I'm an English major, and science was never my strong suit. Recommendations?

OK, so you can see that I don't even understand the basics here. Thanks.

Now . . . recommendations?

Answer 1

I'm absolutely with eri (although for slightly different reasons).

A theory *NEVER* becomes a law. They are completely different types of statements. Two main differences:

1. A law *describes* things. A theory *explains* things.

2. A law is a short statement (usually an equation). A theory is a large body of statements (which can include laws).

For example, the "law of gravity" describes the degree to which things attract each other ... i.e. the more the mass, the more the gravitational attraction ... the more distance between the two objects, the less the gravitational attraction. it is a short equation.

But the "theory of gravity" explains *why* gravity occurs. This includes all of Einstein's explanations of curves in space-time, relativity, the whole nine yards ...and there are alternate theories of gravity that explain it in terms of particles called 'gravitons'. The theory of gravity is not a simple equation, but a large explanatory system.

The details aren't important ... except that the "theory of gravity" does not graduate to become the "law of gravity" ... they are, and always will be two separate things.

The same with evolution. The theory of evolution explains *why* evolution occurs (and few people deny that it occurs ... remember that evolution just means "slow change over many generations"). The theory of evolution will *NEVER* be called the "law" of evolution.


As for introductory books ... I highly recommend the books "Introducing Evolution" and "Introducing Darwin". These are part of that excellent series of graphic-novel type books. They look like cartoons, but they are really good explanations.

Here are the Amazon pages to these two books. (Disclaimer, I am not the author or publisher of either book.)

"Introducing Darwin & Evolution" (by Miller and Van Loon)
(formerly titled "Darwin for Beginners"):
http://www.amazon.com/Introducing-Darwin-Evolution-Introducing-Jonathan/dp/1840461535/ref=sr_1_2/002-8985515-0056001?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1183424366&sr=8-2

"Introducing Evolution" (by Evans):
http://www.amazon.com/Introducing-Evolution-New-Icon/dp/1840466340/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-8985515-0056001?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1183424366&sr=8-1

Answer 2

First of all, understand that theories do not turn into laws. Theories CONTAIN laws and facts and observations. They explain why things happen. Theories are ABOVE facts and laws, they are the master folder you put everything else in. Calling something a theory in the scientific sense is the highest compliment you can give it.

Check out this website http://www.talkorigins.org - it has a lot of great stuff, and it's easy to understand. Any books by Dawkins as well - The Blind Watchmaker and The Ancestor's Tale specifically.

Answer 3

Don't worry about it. Evolution is not so hot with science either. It is a paradigm through which which most scientists believe the existing complexities of living systems came to exist and somehow change from simple to comple over very long periods of time. The various suppositions are called theory without having been really proven by the scientific method to occur the way they hope they occur. It is as much a faith as is any other man-made religion. The evolutionists have said so themselves. It relieves them of their problem of there being an intelligent creator who also established a moral basis by which his human creation should live.
The scientific study of the Earth and things on it and around it can be well accomplished without the foolishness of evolutionary speculation.

Answer 4

Any book by Stephen J. Gould. He was a world-class paleontologist and evolutionary theorist who also taught basic college science courses for non-scientists and wrote popular essays. You'll enjoy yourself and learn something about good writing as well as good science by reading him. "Ever since Darwin" , "The Panda's Thumb" and "Wonderful Life" are personal favorites.