Shattering the Myths of Darwinism
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| Author | Richard Milton |
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| Published | 2000 |
| Publisher | Park Street Press |
| Pages | 320 |
| ISBN | 0892818840 |
Based on the one star reviews of this book I expected a "creationist rehash." As a biologist trained in animal behavor I read nothing of the kind. Milton's arguments are clear and well argued; he is at his best at demonstrating the circular and nonexplanatory arguments used to keep neo-Darwinian "theory" viable. A previous negative review tells the reader to go and read a book on Darwin's finches--Milton devotes a full chapter to the arguments for "speciation" taken from the finch research. The finches of the different islands mate with one another and are not geograpically isolated from one another--while their beaks may differ in size and shape the finches are no more separate species than a poodle is a separate species from a bull dog. Variation within a species does not prove neo-Darwinism as "the origin of the species." To the potential reader and Mr. Milton (if he reads these reviews), I would urge a review of the most recent research of Hall on the specificity of adaptive mutagenesis and a reading of Ted Steels's new book "Lamarck's Signature" on retrogenes. Both lines of research are mentioned briefly by Milton--I believe a third edition incorporating these new theories and findings is needed. Milton looks like a young man--I hope he keeps up the search for truth in evolutionary biology gives us a new edition of this important work.