THE COUNTER-CREATIONISM HANDBOOK

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2 THE COUNTER-CREATIONISM HANDBOOK

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4 THE COUNTER-CREATIONISM HANDBOOK Mark Isaak University of California Press Berkeley Los Angeles London

5 University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England The Counter-Creationism Handbook, by Mark Isaak, was originally published in hard cover by Greenwood Press, an imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc., Westport, CT. Paperback edition by arrangement with Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. 2005, 2007 by Mark Isaak All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical including photocopying, reprinting, or on any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from Greenwood Publishing Group. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Isaak, Mark, 1959 The counter-creationism handbook / Mark Isaak. [Rev. ed.]. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Creationism. 2. Creation. I. Title. bs651.i '652 dc Manufactured in the United States of America The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO Z (R 1997) (Permanence of Paper).

6 CONTENTS How to Use This Book List of Creationist Claims Preface Acknowledgments Introduction ix xiii xxiii xxv xxvii philosophy and theology Ethics Epistemology Foundation of Knowledge Theory of Science Scientific Method Theology biology Abiogenesis Genetics Molecular Biology Physiology and Anatomy Behavior and Cognition Botany Ecology and Population Biology Developmental Biology Systematics Evolution paleontology Physical Anthropology Transitional Fossils

7 vi Contents Fossil Record Methodology geology Geochronology Geological Column Sedimentation Evaporation Glaciation Mountain Building Erosion Geophysics and Plate Tectonics astronomy and cosmology Earth Moon Planets and Solar System Sun and Stars Cosmology physics and mathematics Second Law of Thermodynamics and Information Theory First Law of Thermodynamics Radiometric Decay miscellaneous antievolution History Linguistics Folklore biblical creationism Biblical Creationism Generally Biblical Accuracy Young-Earth Creationism Age of the Universe Death and the Fall Created Kinds Flood Miscellaneous Young-Earth Creationism Day Age Creationism Geocentrism intelligent design ID as Science Detecting Design First Cause Anthropic Principle Meta-arguments other creationism Vedic Creationism

8 Contents vii Native North American Creationism Islamic Creationism Bibliography 269 Index 321

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10 HOW TO USE THIS BOOK For those looking for information on a specific claim, the best place to start is the index. Page numbers in boldface refer to the information most relevant to the entry. The claims are grouped by topic, so if you are exploring a more general subject, the claims before or after a specific claim may be of interest, too. Cross-references to related issues are provided as well. For easier browsing, a brief version of the complete list of claims follows in the next section. For general background information as well as information that covers a topic in depth, readers are strongly encouraged to pursue the recommended readings and/or research the topic on their own. Much of creationism is folklore; it survives and spreads mainly by word of mouth. In fact, some of the claims here, such as the missing day and Lady Hope stories, are explicitly folkloric and are included in collections of urban legends. Inspired by this aspect of creationism, I have created an indexing system patterned after that used by Stith Thompson in his Motif-Index of Folk-Literature. Thompson organized folklore motifs in an outline form. For example, his section D includes motifs about magic; motifs about transformation of person to animal start at D100; D150 is transformation of person to bird; D152.2 is man to eagle. I follow Thompson in using letters for the main sections, prefixing everything with C (for creationism) to distinguish this numbering from Thompson s. Sections CA through CG contain claims against mainstream science. Sections CH through CJ contain claims for creationism rather than against evolution. Specifically, the sections are as follows: CA: Philosophy and Theology CB: Biology (including Abiogenesis) CC: Paleontology CD: Geology CE: Astronomy and Cosmology CF: Physics and Mathematics