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University of California Press

About the Book

Those opposed to the teaching of evolution often make well-rehearsed claims about the science that sound powerful and convincing. And many people who support the teaching of evolution—students, teachers, parents, administrators—do not have the background to respond. They know that scientists have thoroughly dismantled these arguments, but they don't have a handy way of responding to these attacks. The Counter-Creationism Handbook is a one-stop resource for addressing over 400 of the most prevalent claims made by creationists. Each claim is followed by a succinct and scientifically valid rebuttal, and the book includes print and on-line resources for further reading and information.

The Counter-Creationism Handbook:

* Covers claims made about the disciplines of philosophy, biology, paleontology, geology, astronomy, physics and mathematics, history, and more.

* Addresses the claims of Biblical creationism, intelligent design creationism, and some creationism based on non-Christian religions.

* Includes an introduction on how to address creationists in different venues, how to deal with novel claims, and why accurate science is important.

* Is organized thematically, with extensive cross-referencing.

About the Author

Mark Isaak has written numerous articles on the creation/evolution debate. He is the editor of the "Index of Creationist Claims" on the acclaimed website www.talkorigins.org.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
How to Use This Book
List of Creationist Claims
Introduction

1. Philosophy and Theology
Ethics
Epistemology
Foundation of Knowledge
Theory of Science
Scientific Method
Theology

2. Biology
Abiogenesis
Genetics
Molecular Biology
Physiology and Anatomy
Behavior and Cognition
Botany
Ecology and Population Biology
Developmental Biology
Systematics
Evolution

3. Paleontology
Physical Anthropology
Transitional Fossils
Fossil Record
Methodology

4. Geology
Geochronology
Geological Column
Sedimentation
Evaporation
Glaciation
Mountain Building
Erosion
Geophysics and Plate Tectonics

5. Astronomy and Cosmology
Earth
Moon
Planets and Solar System
Sun and Stars
Cosmology

6. Physics and Mathematics
Second Law of Thermodynamics and Information Theory
First Law of Thermodynamics
Radiometric Decay

7. Miscellaneous Antievolution
History
Linguistics
Folklore

8. 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

9. Intelligent Design
ID as Science
Detecting Design
First Cause
Anthropic Principle
Meta-arguments

10. Other Creationism
Vedic Creationism
Native North American Creationism
Islamic Creationism

Bibliography
Index

Reviews

“An excellent new resource.”
Buffalo News
"Mark Isaak's book is thorough, up-to-date, readable, well argued, and clear. It provides citations for every argument or claim that is made about the usually inaccurate claims of anti-evolutionists. Indispensable and fair, it should be welcomed by all interested in these questions."—Kevin Padian, Museum of Paleontology, University of California