Darwin or Design

In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Dr Massimo Pigliucci. Dr Pigliucci is a Professor of Ecology and Evolution as well as of Philosophy at Stony Brook University in New York. His research is on questions of nature vs. nurture and on the conceptual issues in evolutionary theory.He received a Doctorate in Genetics from the University of Ferrara in Italy, a PhD in Botany from the University of Connecticut, and a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Tennessee. He has published more than 75 technical papers and several books on evolutionary biology. His most recent technical book is Making Sense of Evolution: Toward a Coherent Picture of Evolutionary Theory. Prof. Pigliucci has been awarded the prestigious Dobzhansky Prize from the Society for the Study of Evolution.In 2004 he has been elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement ofScience for fundamental studies of genotype by environmental interactions and for public defense of evolutionary biology from pseudoscientific attack.

In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Dr Henry Schaefer. Dr Schaefer and I discuss the idea of science and religion with a particular emphasis on the relationship of Christianity to science from Dr Schaefer's perspective.

In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Dr Georgia Purdom. Dr Purdom works for Answers in Genesis and is a molecular geneticist and bona fide Young Earth Creationist. I talk to her about the similarities and the differences between ID and YEC and where she thinks ID falls short.

In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Dr Elliot Sober. Dr Sober has taught at University of Wisconsin Madison since 1974. He is currently Hans Reichenbach Professor of Philosophy and a William Vilas Research Professor. His research is in philosophy of science, especially in the philosophy of evolutionary biology. Sober's books include The Nature of Selection -- Evolutionary Theory in Philosophical Focus (MIT Press, 1984; 2nd edition, University of Chicago Press, 1993), Reconstructing the Past -- Parsimony, Evolution, and Inference (MIT Press, 1988), Philosophy of Biology (Westview Press, 1993), >From a Biological Point of View -- Essays in Evolutionary Philosophy (Cambridge University Press, 1994), and, most recently (with David Sloan Wilson) Unto Others -- The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior (Harvard University Press, 1998).

In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Dr James Shapiro. Dr Shapiro is a part of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Chicago. Dr Shapiro and I talk about his work on sentient cells and other radical ways for looking at how bacteria work. It should be noted that Dr Shapiro is not really an ID advocate but instead advances a non-Darwinian approach to evolution based on discoveries about natural genetic engineering. Dr Shapiro thinks the evidence for descent with modifications has been strengthened by genome sequencing but suspects that molecular genetics is inconsistent with Darwinian notions of gradualism and accidental genetic change.

In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Dr Guillermo Gonzalez. We discuss the idea of a Privileged Planet, what it is and how it can be tested.

n this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Dr Angus Menuge. Dr. Angus Menuge is co-Director of The Cranach Institute (www.cranach.org) and Professor of Philosophy at Concordia University Wisconsin. He was raised in England and became an American citizen in 2005. He holds a BA in philosophy from Warwick University, a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and a DCA in apologetics from the International Academy of Apologetics, Evangelism and Human Rights, Strasbourg, France. Dr. Menuge’s research interests include philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, Christianity and culture, and apologetics. He is editor of C. S. Lewis: Lightbearer in the Shadowlands (Crossway, 1997), Christ and Culture in Dialogue (Concordia Publishing House, 1999), and Reading God’s World: The Scientific Vocation (Concordia Publishing House, 2004). He is author of Agents Under Fire: Materialism and the Rationality of Science (Rowman and Littlefield, 2004), Science and the Savior (Concordia Publishing House, 2004), Aslan’s World (Concordia Publishing House, 2006) and Christian Vocation (Concordia Publishing House, 2007).

In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Dr Mike Behe of Lehigh University. We talk about the different ideas in Dr Behe’s two books The Edge of Evolution and Darwin’s Black Box.

In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I chat with Salvador Cordova.Salvador Cordova is a consultant/engineer in the aerospace, defense and financial industry. He volunteers his time at various college campuses, meeting with students and professors who are interested in exploring the hypothesis of intelligent design. He has appeared on national TV, various radio shows, in newspaper articles, magazines, and books. Salvador and I talk about what ID is and how it works.

In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I chat with for NCSE staff member Nick Matzke about research he did on understanding the evolutionary origins of the bacterial flagellum, that icon of the ID movement.