Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation in Science and Inquiry

Nov 02, 2015 Jim rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 1audio, 2non-fiction, 3reference

This is an excellent explanation & overview of the processes of evolution. Nye is entertaining & has spent decades teaching science. He read the book himself & did a great job.

The book evolved from the work he did in preparing for his debate with Ken Hamm, a Creationist who believes the world is only 6000 years old. I live an hour from Hamm's creation museum & their intentional ignorance is amusing, but only at first. Nye is very concerned for the children - rightly so - since the other baggage ...more

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Apr 10, 2015 Jennifer rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Really solid, interesting book about how and why evolution works - without ever being snarky to those who might disagree with Bill. I'm not sure how many minds it will change - will any creationists bother to read it? - but the science is so well laid out that I would hope some skeptics would give it a try. Very recommended.

*I have to admit that I've had some mixed feelings about Bill since he visited Monsanto and immediately after declared his love for GMOs. I know he is working on a revision o ...more

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Jul 01, 2018 Amanda rated it liked it

Shelves: pop-sci

I can't believe I'm giving this only 3 stars, because Bill Nye was a childhood hero of mine and I still think he's a great popular science educator and does a good job of that for the most part. It was also an enjoyable book--if I were just rating it based on how fun it was to listen to (I drive a lot for work and audiobooks are my jam) it would get at least four stars, though some of his jokes do go on too long. Unfortunately, I have a few quibbles with it as someone who is trained in biology ( I can't believe I'm giving this only 3 stars, because Bill Nye was a childhood hero of mine and I still think he's a great popular science educator and does a good job of that for the most part. It was also an enjoyable book--if I were just rating it based on how fun it was to listen to (I drive a lot for work and audiobooks are my jam) it would get at least four stars, though some of his jokes do go on too long. Unfortunately, I have a few quibbles with it as someone who is trained in biology (and specifically evolutionary biology/plant science) and has an interest in communication of scientific ideas for laypeople.

On the whole, I think the book does a good job of presenting evolutionary ideas in a digestible, approachable way for people without much science background. Friends of mine who read it before I did expressed great enjoyment of the book and wanted to talk further about some of the ideas with me. So it definitely succeeds in that sense! It doesn't go into as much detail as I would personally want, but if it is a gateway book to reading more complex popular science accounts of evolutionary theory (e.g. Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea) then it's doing its job.

Yet, I would hesitate to recommend it to anyone who is already somewhere on the anti-science side of things, because in multiple chapters Nye is less than careful in the way he presents information from rapidly advancing areas of scientific research. His phrasing and the kinds of qualifiers he gives would be suitable for debate among scientifically-educated folks, but are too likely to breed fear and mistrust of science in a social climate that already has too much of that. I'm thinking specifically of his chapters on genetic modification and human cloning research here. Supposedly the updated edition of the book fixes at least some of this in light of his own reconsideration of his opinions, but the audiobook was recorded prior to that, if I am not mistaken. As someone who is very involved in the fight to get the public to trust and love science, I would hope that Nye would be more careful about the way he presents topics like this, so as not to contribute to unfounded fear mongering. I may have to take a look at the new edition and see if it fixes things enough to be more worthy of recommendation. ...more

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Jan 20, 2016 Barb rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I learned a lot about evolution & life on Earth & elsewhere. I would've given this 5 stars but he got a little preachy. Haha. Seriously, he didn't need to spend so much time disproving creationism. If people believe something magical happened no amount of scientific fact is going to change their mind. ...more

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