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The design revolution

Answering the toughest questions about intelligent design

No chance

THE DESIGN REVOLUTION
Answering the toughest questions about intelligent design
By William A. Dembski
IVP. 334 pages. £12.99
ISBN 1 8447 4014 5

At first glance, you could be forgiven for thinking that this book merely goes over old ground about whether design in the universe points to the existence of God. This would be a mistake. Much of the material does covers well-trodden areas, but The Design Revolution goes much further.

What Dembski refers to as Intelligent Design is unique in that it attempts to build rigorous scientific criteria for identifying objects that cannot have been produced by random chance interacting with the laws of nature. Such objects can only come about therefore as a result of design.

These criteria are set out in detail in chapter 10 and this chapter is the most powerful. The five conditions for identifying design meet all of the standard objections to evidence of design with a mathematical rigour. The argument would have been strengthened by the inclusion of a practical example of the method being put to use in chapter 11. Sadly this does not happen, probably because Dembski does it in an earlier book.

This volume has the bold aim of removing the barriers that prevent this research becoming part of mainstream science. For example, it tackles head-on the criticism that such research is purely a religious enterprise and of limited academic value. There are even several chapters devoted to a consideration of how further research might develop. As a result the book deliberately avoids being overtly Christian. At times this is frustrating, but it does allow the focus on the question 'can we detect design in nature?' rather than being derailed into other areas of debate. The Design Revolution claims to answer the toughest questions about design. A weakness of the book is that it covers almost every conceivable question, regardless of whether it is tough or not. Some of these questions seem ridiculous (was anyone ever convinced that the existence of God required someone to create him?) but get methodical answers just the same.

This is not easy reading but is probably the most complete treatment of the design argument I have ever read. Well worth a look for the scientifically minded.

Dr. Tom Benton,
statistician, Guildford