Nature's Destiny: How the Laws of Biology Reveal Purpose in the Universe

by Michael Denton

Overview

From Simon & Schuster, Nature's Destiny is Michael Denton's exploration of how the laws of biology reveal purpose in the universe.

Michael Denton's Nature's Destiny: How the Laws of Biology Reveal Purpose in the Universe argues that the universe was configured to give rise to an intelligent species of life forms, namely human beings.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780743237628
Publisher:	Free Press
Publication date:	02/01/2002
Edition description:	Original
Pages:	480
Sales rank:	229,145
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Michael Denton is a Senior Fellow at the Discover Institute’s Center for Science and Culture. He earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry from King’s College and is the author of multiple books, including Evolution: A Theory in Crisis.

Editorial Reviews

New England biologist Denton continues the assault on Darwinian science, especially the theories of evolution and natural selection, that he began in Evolution: A Theory in Crisis. Here, Denton takes a page out of the work of 19th-century natural theologians like William Paley and 19th-century anti-Darwinian scientists like Robert Chambers to contend that, far from being random and without direction, the laws of nature operate by design. Moreover, says Denton, the design of the laws of the universe inevitably lead to one conclusion: "The entire process of biological evolution from the origin of life to the emergence of man was somehow directed from the beginning." Denton marshals a dizzying array of scientific evidence to bolster his conclusions. First, he examines the evidence from physics and chemistry for the inevitability that the development of a universe like ours would have the evolution of life as its goal. He discusses gravity, the nuclear energy levels of certain atoms, water, light, carbon, uranium and more as elements whose existence is perfectly orchestrated to usher human life onto the universe's stage. Denton then discusses evolutionary biology, arguing that the biocentric nature of the universe undermines the Darwinian principles of contingent natural selection. Denton's arguments are weakened by their circular nature (he assumes design in nature and proceeds to make pieces fit his argument whether they do so easily or not), but his prose is engaging and his insights are accessible to readers who lack a deep scientific background. In the growing debate over Darwin's theories, Denton's voice remains one of the most notable and compelling. (July)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Biolgist and medical researcher Denton argues that the laws of nature and the conditions on this planet exist for the inevitable origin of carbon-based life on Earth as well as the necessary emergence of the intelligent human animal (both events are assumed to be unique in this universe). In great detail, he examines the prerequisites and constituents required for the living cell: water, carbon, metals, oxygen, DNA, proteins, and solar radiation. Furthermore, Denton claims that a long chain of pervasive coincidences is supremely fit for the existence of life and our own species as the determined end of this evolving cosmos. Grounded in both teleology and biocentricity, his directed evolution is a combination of the anthropic principle and natural theology. Glaringly absent, however, is any serious consideration of the ramifications of evil, mutations, mass extinctions, contingency, and exobiology. Most scientists will reject Denton's commitment to purpose evolution as ill conceived and unconvincing. Recommeded only for larger science collections with a penchant for such novel works.--H. James Birx, Canisius Coll., Buffalo, NY

Library Journal

The author of Evolution: A Theory in Crisis (not reviewed) again confronts the notion that the presence of humankind is a random event in a random universe, asserting that "the cosmos is uniquely fit for the specific type of life that exists on Earth." Denton, a New Zealandþbased researcher in genetics and eye disease, begins with the discoveries of 20th-century physics and cosmology that support what the first modern scientists, such as Kepler and Newton, desperately longed for: evidence of design in nature. Without it, there could be no assurance of humankind's unique place in the universe. One such discovery has to do with the delicate balance between the relatively weak force of gravity and the strong nuclear force. If gravity were stronger the universe would be smaller, since it would have expanded less quickly. The mass of stars would also be smaller and their life spans much shorterþlife, therefore, would not have time enough to develop. On the other hand, if gravity were weaker, stars would not form at all. Denton cites a number of eminent physicists to support his views, but what he really wants is to take the argument to biology, which as a field still holds the Darwinian view that "life and man are fundamentally contingent phenomena." Denton is no creationist but argues that carbon-based life could never have formed without Earth's precise biology: No other liquid but water has the available permeability, thermal properties, and viscosity; the sun could not be further away or closer; and the distribution of various elements neatly corresponds to an environment most amenable to life in this or presumably any other corner of the universe. Denton israther pedantic, driving the same point home again and again. And yet he makes a thorough and fascinating case, one that will no doubt anger those holding to the orthodoxies laid down by Darwin. (50 b&w illustrations, 15 b&w photos, not seen)

Kirkus Reviews