Signature in the Cell
{{short description|2009 book by Stephen C. Meyer}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design
| image = Signature in the Cell.JPG
| caption = Cover of the first edition
| author = Stephen C. Meyer
| country = United States
| language = English
| subject = Intelligent design
| publisher = HarperOne
| pub_date = June 23, 2009
| media_type = Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
| pages = 624
| isbn = 0061472786
| preceded_by = Darwinism, Design and Public Education
| followed_by =
}}
Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design is a 2009 book about intelligent design by philosopher and intelligent design advocate Stephen C. Meyer. The book was well received by some within the conservative, intelligent design and evangelical communities, but several other reviewers were critical and wrote that Meyer's claims are incorrect.
Summary
According to Meyer, historical sciences seek to establish past causes of events using three criteria: (1) that a proposed cause was present, (2) that independent evidence establishes that the proposed cause can indeed produce that event, and (3) that there is an absence of evidence of other possible causes. In his view, the first form of life would have been a functioning, self-replicating, and protein-synthesizing system of DNA and proteins, and as such an information-rich system. Meyer believes that chemical evolution, chance, and chemical necessity have not been proven capable of producing information-rich systems, and that intelligent design is therefore the best explanation for the emergence of life on this planet. He argues that definitions of science that would preclude intelligent design from being a science also preclude many other fields, already established as science, from being science. Meyer believes the designing mind is the God described by the Christian religion. He acknowledges that this may affect the motivations behind his theory.{{cite book |last= Meyer |first= Stephen |title= Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design |publisher= HarperCollins |location= New York |year= 2009}}
Reception
The book has been well received by some within the conservative, intelligent design and evangelical communities.{{cite news |url= http://spectator.org/archives/2009/09/16/blown-away |title= Blown Away |first= Dan |last= Peterson |date=September 2009 |magazine= American Spectator}}{{cite news |url= http://www.spectrummagazine.org/reviews/book_reviews/2009/10/06/signature_cell |title= Signature in the Cell |first= Ken |last= Peterson |date= 6 October 2009 |magazine= Spectrum}}[https://web.archive.org/web/20100529165539/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article6931364.ece Times Review], The Times.{{cite web |last= Isaac |first= Randy |title= Signature in the Cell |url= http://www.asa3online.org/Book/category/sitc/ |work= ASA Book Discussion |publisher= American Scientific Affiliation (ASA) |accessdate= 1 May 2014}} It was not reviewed by scientific journals or popular science magazines.{{cite web |last= Hoppe |first= Richard B. |date= 24 April 2010 |title= Two analyses of Meyer's 'Signature in the Cell' |url= http://pandasthumb.org/archives/2010/04/two-analyses-of.html |work= The Panda's Thumb |accessdate= 1 May 2014}}
Philosopher Thomas Nagel submitted the book to the "2009 Books of the Year" supplement for The Times.{{cite news |url= http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article6931364.ece |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100529165539/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article6931364.ece |url-status= dead |archive-date= May 29, 2010 |title= 2009 Books of the Year |newspaper= The Times}}
Stephen Fletcher, chemist at Loughborough University, responded in The Times Literary Supplement that Nagel was "promot[ing] the book to the rest of us using statements that are factually incorrect."{{cite news |url= http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article6940536.ece |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110615093731/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article6940536.ece |url-status= dead |archive-date= June 15, 2011 |title= TLS Letters 02/12/09 |newspaper= The Times Literary Supplement |date= 2 December 2009 |first= Stephen |last= Fletcher |accessdate= 2010-03-28 |type= letter to the editor}} Fletcher explained that, "Natural selection is in fact a chemical process as well as a biological process, and it was operating for about half a billion years before the earliest cellular life forms appear in the fossil record." In another publication, Fletcher wrote that "I am afraid that reality has overtaken Meyer’s book and its flawed reasoning" in pointing out scientific problems with Meyer's work by citing how RNA "survived and evolved into our own human protein-making factory, and continues to make our fingers and toes."{{cite news |url= http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article7013742.ece |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110615072108/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article7013742.ece |url-status= dead |archive-date= June 15, 2011 |title= TLS Letters 03/02/10 |newspaper= The Times Literary Supplement |date= 3 February 2010 |first= Stephen |last= Fletcher |accessdate= 2010-03-28 |type= letter to the editor}}
Darrel Falk, co-president of the BioLogos Foundation and a biology professor at Point Loma Nazarene University, reviewed the book and used it as an example of why he does not support the intelligent design movement.{{cite web |url= http://biologos.org/blog/signature-in-the-cell/ |title= Science & the Sacred: Signature in the Cell |publisher= BioLogos Foundation |date= 28 December 2009 |first= Darrel |last= Falk |accessdate= 2009-12-28 |type= blog}} In 2010 the BioLogos Foundation published Meyer's response to Falk. The response criticizes Falk's characterization of Meyer's credentials as well as the lack of any evidence from Falk that the premise of his book is faulty.{{cite web |url= http://biologos.org/blog/response-to-darrel-falks-review-of-signature-in-the-cell/ |title= Response to Darrel Falk's Review of 'Signature in the Cell' |date= 28 January 2010 |publisher= BioLogos Foundation |type= blog}}
The American Scientific Affiliation, a Christian organization of scientists and others, published a detailed analysis of the book's assertions by their executive director, physicist Randall Isaac.
Steve Matheson, a developmental biologist at Calvin College (an institution of the Christian Reformed Church), wrote an analysis critical of the book.{{cite web |last= Matheson |first= Steve |title= Book Reviews |url= http://sfmatheson.blogspot.com/search/label/Book%20Reviews |work= Quintessence of Dust |accessdate= 1 May 2014}} In a post on The Panda's Thumb, Richard Hoppe concluded that the book failed to make a strong case for ID.
The Discovery Institute published a collection of responses to critics edited by David Klinghoffer.{{cite book |editor-first= David |editor-last= Klinghoffer |editor-link= David Klinghoffer |title= Signature of Controversy |publisher= Discovery Institute |year= 2011 |isbn= 9780979014185}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.signatureinthecell.com/ Signature in the Cell]
- [http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/2010/PSCF12-10Venema.pdf Seeking a Signature], a review of Signature in the Cell appearing in Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith
{{DEFAULTSORT:Signature In The Cell}}
Category:2009 non-fiction books
Category:American non-fiction books
Category:Books by Stephen C. Meyer
Category:English-language non-fiction books