Not-So-Intelligent Designer

Abby Hafer has a doctorate in zoology from Oxford University. She is a Senior Lecturer who teaches human anatomy and physiology at Curry College. She gives frequent public lectures on why evolution is scientifically valid and Intelligent Design/Creationism is not.

For an adequate account of the world, we must take a sober look at life as it really is. Hafer shows that things are a whole lot messier and makeshift than what some intelligent design theories would incline us to believe. This book has the potential not only to alter the political terrain in wars over evolution and creationism but also to prompt believers like me to rethink how we should talk about God as Creator.

• AcknowledgementsChapter 1 Introduction, or, Why Testicles Matter Chapter 2 Bad Design - Men's Testicles Chapter 3 What Is Intelligent Design, and What Does It Have to Do With Men's Testicles? Chapter 4 Testicles, Part II Chapter 5 Why Evolution Explains the Human Body Better than Intelligent Design Does Chapter 6 Intelligent Design According to Its Believers: Is Intelligent Design the Same as Creationism, and Is Intelligent Design Religion? Chapter 7 The Infamous Wedge Strategy Chapter 8 Why Denying Evolution Can Get You into Trouble and Cause Mass Hunger, Too Chapter 9 What Science Is Chapter 10 Why Accepting Science and Evolution Can Lead to Better Values for All Humankind Chapter 11 Bad Design - the Birth Canal Chapter 12 The Handy-Dandy Intelligent Design Refuter, Part 1 Chapter 13 Intelligent Design Requires a Leap of Faith Chapter 14 Animals That Shouldn't Exist According to Intelligent Design Chapter 15 Bad Design - the Human Throat Chapter 16 The Handy-Dandy Intelligent Design Refuter, Part 2 Chapter 17 Irreducible Complexity, the Design Inference, and Geological Formations Chapter 18 Irreducible Complexity and Blood Clotting Chapter 19 Bad Design - the Human Blood Clotting System: It Led to the Communist Russian Revolution Chapter 20 Irreducible Complexity, Flagella, and Cilia Chapter 21 Irreducible Complexity and the Human Eye Chapter 22 Bad Design - the Human Eye Chapter 23 Why Denying Science is Bad for You, and Bad for Your Neighbors, Too Chapter 24 Why Reward in Heaven Makes No Difference to Human Behavior, but Good Institutions Do Chapter 25 Bad Design - Our Biochemical Pathways: If Cats Don't Die of Scurvy, Then Why Do We? Chapter 26 Why Does Intelligent Design Act So Much Like the Tobacco Lobby? Chapter 27 Bad Design - Our Teeth, or, Why Is This Animal Smiling? Chapter 28 The Discovery Institute Hasn't Discovered Anything (Sort of Like the Tobacco Institute) Chapter 29 The Publishing Scandal that Rocked the Discovery Institute Chapter 30 Bad Design - Sharks Get More Reproductive Options, Too Chapter 31 Exploding the Cambrian Explosion Chapter 32 Why William Dembski's 'Information Theory' Isn't Very Informative Chapter 33 Bad Design - the Human Genome Chapter 34 Bad Design - the Human Appendix Chapter 35 Evolution: The Greatest Indisputably True Story Ever ToldAppendix 1 - The Phylogeny of Mammalian Testicles Appendix 2 - The American Association for the Advancement of Science's Statement on Intelligent Design Appendix 3 - The Life Cycle of the Immortal Jellyfish Appendix 4 - Credits and Notes for Illustrations and PhotographsIndex