Darwinian Myths

Book excerpt: Caudill, whose Darwin in the Press (Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc., 1989) covered similar ground, here adds little to the corpus of rich literature on Darwinian evolution; his discussions of the theory's misapplications have been covered thoroughly by other researchers. He focuses here on documentation from the popular press, which, he argues, has been overlooked. In doing so Caudill ignores much of the extensive research by contemporary scientists and historians of science. Caudill also often refers to articles without author attribution, using phrases such as "a German doctor" or "a Harvard professor." The reader must go to the notes to identify the author and to assess Caudill's comments and criticisms. In addition. the book lacks continuity and flow, reading like a series of essays strung together under a theme of "myths." Tighter editing would have improved continuity, addressed inconsistencies in using birth and death dates, and corrected the unforgivable misspelling of the name Wedgwood. Not recommended.?Joyce L. Ogburn, Old Dominion Univ., Norfolk, Va. Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.