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Education Reporter

Dismantling Evolution, Ralph O. Muncaster, 2003, 224 pps., $11.99 (soft cover)

"Everything that exists can be explained by what we can now see or otherwise observe." So claim proponents of Darwinian evolution, and that is what school children have been taught for decades as scientific fact.

In his new book, Ralph Muncaster dismantles evolutionary dogma from the perspective of a former believer in evolution. Fortified by years of assurances and alleged proof presented by science teachers, Muncaster was unmoved when challenged by an acquaintance who included hard-science findings in his defense of intelligent design. But Muncaster's engineering background, which had taught him that "things aren't always the way they appear," inspired him to embark on a search for the truth.

Throughout his book, Muncaster compares the evidence for evolution to building a bridge. He cautions that every component of a bridge, from the beams to the bolts must be strong, or the structure will fall. "In the case of evolution," he writes, "the entire sequence of evidence must be strong, or the theory will fall apart. One broken element in the evolutionary span is all it takes for the theory to be false."

Dismantling Evolution does exactly that, by first exposing myths such as homology - the notion that common body structures imply a common ancestor - and evolutionary trees, which are based on homology. Muncaster also describes the latest scientific discoveries about the incredible complexity of cells, from DNA to proteins, and the virtually impossible odds that a single cell could have evolved into 1.7 million different species regardless of the time span. He conveys this information, along with a wealth of historical material, in easy-to-understand layman's terms, making his case for intelligent design not only compelling but fun.

The author also makes the point that Darwin has been "wrongly criticized" because "he predicted problems in his theory that are still problems today." In other words, Dismantling Evolution states what believers in intelligent design already know: that the theory of evolution has been raised to the level of a religion despite Darwin's own warnings. Now, Muncaster writes, "hard-science evidence is only adding to these difficulties."

Harvest House Publishers, 990 Owen Loop North, Eugene, OR 97402, telephone 541-343-0123, web site www.harvesthousepubl.com
