Evolution and Belief: Confessions of a Religious Paleontologist
Pre-Publication Review:"Evolution and Belief is a great read. There is a lot of serious science, there is sensible thinking about religion, and above all there is a humility before the big questions that comes from strength of intellect and purpose. I recommend it strongly."Michael Ruse, Florida State University, author of The Philosophy of Human Evolution (Cambridge, 2012) and Science and Spirituality: Making Room for Faith in the Age of Science (Cambridge, 2010)Pre-Publication Review:"Rob Asher writes as a scientist who is also religious, as a great many are. His brief in this book is to show other believers how science is done and how real religious faith should not see it as a threat. The main thing, though, is that this is a really good book on evolution, particularly the evolution of mammals, with many wonderful insights that will be new to readers."Kevin Padian, Museum of Paleontology, University of California, BerkeleyPre-Publication Review:"Written from a theistic perspective, Asher's account is a richly detailed and authoritative source book on the evolution of mammals. He carefully distinguishes between cause and agent, explaining that evolutionary theory treats the "how" but appropriately leaves the question of "why" to the philosophers and theologians."Owen Gingerich, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, author of God's UniversePre-Publication Review:"Robert Asher's Evolution and Belief offers a sure-footed, faith-friendly, and articulate presentation of the evidence for evolution as good as any in print. Asher, a respected paleontologist and religious believer, writes as an insider from both perspectives. He charts a most helpful course between his atheistic colleagues who wrongly suppose that evolution rules out a Creator, and his fellow believers attracted to the uninformed pseudo-science of the Intelligent Design movement. Along the way he provides an up-to-date primer of the current state of evolutionary theorizing sprinkled with tactful demolitions of the standard arguments against Darwin's Theory. I highly recommend Evolution and Belief as a balanced and most helpful contribution to this important conversation."Karl Giberson, author of The Anointed: Evangelical Truth in a Secular Age"This excellent book may not convince the creationists, nor in a different respect will it convince Dawkins. But the message is, surely, that an evolutionary biologist does not have to be a militant atheist. Asher is a good scientist and writer, and a religious man. I only wish I had space to discuss further dimensions of his book here. So, I recommend that you read it instead."Euan N.K. Clarkson, Times Higher Education"Asher does a fine job supporting evolution, particularly the Darwinian idea of natural selection... Recommended."L.T. Spencer for Choice Magazine"... the author's thorough command of fossil and genetic evidence is the most impressive strength of the book."John R. Schneider, Calvin College for The Quarterly Review of Biology