lew@ihuxr.UUCP (01/21/84)
Over Christmas vacation I read THE NECK OF THE GIRAFFE by Francis Hitching. This is a critique of current evolutionary theory, purporting to show that this field has reached a stage where all bets are off. I found the book thought provoking, but not very well thought out in many areas, and downright misleading in others. I thought the strongest point was his criticism of the way Darwinism became a sort of mystical doctrine to many. His quotes of soaring language in praise of natural selection and so on make a legitimate point, I think. I thought his critique of the arguments in ORIGIN OF SPECIES itself had merit, also. This all occurs in the last chapter, DARWIN'S LEGACY. His attempts at debunking horse evolution left me frowning, though. He seems to argue that everything is now scattered to the four winds. I don't think he makes this case by any means. This leaves me the task of examining a conventional exposition. I have the feeling that it is the breezy presentations in popular works that are lacking, rather than extant scholarship. I also, have the feeling that there is an unfilled gap in the popular literature between them, which may be the real point here. I frowned even harder at his discussion of "alternatives". Here he shows no critical discernment at all, heaping praise on "the new biology", and earth axis flipping calculations alike. His comparison of the later with the flipping top phenomenon is especially inane. His discussion of alternatives left me with an appreciation for the essential conservatism of orthodox theory. There it sits, not immovable but certainly unflappable, always on firm if not rock solid ground. Any change to it is slow and deliberate, unless it can be utterly overthrown. I don't think this is imminent for neo-Darwinism. There is a brief chapter on creationism which is mild, even friendly, in tone, but still devastating in its assesment of this doctrine. So, I recommend this book as well worth reading for an exercise in limbering possibly ossified areas of ones intellect, but I don't think it can be counted as a serious critique of evolutionary theory today. A footnote: The title page contains the blurb: FRANCIS HITCHING is the author of EARTH MAGIC and THE MYSTERIOUS WORLD: AN ATLAS OF THE UNEXPLAINED. He is a member of the Royal Archeaeological Institute, The Prehistoric Society, and the Society for Physical Research. He lives near London. I'm guessing that that last Society should read "... for Psychical Research," rather than "... for Physical Research", just on the basis of that second book title. Does anyone know about this? Lew Mammel, Jr. ihnp4!ihuxr!lew