New Book Ties Engineering to Philosophy

Engineering and the Ultimate is the product of the Engineering and Metaphysics Conference held at Oral Roberts University in 2012. It seeks to open up new pathways for engineering to escape the intellectually stifling philosophy of pragmatism. They point out in the book that the classical and medieval engineers saw their work as pointing to a grander reality that they saw in nature. Their designs sought to reflect the beautiful design in nature. And they weren't ashamed to admit it. The book is of a definite Christian orientation (both Catholic and Protestant). Overall, it is friendly to Intelligent Design, however, one author, Alexander Sich, makes a scientific case against Intelligent Design [ID]. He instead argues that ID is a useful philosophy but should be treated as a scientific model. Many of his arguments have been refuted in the past. I refer the reader to Evolution News and Views for more information.

I only have one problem with the book. It has no bibliographic information for itself! In order to find it, I had to look through the bibliographic info of one of the author's papers. So, here it is in full: Bartlett, Jonathan, Dominic Halsmer, and Mark R. Hall. Engineering and the Ultimate: An Interdisciplinary Investigation of Order and Design in Nature and Craft. Broken Arrow, OK: Blyth Institute Press, 2014.

Other than that one minor issue, I personally found the book to be quite enlightening. Having little personal experience with engineering, I found it to be a good introduction to the interaction between engineering and philosophy. I highly recommend it, and I hope that the Blyth Institute Press continue to publish more solid scientific work!

Berlinski Gives It to the Atheists!

When the New Atheists start their polemic rants against Creationism, Intelligent Design, or just religion in general, Christian philosophers and scholars rise to the occasion to defend. But the Atheists rarely (if ever) listen. They just don't have time for the petty Christian scholars. Dr. Berlinski is a different matter.

Dr. Berlinski is not a Christian, nor is he necessarily religious. He is a self-proclaimed secular Jew. In the book he references the days gone by of "sunny agnosticism." As an agnostic, you would think that he would side with the New Atheists against religion. WRONG!

Berlinski delivers an amazing defense of religious philosophy and God Himself. In some ways, he presents a more cogent and persuasive proof of God than most Christians. His book was a great pleasure to read.

It has been said that Darwin's Origin of Species was written as "one long argument." I cannot personally comment on this, for I have not read it (yet). Berlinski's book is one long (enjoyable) argument! He has fun dishing it out to the Atheists. He is very respectful of religious thought.

I definitely recommend this book.

David Berlinski: www.davidberlinski.org

Great New Resource from ICR

I've been following creation science for about a decade now. I subscribe to Acts & Facts, ICR's monthly newsletter. I also keep up with new creationist literature coming out. Here's the latest from ICR:








Having a book completely devoted to a creationist perspective on microbiology is like having a breath of fresh air. For years, the creation science movement has published apologetics, general science, and biblical commentary books. Now, a new rush of semi technical science literature is being published.

This book is amazing. The graphics are stupendous, and the photos truly do show God's unique design in His creation. The primary author is Dr. Jeffrey Tomkins, but two main contributors are Dr. Nathaniel Jeanson and Dr. Brad Forlow. Their work is phenomenal. The information covered is somewhat technical, such as the terminology, but the authors do their best to explain everything. They take you step-by-step through the cell, showing the intricate structure and the incredible complexity found within the DNA molecule. Very interesting articles are interspersed throughout the book, covering areas as diverse as the "Complexity of the Brain" to "Human Reproduction." Most importantly of all though, are the overt biblical overtones contained in the book. The authors make no qualms about putting forth the biblical framework or adhering to a literal interpretation of the Genesis account. This, they insist, is what separates The Design and Complexity of the Cell apart from similar books found within the Intelligent Design community. An amazing book -- well worth the money spent. You can purchase it at http://www.icr.org