Product Description

This thought-provoking book questions fundamentally some of the foundation stones of Darwinism, which have become almost scientific 'givens' in recent years. Using detailed biological arguments and his own intricate knowledge of anatomy gained through training and work as a doctor, Antony Latham challenges the suggestion that the flora and fauna of the world in which we live have come about through a series of astonishingly unlikely mutations. The author differentiates between micro-evolution, for which there is indisputable evidence, and macro-evolution. The former simply involves the reorganisation of existing DNA to bring about adaptations which are clearly to a creature's advantage. The latter claims to involve the introduction of completely new DNA in evolutionary change; it is this premise that he takes head on. In doing this he also looks in fascinating detail at the fossil record.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #89011 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 257 pages

Review
"In the Naked Emperor Dr Antony Latham showcases the powerful scientific argument that the universe and life were purposely designed. His deconstruction of Richard Dawkins' reasoning is made even more compelling by the fairness and moderation of his critique." Michael Behe, Professor of Biochemistry, Lehigh University, USA. Author of Darwin's Black Box."For the past hundred years Darwinian evolution has sustained the edifice of western secular thought with its promise of a naturalistic explanation for the infinite variety and diversity of life. But for how much longer? Antony Latham's lucid account of the current scientific challenges to Darwinian orthodoxy promises a revolution for biology and a profound reassessment of man's place in the cosmos." James le Fanu, Columnist, Daily Telegraph."I have met clever people who cunningly argue that black is white. They lead me through a bewilderment of causes and effects, all entirely logical, before triumphantly proclaiming that black must indeed be white. I am left gapingly wondering which sequence was faulty in moving the argument from A to B, or Z. So why, if I find the existence of a creator just one step harder than the non-existence of any such entity, am I bothering to review this book? The answer is that is well done. The research, is good. The quotes are widespread, and the writing acceptable. All manner of relevant arguments are packed within it. Very soon black does equal white, and Darwin is without clothing, as many have suspected all along." Anthony Smith, The Galton Institute."I would agree and expect that a widespread collapse of Darwinism is inevitable in the not-too-distant future. The Naked Emperor cradles a wealth of information supporting this prediction." Dr Wayne Frair, Journal of Creation.

James le Fanu, Columnist, Daily Telegraph
Antony Latham's lucid account of the current scientific challenges to Darwinian orthodoxy promises a revolution for biology....

Paul Johnson, The Spectator, August 27 2005
The indictment of Dawkins' scientific scholarship is powerful, masterly and (I would say) unanswerable.

Customer Reviews

Not quite perfect, but well worth a read
This is a remarkable book that I thoroughly recommend to anyone interested in the evolution/creationism debate.

On the face of it, there are at least three reasons one might give this book a miss. It is written by an 'amateur' to the evolution world (Dr Latham is a GP in the Outer Hebrides, of all places!); he is quite upfront about being a Christian and a creationist (though certainly no six-day fundamentalist); and the book is published by Janus, which seems only one step removed from a 'vanity press'. But perhaps the fact that Darwin himself was also an 'amateur', a largely self-taught naturalist, might encourage the reader to put aside these cover-judgements and open the book; if so, he or she will be well rewarded.

The striking accomplishment of this book is how very well informed Dr Latham is about his subject. He writes with considerable authority, quoting and analysing passages from mainstream textbooks on biology and palaeontology as well as original research from Nature, PNAS and other highly respected journals. He is on sufficiently personal terms with Simon Conway Morris that Professor Conway Morris reviewed and corrected his manuscript (Stephen Jay Gould cannot claim as much!). Amateur or not, this man clearly knows his stuff.

His writing style is clear, straightforward, and well-referenced, with a heavy emphasis on the scientific merits and flaws of the argument. He is at pains to emphasise key points, and also to highlight any passages that some readers might wish to gloss over as too 'technical'. While very readable, his style is a little dry, and he lacks the talent for metaphor and analogy that has made Richard Dawkins so popular - or perhaps he deliberately avoids it, as he does not hesitate to tear apart some of Dawkins' weaker analogies. His points are well referenced, with a useful bibliography at the back; however, an index was sorely missed.

The bulk of the book is a scientific critique of the claims of neo-Darwinism to fully explain the origins and diversity of life on earth. I am not enough of a palaeontologist to judge the merits of his argument, but he makes a strong case that the current concept of natural selection operating on phenotype variation caused by DNA mutation, while adequate to explain micro-evolution, is inadequate to explain macro-evolution, speciation and the fossil record as we see it. He also points out that even among the palaeontology establishment there are some doubts, with quotes from such respected mainstream names as Euan Clarkson, Michael Benton (not Denton!) and Henry Gee. I was somewhat disappointed by his fairly non-critical chapter on irreducible complexity; he makes no mention of exaptation as counter-argument to irreducible complexity, and puts great weight on the example of the bacterial flagellum without mentioning the Type Three Secretory System that may (or may not) have been its evolutionary precursor. But despite these worrying omissions, I was both educated and impressed by the evidence he presented; while I'm not convinced it adds up to proof of a creator, it certainly left me feeling Darwinism still has a lot of explaining to do.

The last two chapters of the book slightly spoilt it, I felt. A chapter on Darwin's life and influences, while informative, balanced and well-argued, had something of an 'ad hominem' flavour to it that detracted from the dispassionately scientific tone taken up to then. The final chapter, a detailed critique of Richard Dawkins' 'The Blind Watchmaker', was again well-argued and a powerful refutation of some of Dawkins' arguments; but with a shrill, almost propagandistic tone that was again at odds with the rest of the book.

Despite these minor criticisms, I found this an excellent book: eminently readable, and of great interest to a layman who is interested in evolution but lacks the time to sift through the scientific evidence first-hand. Fans of Richard Dawkins, Stephen Jay Gould, and Michael Behe alike would all be well advised to read this.

excellent read
This book makes an excellent read, it doesn't only open the readers mind to the amazing diversity of life on this planet but also goes on to ask the question, did we evolve or were we created. After reading this book, one is left with more questions than answers. A must read.

Must reading for all Darwinists
This new book by a respected medical doctor is an excellent review of some of the many major problems of neoDarwinism. Well written so that the contents are assessable to laymen, yet it covers enough new material to hold the interest of scientists. The book also covers a wide variety of topics in an interesting way. Since my field is molecular biology, I was happy to see a number of sections that covered this area, such as one on Hox genes. I became disillusioned with neoDarwinism largely as a result of my graduate studies in molecular and cell biology, and have often felt that no area posed more challenge to neoDarwinism than this field. For this reason, I was happy to see this area covered in this book. No traditional creationist, Latham quotes from many mainline scientists to make his point. My only complaint, aside from some very minor mistakes, is that the book should have gone into much more detail about the areas covered, and should have been better referenced. At 257 pages the author may have tried to hard to keep it short and to appeal to non scientists. It also should have had an index. Aside from these minor concerns, this book shows why the new generation of life scientists are becoming disillusioned with neoDarwinism. It also shows the stripes of the Darwin fundamentalists when confronting the growing number of Darwin skeptics. This will be a good reference book for my biology students.