The Michael and Cathryn Borden Memorial Book of the Day.*

Darwinian Fairytales: Selfish Genes, Errors of Heredity and Other Fables of Evolution by David Stove



Philosopher David Stove concludes in his hilarious and razor-sharp inquiry that Darwin's theory of evolution is "a ridiculous slander on human beings.” But wait! Stove is no "creationist" nor a proponent of so-called "intelligent design." He is a theological skeptic who admits Darwin's great genius and acknowledges that the theory of natural selection is the most successful biological theory in history. But Stove also thinks that it is also one of the most overblown and gives a penetrating inventory of what he regards as the “unbelievable claims” of Darwinism. Darwinian Fairytales is a must-read book for people who want to really understand the issues behind the most hotly debated scientific controversy of our time.


"Whatever your opinion of ‘Intelligent Design,’ you’ll find Stove’s criticism of what he calls ‘Darwinism’ difficult to stop reading. Stove’s blistering attack on Richard Dawkins’ ‘selfish genes’ and ‘memes’ is unparalleled and unrelenting. A discussion of spiders who mimic bird droppings is alone worth the price of the book. Darwinian Fairytales should be read and pondered by anyone interested in sociobiology, the origin of altruism, and the awesome process of evolution.”
–Martin Gardner, author of Did Adam and Eve Have Navels?: Debunking Pseudoscience


David Stove was born in 1927 taught philosophy at the University of New South Wales and the University of Sydney. He was an expert on the philosophy of David Hume and a widely published polemical journalist. He is the author of The Plato Cult and Other Philosophical Follies, Scientific Irrationalism: Origins of a Postmodern Cult, and other books. He completed Darwinian Fairytales shortly before his death.

Click here to read the Introduction (PDF format).

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