Book Reviews / Comptes rendus 547

Christianity will be fruitfully provoked by their encounter with Illich through Hartch’s
work and contemporary readers of Illich now have a tremendous resource to turn to in
trying to understand those events that precipitated his career as a social critic. Finally,
those entirely unfamiliar with Illich and his contribution will find this book to be an
accessible, informative introduction.

Graham Baker
McMaster University

Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation

Bill Nye, Edited By Corey S. Powell
New York: N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, 2014. 309 pp.

Bill Nye ‘‘the science guy’’ has extended, in book form, his arguments from last year’s
debate against young earth creationist (YEC) Ken Ham. In the second chapter he sum-
marizes this debate (9-18). It is worth noting that the popularity of last year’s debate,
which received several million hits on YouTube, exemplifies the confusion that still sur-
rounds the relationship between evolution and religion. The polarity of these two posi-
tions represented by Nye and Ham is an inaccurate depiction of the real debates
occurring in academic circles. Indeed there is a wide range of positions beyond these two
conflicting ones (reductive materialism and YEC) including various models of theistic
evolution (where God is understood as using the evolutionary process to bring about bio-
logical organisms) including both non-teleological and teleological.
The strength of Nye’s book lies in countering several anti-evolutionist arguments. For
instance he demonstrates, contrary to YECs arguments, that there is no contradiction
between the Second Law of Thermodynamics and the ever-increasing complexity of liv-
ing systems (22). Nye rightly points out that the Second Law is applicable only to closed
systems but not the Earth since it entails an open one. The irony with this is that the sec-
ond law of thermodynamics provides a scientific argument for the finitude of the past
alongside the expansion of the universe as demonstrated by the standard big bang model.
If anything the second law of thermodynamics when used in such a way, unlike YEC
reasoning, coheres with modern scientific knowledge and is also consonant with theistic
belief.
Nye presses questions of logistics concerning Noah’s Ark in the supposed cataclys-
mic flood believed by YECs. He asks how eight unskilled people could cater to
14,000 animals. Nye amusingly inquires how it is possible to get from 7 thousand species
to the roughly 16 million we have inhabiting the earth today (13). This would amount to
eleven new species arising daily.
Nye also addresses the notion of the uselessness of half a wing and similar type argu-
ments. In a nutshell he points to exaptation (without using the precise term), which con-
notes that a particular trait may evolve by serving a specific function at one point but then
afterwards comes to serve another. So in this vein Nye explains that in reality there is no
half of anything, for example in the case of Tiktaalik fish with transitional components in

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548 Studies in Religion / Sciences Religieuses 44(4)

between fins and legs, it possessed ‘‘something that enabled it to crawl onto land, to
escape predators, perhaps, or to get a better look at potential prey’’ (163).
Nye discusses important concepts closely related to evolution including punctuated
equilibrium, bottlenecking, Red Queen hypothesis, mass extinctions, altruism, sexual
selection and the Tree of Life. Unfortunately, in a chapter devoted to a discussion revol-
ving around micro and macroevolution, he misstates the real issue: ‘‘The processes of
microevolution and macroevolution are fundamentally the same, only the scale is differ-
ent’’ (185). One of the fundamental problems in discerning how evolution happened is
asking whether extrapolating the mechanisms involved in micro-evolutionary change are
warranted to also explain macro-evolutionary changes. A number of biologists doubt that
the mechanisms of natural selection acting on random mutations can actually explain all
of the complexity and diversity of life on Earth. Scientists who are working on the
Extended Synthesis (ES) seek to add a number of other mechanisms to explain these
macro-evolutionary changes. This suggests that the processes are not fundamentally the
same as Nye claims. To be clear, this is not an issue about evolution happening (the truth
of common descent) but the details as to how.
Nye genuinely underestimates the severe problem associated with materialistic sce-
narios to the origin of life. He assumes a reductive materialist explanation when he
states: ‘‘The origin of life just requires some raw material that could allow the spark
of life to emerge’’ (285). Nye is not confronting the problem of the origin of information
which seems to be what is necessary for this ‘‘spark’’ of life he refers to. The issue is a
seemingly unresolvable problem for reductive materialism since functional information
as required for a replicating system transcends beyond the material medium in which it is
embedded. Atheist philosopher Thomas Nagel has recently recognized this in his book
Mind & Cosmos. Nye downplays the real issue at stake and meanders in mostly irrele-
vant discussions revolving around viruses that miss the mark.
Nye reveals much of his materialistic beliefs when he states: ‘‘As I learned more
about evolution, I realized that from nature’s point of view, you and I ain’t such a big
deal’’ (3). First, nature doesn’t have a ‘‘point of view.’’ Second, such pronouncements
are metaphysical and not scientific; they are not necessary conclusions from evolution-
ary theory.
Nye expresses concerns with the influence evolution deniers can have on their chil-
dren and the future progress of scientific advancement in the USA (4-5). From a history
and philosophy of science perspective I find this argument interesting. As a matter of
heuristics, assuming design (creationism) in certain instances can be more fruitful than
not. For example, the junk DNA hypothesis by Francis Crick in 1980 assumed a trial and
error process (through natural selection and random mutation) but led biologists down
blind alleys. Steven Fuller, a sociologist and philosopher of science, has made the point
that scientists that see the universe and biological systems as the result of purposeful
design are more likely to resolve difficulties in science. This has been demonstrated his-
torically regardless of whether there truly exists a designer or not.
Despite some of my misgivings, Nye is articulate in explaining the evidence for evo-
lution through natural selection to the uninitiated. He also succeeds in explaining the
multiple failures of YEC. However, if one is looking for a substantive discussion into
nuanced arguments revolving around evolutionary biology, the origin of life, philosophy

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Book Reviews / Comptes rendus 549

of science and the science-theology dialogue, one won’t find it in Nye’s book. That is
surely undeniable.

Scott Ventureyra
PhD Theology (candidate)
Dominican University College

Penser la laı̈cité québécoise. Fondements et défense d’une laı̈cité ouverte pour

le Québec
Sébastien Lévesque (dir.)
Québec : Presses de l’Université Laval, 2014. 198 p.

Les visées de cet excellent ouvrage sont nettes et explicites : exposer, établir et déployer
les perspectives de ce que l’on appelle au Québec la « laı̈cité ouverte », comme projet
adapté aux réalités québécoises et affranchi des relents de la laı̈cité « à la française ».
Les quinze auteurs participants s’entendent visiblement sur le fond des choses et, selon
des angles différents, entreprennent de justifier et de défendre cette position commune,
en l’opposant souvent à d’autres points de vue qui se sont exprimés à l’occasion du débat
sur la « Charte des valeurs », en particulier à celui des tenants d’une laı̈cité d’inspiration
dite « républicaine ». L’ouvrage est dès lors un ouvrage engagé, qui promeut une position
elle-même bien campée. Georges Leroux identifie d’ailleurs les camps dès la préface :
« nous distinguons en effet la proposition de ceux pour qui la conception de l’État est
assujettie à une forme absolue et préexistante de la laı̈cité, et ceux pour qui la laı̈cité
demeure une position à penser dans le présent » (xi). À l’encontre de ceux dont la pensée
serait figée et « en dehors du présent », on entend donc s’employer ici à « penser ». Con-
trairement à une « fermeture porteuse d’exclusion », on la fera ici dans l’« ouverture » –
car il y a « un devoir d’ouverture » (xiii).
Trois parties composent l’ouvrage. La première partie traite des fondements théori-
ques de la laı̈cité. En fait, c’est là que les six auteurs participants définissent les concepts
et les perspectives sur lesquelles s’établit la thèse centrale de l’ouvrage.
Jocelyn Maclure s’emploie d’abord à fixer quelques balises conceptuelles et « norma-
tives » (10) permettant de situer les « aspirations de la laı̈cité » (10) ; il distingue « les
finalités morales de la laı̈cité de ses modes opératoires » (11), la fin ayant primauté sur
les moyens, selon une hiérarchie qui permet de mieux comprendre pourquoi les États
peuvent être considérés comme laı̈ques, « même si les principes institutionnels de
séparation et de neutralité ne sont pas réalisés parfaitement en pratique » (14). Sur ce
fond de scène, différents idéaltypes de la laı̈cité sont esquissés – la laı̈cité « républicaine »
(16), la laı̈cité « libérale-pluraliste » (17), la laı̈cité « conservatrice » (18). On com-
prend que c’est la laı̈cité « libérale-pluraliste » qui est promue par l’auteur (19) et dans
l’ensemble de l’ouvrage.
Daniel Weinstock entend montrer les liens de comparaison et d’interdépendance qui
lient laı̈cité et multiculturalisme. On comprend que le perfectionnisme peut être source
de conflits entre laı̈cité et multiculturalisme (24), alors que la conception libérale du

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