On a sour note, just as all the prior books whiffed on the unfortunate use of the externally religiously inspired term morality, instead of the internally generated term ethics, so does Coyne. Not once does he, as example, broach why intelligence may have developed vs. any perceived need for that by an Intelligent Designer, nor the subsequent derivation of an ethos from selective pressures (sexual or natural).
The book ends on a good note, pointing out that humans are the only species to have ever figured out their origins. Of course, that we still often deny it is what the book’s raison d’etre is, and my overview does leave out sections on plate tectonics, biogeography, and a few other major tropes. But, as with the others, Coyne is not their virgin champion.
But, none of the book’s blurbists ever mentioned these points. Here’s a sample of the predictable tropes:
Evolution is the foundation of modern biology, and in Why Evolution Is True, Jerry Coyne masterfully explains why. From the vast trove of evidence of evolution scientists have gathered, Coyne has carefully selected some of the most striking examples and explained them with equal parts grace and authority.
-Carl Zimmer, author of Microcosm: E. Coli And The New Science of Life
That his examples are, as shown, the same ones every evolutionist uses seems not to matter, for Coyne is ‘one of us.’
Its ignorant opponents like to say that the process of evolution by natural selection is "only a theory." (That's how they prove their ignorance.) Jerry Coyne shows with elegance and rigor that it is a hypothesis that meets and withstands all tests, and strengthens itself as a theory thereby. One could almost say that it had the distinct merit of being true.
-Christopher Hitchens, author of God Is Not Great
Not exactly a good blurb, as its solipsism makes one’s head spin. Even worse is this blurb:
I once wrote that anybody who didn't believe in evolution must be stupid, insane or ignorant, and I was then careful to add that ignorance is no crime. I should now update my statement. Anybody who doesn't believe in evolution is stupid, insane, or hasn't read Jerry Coyne. I defy any reasonable person to read this marvellous book and still take seriously the "breathtaking inanity" that is intelligent design "theory" or its country cousin, young earth creationism.
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