Bill Nye has experienced an unexpected revival as he has risen from the ashes of "Bill Nye the Science Guy" to continue universal science education for all ages. Compelled to write after his infamous debate with creationist Ken Ham, Bill Nye gave America “Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation,” a three hundred page rebuttal against the notion of an intelligent designer. As might be expected, it doesn’t disappoint.
For those who felt science was too far above their reasoning capacity, look no further. Bill Nye writes in whimsical and aphoristic style which easily relates complicated information into layman’s terms. From punctured equilibrium to artificial selection, bacteria to viruses, and analogy to homology, the science guy genuinely wants the reader to comprehend the fact of evolution. Beginning with Darwin, evolution has changed humankind’s perspective of the world; it is an idea so great, the majority of the American public still deny it. Although Bill Nye relies heavily on the evidence of fossils, including a lengthy discussion on the Burgess Shale Formation and the Cambrian Explosion that distracts from the more convincing evidence of DNA relationships, he presents evidence which is difficult to logically refute. There is even a diagram of the bone structure of a human, bird, and bat: could it be any clearer?
Not only does he draw diagrams, but Bill Nye also offers evidence of evolution happening now! In the London Underground, there is a new species of mosquito developing known as Culex molestus, a species which only attacks humans. Although some of the mosquitoes can still mate with the mosquitoes living outside the Underground, it is becoming a rare occurrence. In a few decades, Culex molestus will be its own species, and it can already be said they are a genetic bottleneck with little variation. These terms may look and sound daunting, but the book is so excellently written that the terms above are all mentioned and explained thoroughly in chapters ten pages or less. The wealth of information is endless, and the reader is encouraged to continue their own research on subjects which are of important interest in biology today. Is contingency or convergence more important in the diversity of life? Are wings and webbed feet the answer, or is it volcanoes and asteroids? Though these concepts are introduced in an elementary style, Bill Nye offers encouragement to continue immersing oneself in the world of science exploration. Indeed, we are in control of our education.
Perhaps the greatest solace to be found throughout the book is that science does not hold all the answers people seek. Fossils are abundant and DNA continues to be investigated and compared, helping to continuously draw connections between the connectedness of all forms of life. However, there are billions of fossils we will never find and the reasons for the five great extinctions continue to find definitive answers; but this is the beauty of science. It doesn’t claim to know all the answers. Rather, science is a continuous search for truths regarding the natural world. This book does not provide concrete answers people look for. However, it is better than the meretricious alternative of a book written thousands of years ago by individuals who knew nothing compared to what is available now. Creationism is blind hope in a world with few answers. Science admits its ignorance with millions of research papers while religion claims complete knowledge with a few hundred pages of fairy-tales. The spell must be broken.
Science is not above and beyond the average person’s mind. Instead, a person must free the mind of misconceptions regarding the natural world. Religion is a primitive mindset consisting of categorical imperatives. The more we teach people to question all aspects of the surrounding world, the more free our minds will become. Fortunately, science promoters are gaining more momentum than ever before; but it is not enough. Why our celebrities are Bieber, Swift, Newton, Manning, and others instead of Nye, Tyson, Kaku, and Dawkins is why America is experiencing no progress. We are stuck in primitive thought, metaphysically and physically. With the attempt to spread knowledge through accessible language, we can begin to start anew.
