The Crisis In Evolutionary Theory

Can evolution explain all of life? In The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin acknowledged that there was a significant event in the history of life that his theory did not explain. In what is known today as the “Cambrian explosion,” 530 million years ago many animals suddenly appeared in the fossil record without apparent ancestors in earlier layers of rock.

In this essay, Stephen C. Meyer argues that modern evolutionary theory, like Darwin’s classical theory, likewise fails to explain the Cambrian explosion. Instead, Meyer contends that intelligent design is the best explanation for the origin of the Cambrian animals. Thus, the Cambrian explosion strongly indicates that a mind—not matter—is the best explanation for this major event in the history of life.

We count on scientists to tell us what they know and don’t know—not just what they want us to hear. But when it comes to the contentious issue of the evolution of life on Earth, spokesmen for official science are often less forthcoming than we might wish.

When writing in scientific journals, leading biologists candidly discuss the many scientific difficulties facing contemporary versions of Darwin’s theory. Yet when some scientists take up the public defense of Darwinism—in educational policy statements, textbooks, or public television documentaries—that candor often disappears behind a rhetorical curtain. “There’s a feeling in biology that scientists should keep their dirty laundry hidden,” says theoretical biologist Danny Hillis. He adds that “there’s a strong school of thought in biology that one should never question Darwin in public.”