4 2 7S c i e n t i f i c R e v o l u t i o n sMOLECULAR MACHINES: EXPERIMENTAL SUPPORT
FOR THE DESIGN INFERENCE^3
by Michael J. BeheDarwinism’s Prosperity
Within a short time after Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species the
explanatory power of the theory of evolution was recognized by the great
majority of biologists. The hypothesis readily resolved the problems of ho-
mologous resemblance, rudimentary organs, species abundance, extinction,
and biogeography. The rival theory of the time, which posited creation of
species by a supernatural being, appeared to most reasonable minds to be
much less plausible, since it would have a putative Creator attending to de-
tails that seemed to be beneath His dignity.
As time went on the theory of evolution obliterated the rival theory of
creation, and virtually all working scientists studied the biological world
from a Darwinian perspective. Most educated people now lived in a world
where the wonder and diversity of the biological kingdom were produced
by the simple, elegant principle of natural selection.
However, in science a successful theory is not necessarily a correct theory.
In the course of history there have also been other theories which achieved
the triumph that Darwinism achieved, which brought many experimental
and observational facts into a coherent framework, and which appealed to
people’s intuitions about how the world should work. Those theories also
promised to explain much of the universe with a few simple principles. But,
by and large, those other theories are now dead.
A good example of this is the replacement of Newton’s mechanical view
of the universe by Einstein’s relativistic universe. Although Newton’s modelStep 1: Fill your fishbowl with the water. I don’t want to give anything
away, but soon it’s going to be a bowl for another kind of animal.
Step 2: Drop the hamster (you can call it “Skip”) into the fishbowl.
Step 3: Cover the fishbowl with Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species.
Step 4: Seems like a pretty desperate situation Skip has gotten himself
into. This would be an ideal time for evolution to kick in.
Step 5: Follow the scientific method—observe! Is the hamster “evolving”
gills? Has he “evolved” a jackhammer to drill through the
fishbowl, or “adapted to his environment” with a tiny hamster
flamethrower to burn through Origin of Species? Don’t think so.
Step 6: Let the hamster go. Just because Darwin was a sick twist with a
God complex doesn’t mean we have to buy into his power trip.
(You could also call the hamster “Teddy.”)^2Source: Molecular Machines: Experimental Support for the Design Inference by Michael J. Behe
from COSMIC PURSUIT, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1998, pp. 27–35. Reprinted by permission of the author.97364_ch20_ptg01_423-448.indd 427 15/11/13 7:27 3M
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