The Naked Emperor: Darwinism Exposed [Paperback]

Having recently read James Le Fanu's "Why us?" I was fascinated to find in this book a more extensive and detailed critique of some of the concerns surrounding evolution. It was reassuring to find both authors using similar sources and objectively evaluating the concerns about the "evidence" for evolution. The fossil record, the genetic code, the important difference between micro- and macroevolution were all unemotionally considered. Once the evidence for both sides has been presented Andrew Latham then dedicates a chapter to a detailed critique of Richard Dawkins' "The Blind Watchmaker", exposing some of the illogical arguments Dawkins employs and achieving a thoughtful judgement without using the extravagant (abusive?) language which is a hallmark of Dawkins' writing.
For anyone hoping for a new revelation about evolution this will be a disappointing book because the author finishes with a short chapter appealing to reason and in which he reiterates his opinion that there is much we don't know about evolution, there is much which is mysterious about our origins and it is more honest to admit the limits of our knowledge than to peddle a theory which has so many flaws in it.
For someone like me, who has had a niggling feeling for many years that he was being duped by the tide of rhetoric claiming that the only truth was evolution, this was a seminal book to read. I put it down feeling better informed and relieved to have been given balanced facts without recourse to inflammatory rhetoric.
Altogether a brilliant read.

This is a remarkable book that I thoroughly recommend to anyone interested in the evolution/creationism debate.

On the face of it, there are at least three reasons one might give this book a miss. It is written by an 'amateur' to the evolution world (Dr Latham is a GP in the Outer Hebrides, of all places!); he is quite upfront about being a Christian and a creationist (though certainly no six-day fundamentalist); and the book is published by Janus, which seems only one step removed from a 'vanity press'. But perhaps the fact that Darwin himself was also an 'amateur', a largely self-taught naturalist, might encourage the reader to put aside these cover-judgements and open the book; if so, he or she will be well rewarded.

The striking accomplishment of this book is how very well informed Dr Latham is about his subject. He writes with considerable authority, quoting and analysing passages from mainstream textbooks on biology and palaeontology as well as original research from Nature, PNAS and other highly respected journals. He is on sufficiently personal terms with Simon Conway Morris that Professor Conway Morris reviewed and corrected his manuscript (Stephen Jay Gould cannot claim as much!). Amateur or not, this man clearly knows his stuff.

His writing style is clear, straightforward, and well-referenced, with a heavy emphasis on the scientific merits and flaws of the argument. He is at pains to emphasise key points, and also to highlight any passages that some readers might wish to gloss over as too 'technical'. While very readable, his style is a little dry, and he lacks the talent for metaphor and analogy that has made Richard Dawkins so popular - or perhaps he deliberately avoids it, as he does not hesitate to tear apart some of Dawkins' weaker analogies. His points are well referenced, with a useful bibliography at the back; however, an index was sorely missed.

The bulk of the book is a scientific critique of the claims of neo-Darwinism to fully explain the origins and diversity of life on earth. I am not enough of a palaeontologist to judge the merits of his argument, but he makes a strong case that the current concept of natural selection operating on phenotype variation caused by DNA mutation, while adequate to explain micro-evolution, is inadequate to explain macro-evolution, speciation and the fossil record as we see it. He also points out that even among the palaeontology establishment there are some doubts, with quotes from such respected mainstream names as Euan Clarkson, Michael Benton (not Denton!) and Henry Gee. I was somewhat disappointed by his fairly non-critical chapter on irreducible complexity; he makes no mention of exaptation as counter-argument to irreducible complexity, and puts great weight on the example of the bacterial flagellum without mentioning the Type Three Secretory System that may (or may not) have been its evolutionary precursor. But despite these worrying omissions, I was both educated and impressed by the evidence he presented; while I'm not convinced it adds up to proof of a creator, it certainly left me feeling Darwinism still has a lot of explaining to do.

The last two chapters of the book slightly spoilt it, I felt. A chapter on Darwin's life and influences, while informative, balanced and well-argued, had something of an 'ad hominem' flavour to it that detracted from the dispassionately scientific tone taken up to then. The final chapter, a detailed critique of Richard Dawkins' 'The Blind Watchmaker', was again well-argued and a powerful refutation of some of Dawkins' arguments; but with a shrill, almost propagandistic tone that was again at odds with the rest of the book.

Despite these minor criticisms, I found this an excellent book: eminently readable, and of great interest to a layman who is interested in evolution but lacks the time to sift through the scientific evidence first-hand. Fans of Richard Dawkins, Stephen Jay Gould, and Michael Behe alike would all be well advised to read this.

This book is a scientific appraisal of the evidence for evolution and natural selection and is very informative about the science involved and also the non-science still propounded by many so called scientist who do not accept that their theories can be challenged. This book offers a very balanced view of all the arguments about evolutionary theory is totally scientifically based and is a great help to understanding the issues involved.