The Miracle of Man: The Fine Tuning of Nature for Human Existence (Privileged Species Series)

William Paley once quipped that observation of the complexity of the human eye (which, it will be recalled, perplexed Darwin to the end of his days) supplied “a cure for atheism.” Extending Paley’s quip, I would add that if the eye doesn’t do it for you, the brain with its quadrillions of synchronized electro-chemical operations almost certainly will. There seems to be little exaggeration in claiming that cytology, the microscopic study of cells enabled by the ultra-high magnifications of the electron microscope, has led to a wholly unexpected revival of the fortunes of Paley’s once derided natural theology. Recent advances in biological science, a subject once triumphantly (but prematurely) proclaimed to be particularly corrosive of metaphysical beliefs , have somewhat unexpectedly become a stimulus to the emergence of new advances which endorse many of the older observations of natural theology. As astronomer Paul Davies remarked some four decades ago, “it may seem bizarre, but in my opinion science offers a surer path to God than religion.” Supporting this contention that science itself is leading the charge towards a fresh theistic turn, Michael Denton observes in his newly published The Miracle of Man that recent studies of the way that the terrestrial environment appears to be fine-tuned for humankind are “not based on the Judeo-Christian scriptures or classical philosophy but on evidence derived from advances in our scientific understanding of nature” (p. 208).Providing chapter and verse for his views in convincing detail, Denton elaborates on ways in which the properties of light, carbon, water and metals contribute to the fitness of nature for humankind, providing substantial circumstantial evidence that the world we in habit was “pre-adapted” for our use. Taking as example the earth’s hydrological cycle which provides our water, this reveals itself to be an autonomous phenomenon enabling and promoting human life which, unlike gasoline and other products, requires no human input to garner it for our use. It is, to use a proverbial phrase, simply ‘a gift from the gods.’ Comments Denton:If you were Plato’s demiurge starting from scratch, you would need to create water and configure it with precisely its present suite of thermal properties” (p. 134). Turning to human physiology, Denton points out how such organs as the heart and lungs appear to have been optimised with “extraordinary prescience” and he does not hesitate to call them and other human organs “miracles of bioengineering.” Such fitness for human purpose, he emphasizes, cannot be ascribed to Darwinian natural selection since human-friendly features must have been built into nature long before natural selection could have had time to act (p.149). Fully embracing Darwin’s proscribed ‘t’ word (teleology) Denton does not shrink from referencing the “teleological details” of nature’s shaping.Denton is particularly strong on what he terms “the post-Copernican delusion of mankind’s cosmic irrelevance” (p. 149). This is a fallacy which he traces back to Darwinism’s triggering a form of philosophical regression towards an unregenerate ancient materialism:“With the acceptance of Darwinism by the biological mainstream, western civilization took the final step back to the atomism, materialism and many-worlds doctrine of Democritus and other pre-Socratic philosophers of ancient Greece” (p. 21). The notion that we are simply an ‘epiphenomenon’ cast adrift in a cosmos configured by pure chance has now been challenged by a new scientific landscape, states Denton. As Michael Behe comments in his advance praise of Denton’s work, the philosopher Bertrand Russell’s old contention that “Man is the product of causes which had no prevision of the end they were achieving” has turned out to be “the most spectacularly wrong -headed pronouncement of the twentieth century” (p. ii). Read Denton to find out why!

Outstanding book that simply and brilliantly describes the multi faceted miracle that human beings are. Famous naturalists have thrilled and amazed us for decades with breathtaking photography about the animal kingdom but mankind by comparison is infinitely more amazing. A beautiful account of the infinite miracle that we are but that we take so much for granted. This book will make you think and marvel at how amazing you yourself really is

It explain the Fine tuning of nature for human existence very well

Even though the information contained in this book is not new and does not bring anything to the table, it’s a good read. The author summarize the environmental elements and their properties that make the earth fit for intelligent life existence.I personally agree with his arguments but strongly disagree that this has anything to do with the Judeo-Christian philosophy that he advocates.

This book list many of the coincidences required to make human life possible on Earth. Also delves into what it takes for intelligent life to be possible on other planets. it’s very in depth, I enjoyed it a great deal.Joe Jensen, Canada.