Charles Darwin has been at the center of white-hot public debate for more than a century. In Living With Darwin,
Philip Kitcher stokes the flames swirling around Darwin's theory, sifting through the scientific evidence for evolution,
Creation Science, and Intelligent Design, and revealing why evolution has been the object of such vehement attack.
Kitcher first provides valuable perspective on the present controversy, describing the many puzzles that blocked
evolution's acceptance in the early years, and explaining how scientific research eventually found the answers
to these conundrums. Interestingly, Kitcher shows that many of these early questions have been resurrected in recent
years by proponents of Intelligent Design. In fact, Darwin himself considered the issue of intelligent design,
and amassed a mountain of evidence that effectively refuted the idea. Kitcher argues that the problem with Intelligent
Design isn't that it's "not science," as many critics say, but that it's "dead science," raising
questions long resolved by scientists. But Kitcher points out that it is also important to recognize the cost of
Darwin's success--the price of "life with Darwin." Darwinism has a profound effect on our understanding
of our place in the universe, on our religious beliefs and aspirations. It is in truth the focal point of a larger
clash between religious faith and modern science. Unless we can resolve this larger issue, the war over evolution
will go on.