Stranger Fruit

Update on the Flannery (& Dembski) Wallace Book

Posted by John Lynch on January 7, 2009
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Just a quick update on the book I mentioned last night. It appears that it will be published by Dembski’s vanity press (for which Flannery is in charge of publicity and marketing). The work is not an edited series of papers, but a re-issue of Wallace’s World of Life (available for free here) with an introduction by Flannery and foreword by Dembski.

So nothing interesting here, I’m afraid, beyond perhaps some breathless claims that "OMG! Wallace would have been one of us!!!!" or “Teach the controversy over Wallaceism!!!!” This one will die a natural death. Move on.

From Charles Smith’s Wallace bibliography (links go to scanned versions):

S732. The World of Life; A Manifestation of Creative Power, Directive Mind and Ultimate Purpose. Chapman & Hall, Ltd., London, Dec. 1910; pp. (i)-xvi, 1-408; 110 illus. [reprints: 2nd ed. (1911); 3rd ed. (July 1911); 4th ed. (1911); 5th ed. (1911) / New and Cheaper Edition (Oct. 1914) / G. Bell & Sons, Ltd., London (1911)] / Moffat, Yard & Co., New York, Jan. 1911; pp. (i)-xvi, 1-441; 110 illus. [reprint: 1916 (with portrait front.)]

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Comments

  1. #1 RBH
    January 7, 2009

    “Teach the controversy over Wallaceism!!!!”

    Old news. A former student of John Freshwater, the Ohio teacher fired for burning a cross on students’ arms, testified just this afternoon that in 2001 Freshwater used a worksheet in 8th grade science that contrasted “three theories” — “Darwinism/natural selection, Wallaceism, and creationism.” By “Wallaceism” the teacher meant the proposition that everything about humans could have evolved except for our big brains, and used a pic of an australopithecene to illustrate.

  2. #2 James F
    January 7, 2009

    Wow. From claiming support from legitimate papers in evolutionary biology to tacking on a revisionist introduction to an old text, ID proponents are truly parasitic.

  3. #3 DLC
    January 8, 2009

    Hm. So, Flannery and Dembski will no doubt add this to their list of published works, and demand to be taken seriously by the mainstream of the scientific community.

    Excuse me while I laugh.