Behe’s Edge of Evolution Continues to Attract Attention

Science writer Denyse O’Leary is the latest to weigh in on The Edge of Evolution over at her popular blog, Post-Darwinist. She actually has three insightful posts related to Behe, and of course Behe’s constributions to the overall debate over Darwinism.
She sums up The Edge of Evolution this way:

Behe calculates that, based on the available evidence of observed Darwinian mutations, events less likely than ten to the twentieth power are generally beyond the edge of (Darwinian) evolution (145).
There is the main argument in a nutshell, minus the supporting material. Many people, of course, will feel the need to argue for or against the thesis of The Edge of Evolution without bothering to read it. Despite the fact that it is very clearly written – a masterpiece of simple explanation, accessible to anyone who can read National Geographic or Scientific American.

She also takes on some of the Darwinian reviews of the book (and one wonders if these are the same people she noted above who would feel the need to attack it without having read it):

When a book that challenges a consensus comes out, it is prudent to read the book before reading the reviews. Chances are, the reviews are written by prominent defenders of the status quo and – critically – you stand little chance of getting a clear sense of either the book’s content or the thrust of its argument. Sometimes, careers depend on obfuscating the issues. The response to Edge of Evolution provides an excellent demonstration of this effect.

Here are links to each of the three parts of her review:

Behe himself has been responding to reviews at his Amazon blog and to date has answered reviews by Jerry Coyne, Sean Carroll, Michael Ruse, and Kenneth Miller. Look for Behe to continue to respond to his critics with force, wit, and vigor in the coming weeks.