In 2003, NCSE's Alan Gishlick prepared the comprehensive response below to Jonathan Wells's creationist book Icons of Evolution, (hereafter, Icons). Icons is an example of the ID creationist strategy of focusing entirely on denigrating evolution without advancing a positive argument for creationism or any other ideas. The arguments made in Icons are reworkings of well-worn creationist attacks on evolution. The book remains popular among ID creationists, and is also available in video and DVD formats.

Intelligent design creationist Jonathan Wells has written the insidious "Ten questions to ask your biology teacher about evolution." These questions try to encourage students to doubt and distrust evolutionary theory.

Here are 10 brief answers to those questions. Please feel free to copy and distribute this document to teachers, students, parents, and others.

In the sections below, Wells's questions appear in italics.

Icons — should we keep them?

The role of primary and secondary education is to pass on a certain body of accepted knowledge and basic concepts to students in order to prepare them to learn more. The question is whether the criticisms leveled by the author of Icons would aid us in that goal; the resounding answer is no.

Anders, E. 1989. Pre-biotic organic matter from comets and asteroids. Nature 342:255-257.

Andersson, E. and N. G. Holm. 2000. The Stability of some selected amino acids under attempted redox constrained hydrothermal conditions. Origins of Life and the Evolution of the Biosphere 30: 9-23.

Arendt, D. and K. Nübler-Jung. 1999. Rearranging gastrulation in the name of yolk: evolution of gastrulation in yolk-rich amniote eggs. Mechanisms of Development 81:3-22.

The story of "Darwin's" finches

"Darwin's finches," along with Hawaiian honeycreepers and African cichlids, are frequently used as examples of adaptive radiation. In an adaptive radiation, a "founder" species enters a new environment with many unoccupied niches. This species expands (radiates) and evolves adaptations to fit these niches better. The process of becoming adapted to these different niches may lead to, and in these cases has led to, the formation of new species.