Having released the word that iconoclastic biologist Jonathan Wells has passed away, we are receiving many emails expressing appreciation of him as a man, a thinker, a scientific investigator, a writer, a mentor, and a friend.
- “His books are on my shelf here in New Zealand. I’m sure he would tell us to keep fighting against zombie science and to keep knocking down those evolutionary icons.”
- “He will be greatly missed. I’m sure he would want us to soldier on and grow even stronger.”
- “He was a kind, insightful, and joyful man.”
- “He was always careful in his scholarship and gracious towards critics. He was definitely someone to emulate!”
- “He was so inspirational to me.”
- “In my mind, this is losing one of the giants of intelligent design. His contributions were foundational.”
- “Greatly missed! If memory serves, the first thing I ever read from an ID proponent was a piece by Jonathan Wells.”
- “Sad, sad news!! A gentle genius.”
- “He was a brilliant and gentle genius whose writings bespoke his strong desire to cut through to the truth.”
- “We’ve lost a luminary.”
- “A giant has passed from our midst.”
If you never experienced Dr. Wells personally, you can do so now. Watch this brief interview, released for the launch of Zombie Science: More Icons of Evolution. Jonathan comments on an interest in puzzles (very appropriate, since his career was devoted to working out the puzzles of life’s design), his stance against the Vietnam War that led him to imprisonment in the Presidio stockade, and more. Note his comments on George Orwell’s 1984, more apt now even than in 2017 when the interview was filmed.