Rare Earth

At the heart of the attacks on Iowa State University astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez is the book The Privileged Planet, which he co-authored with Jay Richards. We now know that Gonzalez’s authorship of this book played a role in his denial of tenure. It also provoked more than 120 of Gonzalez’s faculty colleagues to sign a petition in 2005 denouncing intelligent design and urging all other faculty members to do the same. Ironically, the book has garnered praise from an impressive list of scientists, including some prominent supporters of biological evolution. Consider just a few of The Privileged Planet’s endorsements and ask yourself whether the ideas raised in this book presented any kind of valid reason for removing Gonzalez from his Read More ›