Earth’s Endless Variety—How Did It Get Here?

OF THE more than 1.5 million species of animals that scientists have named so far, about one million are insects. It would take 6,000 encyclopedia pages to list all the known insects! How did these creatures originate? Why such endless variety? Is this the result of blind chance, of nature getting “lucky” millions of times? Or is it by design?

First, let us briefly note some of the other varieties of living things that are on our planet.

Amazing Birds

What about the over 9,000 different species of marvelously designed birds? Some hummingbirds are as tiny as large bees, yet they fly with more dexterity and grace than the most advanced helicopter. Other birds migrate thousands of miles every year, such as the arctic tern, which flies as much as 22,000 miles [35,000 km] on each round trip. It has no computer, no navigational instruments, yet it unerringly arrives at its destination. Does this innate ability exist by chance or by design?

Fascinating Variety of Plants

In addition, there is the tremendous variety and beauty of plant life—more than 350,000 species of plants. Approximately 250,000 of these produce flowers! The largest living things on earth—the giant sequoia trees—are plants.

How many different flowers grow in your garden or in your area? The beauty, the symmetry, and often the fragrance of these flowers—from the tiniest desert flower, daisy, or buttercup to orchids with their intricate variety—make one marvel. Again, we ask: How did they come to exist? By chance or by design?

Oceans Teeming With Life

And what of the life forms found in the rivers, lakes, and oceans of the world? Scientists say that there are about 8,400 known species of freshwater fish and about 13,300 of ocean-dwelling fish. The smallest of these is the goby found in the Indian Ocean. It is only about four tenths of an inch [1 cm] long. The largest is the whale shark, which can measure up to 60 feet [18 m] in length. These figures for species do not take into account the invertebrates (lacking a backbone) or species still to be discovered!

The Incredible Brain

Above all, the human brain—containing at least ten billion neurons, each possibly having over 1,000 synapses, or points of contact with other nerve cells—is incredible. Neurologist Dr. Richard Restak says: “The total number of connections within the vast network of the brain’s neuronal system is truly astronomical.” (The Brain) He adds: “There may be from ten trillion to one hundred trillion synapses in the brain.” Then he asks a pertinent question: “How could an organ such as the brain, which contains between ten billion and one hundred billion cells, ever develop from a single cell, the egg?” Is the brain the result of impersonal quirks and flukes of nature? Or is there intelligent design behind it all?

Yes, how did the seemingly endless diversity of life and design come about? Have you been taught that this was simply a matter of chance, of trial and error, of the hit and miss of a blind evolutionary lottery? Then continue reading to see the questions that some scientists, in all honesty, are asking about the theory of evolution, which has been called the foundation of all biological science.

Is Evolution’s Foundation Missing?

WHAT is the essence of Darwin’s theory of evolution? “In its full-throated, biological sense, . . . evolution means a process whereby life arose from nonliving matter and subsequently developed entirely by natural means.” Darwinian evolution postulates that “virtually all of life, or at least all of its most interesting features, resulted from natural selection working on random variation.”—Darwin’s Black Box—The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution,a by Michael Behe, associate professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Irreducible Complexity—Evolution’s Stumbling Block?

When Darwin developed his theory, scientists had little or no knowledge of the amazing complexity of the living cell. Modern biochemistry, the study of life at the molecular level, has revealed some of that intricacy. It has also raised serious questions and doubts about Darwin’s theory.

The components of cells are made up of molecules. Cells are the building blocks of all living creatures. Professor Behe is Roman Catholic and believes in evolution to explain the later development of animals. However, he raises serious doubts about whether evolution can explain the existence of the cell. He speaks of molecular machines that “haul cargo from one place in the cell to another along ‘highways’ made of other molecules . . . Cells swim using machines, copy themselves with machinery, ingest food with machinery. In short, highly sophisticated molecular machines control every cellular process. Thus the details of life are finely calibrated, and the machinery of life enormously complex.”

Now, all of this activity is taking place on what scale? A typical cell is only one thousandth of an inch [0.03 mm] across! In that infinitesimal space, complex functions vital to life are occurring. (See diagram, pages 8-9.) Little wonder that it has been said: “The bottom line is that the cell—the very basis of life—is staggeringly complex.”

Behe argues that the cell can function only as a complete entity. Thus, it cannot be viable while being formed by slow, gradual changes induced by evolution. He uses the example of a mousetrap. This simple apparatus can function only when all its components are assembled. Each component on its own—platform, spring, holding bar, trap hammer, catch—is not a mousetrap and cannot function as such. All the parts are needed simultaneously and have to be assembled for there to be a working trap. Likewise, a cell can function as such only when all its components are assembled. He uses this illustration to explain what he terms “irreducible complexity.”b

This presents a major problem for the alleged process of evolution, which involves the appearance of gradually acquired, useful characteristics. Darwin knew that his theory of gradual evolution by natural selection faced a big challenge when he said: “If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down.”—Origin of Species.

The irreducibly complex cell is a major stumbling block to belief in Darwin’s theory. In the first place, evolution cannot explain the leap from inanimate to animate matter. Then comes the problem of the first complex cell, which must arise in one fell swoop as an integrated unit. In other words, the cell (or, the mousetrap) must appear out of nowhere, assembled and functioning!

The Irreducible Complexity of Blood Clotting

Another example of irreducible complexity is a process most of us take for granted when we cut ourselves—blood clotting. Normally, any liquid will immediately leak out of a punctured container and will do so until the container is empty. Yet, when we puncture or cut our skin, the leak is quickly sealed by the formation of a clot. However, as doctors know, “blood clotting is a very complex, intricately woven system consisting of a score of interdependent protein parts.” These activate what is called a clotting cascade. This delicate healing process “depends critically on the timing and speed at which the different reactions occur.” Otherwise, a person could have all of his blood clotting and solidifying, or on the other hand, he could bleed to death. Timing and speed are the vital keys.

Biochemical investigation has shown that blood clotting involves many factors, none of which can be missing for the process to succeed. Behe asks: “Once clotting has begun, what stops it from continuing until all the blood . . . has solidified?” He explains that “the formation, limitation, strengthening, and removal of a blood clot” make up an integrated biological system. If any part fails, then the system fails.

Russell Doolittle, evolutionist and professor of biochemistry at the University of California, asks: “How in the world did this complex and delicately balanced process evolve? . . . The paradox was, if each protein depended on activation by another, how could the system ever have arisen? Of what use would any part of the scheme be without the whole ensemble?” Using evolutionary arguments, Doolittle tries to explain the origin of the process. However, Professor Behe points out that there would be an “enormous amount of luck needed to get the right gene pieces in the right places.” He shows that Doolittle’s explanation and casual language conceal tremendous difficulties.

Thus, one of the major objections to the evolutionary model is the insurmountable hurdle of irreducible complexity. Behe states: “I emphasize that natural selection, the engine of Darwinian evolution, only works if there is something to select—something that is useful right now, not in the future.”

“An Eerie and Complete Silence”

Professor Behe states that some scientists have studied “mathematical models for evolution or new mathematical methods for comparing and interpreting sequence data.” However, he concludes: “The mathematics assumes that real-world evolution is a gradual, random process; it does not (and cannot) demonstrate it.” (Last phrase italics ours.) He earlier said: “If you search the scientific literature on evolution, and if you focus your search on the question of how molecular machines—the basis of life—developed, you find an eerie and complete silence. The complexity of life’s foundation has paralyzed science’s attempt to account for it; molecular machines raise an as-yet-impenetrable barrier to Darwinism’s universal reach.”

This raises a series of questions for conscientious scientists to consider: “How did the photosynthetic reaction center develop? How did intramolecular transport start? How did cholesterol biosynthesis begin? How did retinal become involved in vision? How did phosphoprotein signaling pathways develop?”c Behe adds: “The very fact that none of these problems is even addressed, let alone solved, is a very strong indication that Darwinism is an inadequate framework for understanding the origin of complex biochemical systems.”

If Darwin’s theory cannot explain the complex molecular foundation of cells, then how can it be a satisfactory explanation for the existence of the millions of species that inhabit this earth? After all, evolution cannot even produce new family kinds by bridging the gaps from one family kind to another.—Genesis 1:11, 21, 24.

The Problems of the Beginning of Life

No matter how plausible Darwin’s theory of evolution may appear to be in the eyes of some scientists, they must ultimately face the question, Even if we assume that forms of living things evolved by natural selection, how did life get its start? In other words, the problem lies, not in survival of the fittest, but in arrival of the fittest and the first! However, as Darwin’s remarks on the evolution of the eye indicate, he was not concerned with the problem of how life began. He wrote: “How a nerve comes to be sensitive to light hardly concerns us more than how life itself originated.”

French science writer Philippe Chambon wrote: “Darwin himself wondered how nature selected emerging forms before they were perfectly functional. The list of evolutionary mysteries is endless. And today’s biologists have to humbly admit, with Prof. Jean Génermont of the University of South Paris in Orsay, that ‘the synthetic theory of evolution cannot readily explain the origin of complex organs.’”

In the light of the tremendous odds against such endless variety and complexity of life forms, do you find it difficult to believe that it all evolved in the right direction just by chance? Do you wonder how any creatures could have survived in the battle of the survival of the fittest while they were still evolving eyes? Or while they were supposedly forming primitive fingers on a subhuman body? Do you wonder how cells survived if they existed in an incomplete and inadequate state?

Robert Naeye, a writer for Astronomy magazine and an evolutionist, wrote that life on earth is the result of “a long sequence of improbable events [that] transpired in just the right way to bring forth our existence, as if we had won a million-dollar lottery a million times in a row.” That line of reasoning can probably be applied to every single creature that exists today. The odds are stacked against it. Yet, we are expected to believe that by chance evolution also produced a male and a female at the same time in order for the new species to be perpetuated. To compound the odds, we also have to believe that the male and the female not only evolved at the same time but also in the same place! No meeting, no procreation!

Certainly, it stretches credulity to the limit to believe that life exists in its millions of perfected forms as a result of millions of gambles that paid off.

Why Do the Majority Believe?

Why is evolution so popular and accepted by so many as the only explanation for life on earth? One reason is that it is the orthodox view taught in schools and universities, and woe betide you if you dare to express any doubts. Behe states: “Many students learn from their textbooks how to view the world through an evolutionary lens. However, they do not learn how Darwinian evolution might have produced any of the remarkably intricate biochemical systems that those texts describe.” He adds: “To understand both the success of Darwinism as orthodoxy and its failure as science at the molecular level, we have to examine the textbooks that are used to teach aspiring scientists.”

“If a poll were taken of all the scientists in the world, the great majority would say they believed Darwinism to be true. But scientists, like everybody else, base most of their opinions on the word of other people. . . . Also, and unfortunately, too often criticisms have been dismissed by the scientific community for fear of giving ammunition to creationists. It is ironic that in the name of protecting science, trenchant scientific criticism of natural selection has been brushed aside.”d

What viable and reliable alternative is there to Darwin’s theory of evolution? Our final article in this series will address that question.

[Footnotes]

[Blurb on page 6]

“If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down.”

[Blurbs on page 10]

Inside the cell, there is “a world of supreme technology and bewildering complexity.”—Evolution: A Theory in Crisis

The instructions within the DNA of the cell, “if written out, would fill a thousand 600-page books.”—National Geographic

[Blurb on page 11]

“The mathematics assumes that real-world evolution is a gradual, random process; it does not (and cannot) demonstrate it.”

[Blurb on page 12]

“It is ironic that in the name of protecting science, trenchant scientific criticism of natural selection has been brushed aside.”

[Box on page 8]

The Molecule and the Cell

Biochemistry—“the study of the very basis of life: the molecules that make up cells and tissues, that catalyze the chemical reactions of digestion, photosynthesis, immunity, and more.”—Darwin’s Black Box.

Molecule—“the smallest particle into which an element or a compound can be divided without changing its chemical and physical properties; a group of like or different atoms held together by chemical forces.”—The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.

Cell—the fundamental unit of all living organisms. “Every cell is a highly organized structure that is responsible for the form and function of an organism.” How many cells form an adult human? One hundred trillion (100,000,000,000,000)! We have about 1,000,000 cells in every square inch [155,000 per sq cm] of skin, and the human brain has from 10 billion to 100 billion neurons. “The cell is the key to biology because it is at this level that a collection of water, salts, macromolecules, and membranes truly springs to life.”—Biology.

[Box on page 9]

The “Unparalleled Complexity” of the Cell

“To grasp the reality of life as it has been revealed by molecular biology, we must magnify a cell a thousand million times until it is twenty kilometres in diameter and resembles a giant airship large enough to cover a great city like London or New York. What we would then see would be an object of unparalleled complexity and adaptive design. On the surface of the cell we would see millions of openings, like the port holes of a vast space ship, opening and closing to allow a continual stream of materials to flow in and out. If we were to enter one of these openings we would find ourselves in a world of supreme technology and bewildering complexity. We would see endless highly organized corridors and conduits branching in every direction away from the perimeter of the cell, some leading to the central memory bank in the nucleus and others to assembly plants and processing units. The nucleus itself would be a vast spherical chamber more than a kilometre in diameter, resembling a geodesic dome inside of which we would see, all neatly stacked together in ordered arrays, the miles of coiled chains of the DNA molecules. A huge range of products and raw materials would shuttle along all the manifold conduits in a highly ordered fashion to and from all the various assembly plants in the outer regions of the cell.

“We would wonder at the level of control implicit in the movement of so many objects down so many seemingly endless conduits, all in perfect unison. We would see all around us, in every direction we looked, all sorts of robot-like machines. We would notice that the simplest of the functional components of the cell, the protein molecules, were astonishingly, complex pieces of molecular machinery, each one consisting of about three thousand atoms arranged in highly organized 3-D spatial conformation. We would wonder even more as we watched the strangely purposeful activities of these weird molecular machines, particularly when we realized that, despite all our accumulated knowledge of physics and chemistry, the task of designing one such molecular machine—that is one single functional protein molecule—would be completely beyond our capacity at present and will probably not be achieved until at least the beginning of the next century. Yet the life of the cell depends on the integrated activities of thousands, certainly tens, and probably hundreds of thousands of different protein molecules.”—Evolution: A Theory in Crisis.

[Box on page 10]

Facts and Legends

“To a person who does not feel obliged to restrict his search to unintelligent causes, the straightforward conclusion is that many biochemical systems were designed. They were designed not by the laws of nature, not by chance and necessity; rather, they were planned. . . . Life on earth at its most fundamental level, in its most critical components, is the product of intelligent activity.”—Darwin’s Black Box.

“There can be no doubt that after a century of intensive effort biologists have failed to validate [the Darwinian theory of evolution] in any significant sense. The fact remains that nature has not been reduced to the continuum that the Darwinian model demands, nor has the credibility of chance as the creative agency of life been secured.”—Evolution: A Theory in Crisis.

“The influence of evolutionary theory on fields far removed from biology is one of the most spectacular examples in history of how a highly speculative idea for which there is no really hard scientific evidence can come to fashion the thinking of a whole society and dominate the outlook of an age.”—Evolution: A Theory in Crisis.

“Any science of the past . . . that excludes the possibility of design or creation a priori ceases to be a search for the truth, and becomes the servant (or slave) of a problematical philosophical doctrine, namely, naturalism.”—Origins Research.

“It is a legend . . . that Charles Darwin solved the problem of the origin of biological complexity. It is a legend that we have a good or even fair grasp on the origin of life, or that proper explanations refer only to so-called natural causes. To be sure, these and other legends of philosophical naturalism have a certain stature. One does not speak too harshly of them in polite company. But neither should one accept them uncritically.”—Origins Research.

“In private many scientists admit that science has no explanation for the beginning of life. . . . Darwin never imagined the exquisitely profound complexity that exists even at the most basic levels of life.”—Darwin’s Black Box.

“Molecular evolution is not based on scientific authority. . . . There are assertions that such evolution occurred, but absolutely none are supported by pertinent experiments or calculations. Since no one knows molecular evolution by direct experience, and since there is no authority on which to base claims of knowledge, it can truly be said that . . . the assertion of Darwinian molecular evolution is merely bluster.”—Darwin’s Black Box.

[Box on page 12]

Evolution—“A Game of Chance”

The theory of evolution is certainly a gambler’s dream. Why? Because according to the evolutionist, it wins even with astronomical odds against it.

Robert Naeye writes: “Because evolution is primarily a game of chance, any seemingly minor past event could have gone slightly different, cutting off our evolutionary line before humans evolved.” But no, we are supposed to believe that every gamble paid off, millions of times. Naeye admits: “The long series of bottlenecks makes it clear that the emergence of intelligent life is far more difficult than scientists once thought. There are probably more obstacles that scientists haven’t even stumbled across yet.”

God—Gambler or Creator?

“THERE is no doubt that many scientists are opposed temperamentally to any form of metaphysical, let alone mystical arguments. They are scornful of the notion that there might exist a God, or even an impersonal creative principle . . . Personally I do not share their scorn.” Thus states Paul Davies, professor of mathematical physics at the University of Adelaide, South Australia, in his book The Mind of God.

Davies also says: “A careful study suggests that the laws of the universe are remarkably felicitous for the emergence of richness and variety. In the case of living organisms, their existence seems to depend on a number of fortuitous coincidences that some scientists and philosophers have hailed as nothing short of astonishing.”

He further states: “The scientific quest is a journey into the unknown. . . . But through it all runs the familiar thread of rationality and order. We shall see that this cosmic order is underpinned by definite mathematical laws that interweave each other to form a subtle and harmonious unity. The laws are possessed of an elegant simplicity.”

Davies concludes by saying: “Just why Homo sapiens should carry the spark of rationality that provides the key to the universe, is a deep enigma. . . . I cannot believe that our existence in this universe is a mere quirk of fate, an accident of history, an incidental blip in the great cosmic drama. Our involvement is too intimate. . . . We are truly meant to be here.” However, Davies does not come to the conclusion that there is a Designer, a God. But what conclusion do you reach? Was mankind meant to be here? If so, who meant for us to be here?

Keys to the “Enigma”

In the Bible the apostle Paul offers a clue to understanding what Davies calls “a deep enigma.” Paul shows how God has revealed himself: “Because what may be known about God is manifest among them [“men who are suppressing the truth”], for God made it manifest to them. For his invisible qualities are clearly seen from the world’s creation onward, because they are perceived by the things made, even his eternal power and Godship, so that they are inexcusable.” (Romans 1:18-20)a Yes, the endless variety of life forms, their incredible complexity, their exquisite design, should lead a humble, reverent person to recognize that there is a supreme power, intelligence, or mind vastly superior to anything that man has ever known.—Psalm 8:3, 4.

Paul’s further words regarding those who reject God give one pause for thought: “Although asserting they were wise, they became foolish . . . , even those who exchanged the truth of God for the lie and venerated and rendered sacred service to the creation rather than the One who created, who is blessed forever. Amen.” (Romans 1:22, 25) Those who venerate “nature” and reject God are certainly not wise from Jehovah’s viewpoint. Bogged down in the morass of conflicting evolutionary theories, they fail to recognize the Creator and the intricacy and design of his creation.

“Monstrous Series of Accidents”

Paul also wrote: “Without faith it is impossible to please him [God] well, for he that approaches God must believe that he is and that he becomes the rewarder of those earnestly seeking him.” (Hebrews 11:6) Faith based on accurate knowledge, not credulity, can lead us to an understanding of why we exist. (Colossians 1:9, 10) Surely, credulity is involved when some scientists would have us believe that life exists because it is “as if we had won a million-dollar lottery a million times in a row.”

British scientist Fred Hoyle theorized that nuclear reactions that led to the formation of two elements essential to life, carbon and oxygen, produced a balanced relative amount of these elements only because of a fortunate accident.

He gives another example: “If the combined masses of the proton and electron were suddenly to become a little more rather than a little less than the mass of the neutron, the effect would be devastating. . . . Throughout the Universe all the hydrogen atoms would immediately break down to form neutrons and neutrinos. Robbed of its nuclear fuel, the Sun would fade and collapse.” The same would be true of the billions of other stars in the universe.

Hoyle concluded: “The list of . . . apparent accidents of a non-biological nature without which carbon-based and hence human life could not exist, is large and impressive.” He says: “Such properties [essential to life] seem to run through the fabric of the natural world like a thread of happy accidents. But there are so many of these odd coincidences essential to life that some explanation seems required to account for them.”—Italics ours.

He also stated: “The problem is to decide whether these apparently coincidental tunings are really accidental or not, and therefore whether or not life is accidental. No scientist likes to ask such a question, but it has to be asked for all that. Could it be that the tunings are intelligently deliberate?”

Paul Davies writes: “Hoyle was so impressed by this ‘monstrous series of accidents,’ he was prompted to comment that it was as if ‘the laws of nuclear physics have been deliberately designed with regard to the consequences they produce inside the stars.’” Who or what is responsible for this “monstrous series of [fortunate] accidents”? Who or what produced this speck of a planet, teeming with an almost endless variety of millions of exquisitely formed plants and creatures?

The Bible’s Answer

The psalmist wrote reverently some three thousand years ago: “How many your works are, O Jehovah! All of them in wisdom you have made. The earth is full of your productions. As for this sea so great and wide, there there are moving things without number, living creatures, small as well as great.”—Psalm 104:24, 25.

The apostle John said: “You are worthy, Jehovah, even our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, because you created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created.” (Revelation 4:11) Life is not the result of blind chance, of some cosmic lottery that happened to churn out winners for millions of life forms.

The simple truth is that God “created all things, and because of [his] will they existed and were created.” Jesus Christ himself said to the Pharisees: “Did you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female?” Jesus knew the Creator! As Jehovah’s Master Worker, he had been alongside Him during creation.—Matthew 19:4; Proverbs 8:22-31.

However, it requires faith and humility to perceive and accept this basic truth about the Creator. This faith is not blind credulity. It is based on tangible, visible evidence. Yes, “[God’s] invisible qualities are clearly seen from the world’s creation onward.”—Romans 1:20.

With our present limited scientific knowledge, we cannot explain how God created. Therefore, we should acknowledge that at present we cannot know or understand everything about the origin of life. We are reminded of this when we read Jehovah’s words: “The thoughts of you people are not my thoughts, nor are my ways your ways . . . For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”—Isaiah 55:8, 9.

The choice is yours: either credulous belief in blind and fortuitous evolution, the numberless gambles that supposedly paid off, or faith in the Purposer-Creator-Designer, Jehovah God. The inspired prophet rightly said: “Jehovah, the Creator of the extremities of the earth, is a God to time indefinite. He does not tire out or grow weary. There is no searching out of his understanding.”—Isaiah 40:28.

So, what will you believe? Your decision will make a big difference in your future life prospects. If evolution were true, then death would mean total oblivion, in spite of the specious arguments of labyrinthine Catholic theology, which attempts to introduce the “soul” into evolution.b Man has no immortal soul to soften the inevitable blow of mortality.—Genesis 2:7; Ezekiel 18:4, 20.

If we accept that the Bible is true and that the living God is the Creator, then there is the promise of the resurrection to eternal life, perfect life, on an earth restored to its original state of balance and harmony. (John 5:28, 29) Where will you put your faith? In the unbelievable gamble of Darwin’s evolution theory? Or in the Creator, who has acted with purpose and continues to do so?c

[Footnotes]

[Blurb on page 14]

Some evolutionists, in effect, say that our existence on earth is “as if we had won a million-dollar lottery a million times in a row.”

[Box/Picture on page 15]

Endless Variety and Design

Insects “Scientists discover from 7,000 to 10,000 new species of insects every year,” states The World Book Encyclopedia. Yet, “there may be from 1 million to 10 million species still undiscovered.” The French newspaper Le Monde, as quoted in the Guardian Weekly, in an article by Catherine Vincent, speaks of the species that have been documented as a “pathetically small number compared with the actual number . . . put at anything between 5 and, incredibly, 50 million.”

Think of the world of amazing insects—bees, ants, wasps, butterflies, cockroaches, ladybugs, fireflies, termites, moths, houseflies, dragonflies, mosquitoes, silverfish, grasshoppers, lice, crickets, fleas—just to begin with! The list seems endless.

Birds What can we say about a bird that weighs less than an ounce [14 g]? “Picture it migrating more than 10,000 miles [16,000 km] a year from Alaska’s tree line to the rain forests of South America and back, skimming wooded peaks, skirting urban skyscrapers, and crossing vast stretches of open water in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.” Which incredible bird is this? “The blackpoll warbler [Dendroica striata], a dynamo whose traveling prowess is virtually unrivaled among North America’s land birds.” (Book of North American Birds) Again we ask: Is this the result of myriads of quirks of nature that just happened to come out right? Or is it a wonder of intelligent design?

Add to these examples the birds that have a seemingly endless repertoire of songs: the nightingale, known throughout Europe and parts of Africa and Asia for its delightful calls; the northern mockingbird of North America, a bird that is “a skillful mimic and incorporates memorized phrases as part of its song”; the superb lyrebird of Australia, with its “highly developed song, with elements of astonishingly clever mimicry.”—Birds of the World.

In addition, the perfection of the colors and the wing and feather design of so many birds leaves one gasping in amazement. Add to this their skills at weaving and making nests, whether on the ground, in cliff faces, or in trees. Such innate intelligence has to impress the humble mind. How did they come to exist? By chance or by design?

The Human Brain “There may be from ten trillion to one hundred trillion synapses in the brain, and each one operates as a tiny calculator that tallies signals arriving as electrical impulses.” (The Brain) We tend to take the brain for granted, yet it is an intricate universe contained and protected in the cranium. How did we come to have this organ that allows humans to think, to reason, and to speak thousands of languages? Through millions of lucky gambles? Or by intelligent design?

[Diagram on page 16, 17]

Simplified Diagram of Brain Exterior

Sensory cortex

Analyzes sensory impulses from entire body

Occipital lobe

Processes visual signals

Cerebellum

Controls balance and coordination

Premotor cortex

Controls muscular coordination

Motor cortex

Helps control conscious movement

Frontal lobe

Helps control reasoning, emotions, speech, movement

Temporal lobe

Processes sound; controls aspects of learning, memory, language, emotions

[Diagram on page 16]

Axon terminal

Neurotransmitters

Dendrite

Synapse

[Diagram on page 16, 17]

Neuron

Dendrites

Axon

Dendrites

Synapse

Neuron

Axon

“There may be from ten trillion to one hundred trillion synapses in the brain, and each one operates as a tiny calculator that tallies signals arriving as electrical impulses.”—THE BRAIN