Page 291 - Signs from the Qur'an
P. 291

cestors of one another. Stephen Jay Gould explained this dead-
                lock of the theory of evolution, although he was himself one of
                the leading advocates of evolution in the twentieth century:
                     What has become of our ladder if there are three coexist-

                     ing lineages of hominids (A. africanus, the robust aus-
                     tralopithecines, and H. habilis), none clearly derived from
                     another? Moreover, none of the three display any evolu-
                     tionary trends during their tenure on earth. 17
                     Put briefly, the scenario of human evolution, which is "up-
                held" with the help of various drawings of some "half ape, half
                human" creatures appearing in the media and course books,
                that is, frankly, by means of propaganda, is nothing but a tale
                with no scientific foundation.
                     Lord Solly Zuckerman, one of the most famous and re-
                spected scientists in the U.K., who carried out research on this
                subject for years and studied Australopithecus fossils for 15
                years, finally concluded, despite being an evolutionist himself,
                that there is, in fact, no such family tree branching out from

                ape-like creatures to man.
                     Zuckerman also made an interesting "spectrum of science"
                ranging from those he considered scientific to those he consid-
                ered unscientific. According to Zuckerman's spectrum, the most
                "scientific"—that is, depending on concrete data—fields of sci-
                ence are chemistry and physics. After them come the biological
                sciences and then the social sciences. At the far end of the spec-
                trum, which is the part considered to be most "unscientific," are
                "extra-sensory perception"—concepts such as telepathy and
                sixth sense—and finally "human evolution." Zuckerman ex-
                plains his reasoning:

                                            289
   286   287   288   289   290   291   292   293   294   295   296