Page 240 - The Error of the Evolution of Species

The Error of the Evolution
of Species

The American biologist Dr. Jonathan Wells stresses that

this is a belief held to be true:
No scientist with any integrity would point to the peppered
myth as "a core example of natural selection." Without ev-
idence, the assertion that melanism in peppered moths was
due to natural selection is a faith-statement, not a scientif-
ic inference. 321

In his book Icons of Evolution, Wells devotes particular
attention to the tale in question and sets out his conclusion:

In 1986, evolutionary biologist John Endler wrote a book
entitled Natural Selection in the Wild, now acknowledged
to be a classic in the field. At the time, Endler was unaware
of the problems being unearthed in the peppered moth sto-
ry, so he listed it as one of the few cases in which the cause
of natural selection was known. But he also declared that
"the time has passed for ‘quick and dirty' studies of natu-
ral selection." Although most researchers are "satisfied in
demonstrating merely that natural selection occurred,"
Endler wrote, "This is equivalent to demonstrating a chem-
ical reaction, and then not investigating its causes and
mechanisms. A strong demonstration of natural selection
combined with a lack of knowledge of its reasons and
mechanisms is no better than alchemy."
... Kettlewell's evidence for natural selection is flawed, and
the actual causes of the change remain hypothetical. As a
scientific demonstration of natural selection—as

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