Expert: John Shea - 11/29/2004

Question
My name is Meredith Passaro and I'm a sophmore in high school. Within the last month we were given a research paper and we were allowed to choose the topic. I wanted something controversial and a hot topic no matter what the generation, so i picked the age old topic creation vs. evolution except i ran into a problem...I'm not well versed in the evolution of man or of the bones that may have been found to be a missing link skeletally if there is any. This would help me on my way to persuade my point and the information would be greatly appriciated because everything i look up is way over my head, also what are your thoughts on the whole matter I'm trying to get as many different opinions as possible?
   Thank you so much for your time,
            Meredith


Answer
Meredith,
This is a very complex issue. The best I can do is point you towards some good pro-evolution references pitched at a popular science audience.  
For a survey of the human fossil record
Tattersall, I.
  1995  The Fossil Trail: What We Think We Know About Human Evolution.  New York: Oxford University Press.
For a broader perspective on evolution (what it is, what it isn't)
Mayr, E.
  2001  What Evolution Is.  New York: Basic Books.
For a somewhat more sophisticated perspective on all this, and a specific critique of creationism.
Eldredge, N.
  2001  The Triumph of Evolution and the Failure of Creationism.  New York, NY: Owl Books.

As you can probably gather from my replies to other Allexperts questions, I am solidly pro-evolution/pro-science.  To me Creationism appears to be a transparent attempt by [mostly Christian] religious fundamentalists to priviledge their particular cosmological origin myth over the equally-untestable origins myths of other religions and cultures. (That's fine, because that's what all religions try to do to each other.)  The difference is that creationists are also trying to claim that their origin myth also better explains reality that scientific evolutionary hypotheses reaffirmed by countless scientific studies.
For the Creationist side of the argument, you can probably find one of their major websites with Google.  A fellow named Duane Gish is one popular creation-science author, though others may be found by looking for "intelligent design" origins theories.
You've chosen an ambitious project for you research.  Good luck.
Cheers,
John Shea