Thank you. And, to be fair, Creationists go beyond their field when speaking on geology or zoology.
Dawkins is a major voice, perhaps the major voice of modern evolution, so his influence is huge. He currently occupies the Simonyi Professorship at Oxford University.
From the aims and goal of this position:
The aim of the Simonyi Professorship is to contribute to the understanding of science by the public… The task of communicating science to the layman is not a simple one. In particular it is imperative for the post holder to avoid oversimplifying ideas, and presenting exaggerated claims. The limits of current scientific knowledge should always be made clear to the public.And Dawkins is their choice for this?
The book [Pandas and People] has evolved, so to speak, since its inception to conform with sound scientific principles and theories to reflect the latest work in the burgeoning field of intelligent design.See if you can follow it.
In early editions, the book included this sentence: "Creation means that various forms of life began abruptly through the agency of an intelligent creator, with their distinctive features already intact — fish with fins and scales, birds with feathers, beaks, wings, etc."
Of course that was incorrect.
So later editions, edited after a 1987 U.S. Supreme Court decision that forbade the teaching of creationism in public schools, the sentence was changed to this: "Intelligent design means that various forms of life began abruptly through an intelligent agency, with their distinctive features already intact — fish with fins and scales, birds with feathers, beaks and wings, etc."
And now the newest edition, to be titled "The Design of Life," a draft of which was previewed Wednesday during Day 12 of the Dover Panda Trial, includes this sentence: "Sudden appearance means that various forms of life began abruptly through an intelligent agency, with their distinctive features already intact — fish with fins and scales, birds with feathers, beaks, wings, and mammals with fur and mammary glands, etc."
Now, you could conclude that the good folks who brought us "Of Pandas and People" made the adjustment to reflect exciting new developments in the area of mammary glands. Or maybe the intelligent-design movement has reached an age where it has just discovered mammary glands. It's hard to say.
And besides, who's going to object to mammary glands?
The other big change, evidence that the people who brought us "Of Pandas and People" have not forgotten how to work Microsoft Word, is the substitution of "intelligent design" with "sudden appearance."
As Eric Rothschild, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs in the Panda Trial, asked in court, "Will we be back in a couple of years for the 'sudden appearance' trial?"
Judge John E. Jones III retorted, "Not on my docket."
So, what came of Behe's three days on the witness stand?
He said some of the stuff in cells and such is designed because it looks like it was designed. But there's other stuff that looks designed that wasn't designed. And yet there's other stuff, we don't know what it is and you probably don't want to know.
Oh, and the identity of the designer doesn't matter. Could be God, or a cosmic Versace, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster.