Jerry Bergman's The Dark Side of Darwin is a smart book, with all the good and bad connotations that entails. It starts out strong by stating a clearly defined purpose: to remove the notion of Darwin being a saint of science. In secular circles, Darwin has been elevated to the status of a demigod without fault or schemea humble scientist who, by accident as much as by genius, formulated the most revolutionary theory of the age. The Dark Side of Darwin means to remove the misconception.
Exhaustively researched and carefully compiled, this is unquestionably the work of a die-hard academic. Bergman is careful not to overlook even a single detail of Darwin's deception, and he labors to identify every chink in Darwin's centuries-old armor. Nothing escapes Bergmans scrutiny.
Despite all that, there are some caveats. Though the intention of removing Darwins glamour is admirable (and biblical, as Jeremiah 5:1 declares that the Lord blesses those who seek the truth), the execution here is a little lacking because of two problems. The first is a tragic problem of perception. No matter how careful Bergman is and no matter how noble his intentions, no one can cast aspersions on Darwins character without the effort appearing to be a smear campaign. Bergman has been careful and his intentions are noble, but many people will overlook all his points because they assume the book is only mud-slinging.
The second is a problem of production. As stated, this book is smart; one might even say it's a little too smart. Bergman has written a book that will be lauded by scientists and lawyers because it is extraordinarily thorough, but for the lay reader, "thorough" can descend rapidly into "repetitive."
All in all, the book is a strong work of academia, but readers seeking less scholarly fare will want to search elsewhere. Chandler Birch, www.ChristianBookPreviews.com
