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In November 2011, Dr. Meyer addressed a distinguished group of leading British political, cultural, and intellectual leaders at the Royal Horseguards Hotel, No. 1 Whitehall, London, England. In attendance were several members of the House of Lords, university vice chancellors, and many journalists, politicians, philosophers and scientists. He was giving the inaugural annual lecture of the Centre for Intelligent Design (UK). The event was hosted by former Lord Chancellor Lord McKay of Clashfern.

The complete video of Dr. Meyer's talk, including an important Q&A discussion on what constitutes science, is now available on YouTube.

Also available: coverage of the event here and here on Evolution News & Views and at the website for the Centre for Intelligent Design UK.

A recent Nature publication reports a new technique for measuring the oxygen levels in Earth's atmosphere some 4.4 billion years ago. The authors found that by studying cerium oxidation states in zircon, a compound formed from volcanic magma, they could ascertain the oxidation levels in the early earth. Their findings suggest that the early Earth's oxygen levels were very close to current levels. This research supports Dr. Meyer's discussion in Signature in the Cell. On pgs. 224-226 of Ch. 10: Beyond the Reach of Chance, Meyer states that when Stanley Miller conducted his famous 1953 experiment simulating early Earth's atmosphere, he "assumed that the earth's atmosphere contained virtually no free oxygen." Meyer reveals that new geochemical evidence showed that the assumptions Miller had made about the early atmosphere were incorrect.

This new research is additional confirmation that oxygen was present in significant quantities. Because oxygen quenches organic reactions necessary to produce essential building blocks of life, the ability of inorganic materials to produce organic life, as chemical evolutionary theory assumes, is not possible. Read the complete article at ENV.

During a recent visit to London, Dr. Stephen Meyer debated Keith Fox on Premier Radio UK's "Unbelievable" program. Fox is a professor of biochemistry at Southampton University and Chair of the UK's Christians in Science network. Two years after its publication, Meyer's Signature in the Cell continues to make an impact with its powerful argument for design in DNA. In this lively conversation, Meyer and Fox discuss origins of life and the design inference in science.

Many scientists say complex life just randomly happened. Overflowtoday.com interviewewd Stephen Meyer to find out if there Is any shred of scientific evidence that life was created? Watch the short video here.

The DNA Enigma -- where did the information in DNA come from? -- is the supreme puzzle for Darwinian evolution. With the question affecting the origin of life, the chance hypothesis is completely out of the question, and pre-biotic natural selection begs the question. Watch as Stephen Meyer explains the inference to the best explanation for information in DNA, the origin of life, and our world: intelligent design.

The John Ankerberg Show will launch this weekend a multi-part series examining the science behind origin of life theories and featuring Dr. Stephen C. Meyer.

Continue reading "Does the New Scientific Evidence About the Origin of Life Put an End to Darwinian Evolution?" »

Stephen Meyer's book Signature in the Cell is primarily devoted to assessing attempts by materialists to explain the origin of information in life. Over the course of about four pages, he includes a short discussion of a peripherally related topic, the earth's early atmosphere and the likelihood of chemical monomers forming on the early earth. He notes that "[i]n the years following Miller's experiment, however, new geochemical evidence showed that the assumptions Miller had made about the early atmosphere were incorrect" and that a "neutral" atmosphere which is "not friendly[] to the production of amino acids" is more likely." (pp. 224-225) Some critics have claimed that recent research shows that that the Earth's early atmosphere was in fact reducing, and that Meyer's claims do not hold up. Are the critics right?

One critic who has made such arguments is Gary Hurd, an anti-ID blogger with a Ph.D. in anthropology, who in a recent Amazon review argues that Stephen Meyer's book Signature in the Cell is "outdated" because Meyer contends that the earth's early atmosphere was not reducing, and, therefore, would not have readily produced the amino acids needed for life. Hurd also charges that Meyer's book is the result of "self-plagiarism."

A closer examination shows that Hurd's review is an exercise in citation-bluffing.

Continue reading "Citation Bluffs About Earth's Early Atmosphere Dominate Misguided Response to Signature in the Cell" »

Dogmatic Signs
A Review of Signature in the Cell
By: Phillip E. Johnson
Touchstone Magazine

For anyone who wants to understand the argument for the necessary role of intelligent design in the history of life, the indispensable source is now Stephen C. Meyers' book Signature in the Cell (HarperOne, 2009). For cultural reasons, when arguments for the validity of Darwin's theory of evolution have been made in the past, emphasis has often been placed on the question of human descent from ape-like ancestors. Meyers' book, in contrast, directs attention to the scientifically most important subject: the origin of the cell and its complex molecular mechanisms.

Now that it's out in paperback, Stephen Meyer's book is getting more attention and a wider audience. Today Professor Anthony J. Sadar has a thoughtful review of Signature in the Cell in the Washington Times, where he writes:

In "The Blind Watchmaker," atheist Richard Dawkins proclaimed, "Darwin made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist." Now, with the paperback release of Stephen C. Meyer's "Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design," theists can rejoin with, "Meyer made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled theist." Indeed, in his book, Mr. Meyer begins the chorus by stating that "as a Christian theist, I find this implication of intelligent design 'intellectually satisfying.' "

But, to suppose that "Signature in the Cell" is a book that argues for intelligent design (ID) from a religious or even metaphysical perspective is to suppose badly. For this book makes a strong case for ID as a rigorous scientific argument for the origin of life - at least as rigorous and scientific as any purely materialistic explanation such as neo-Darwinism.

Continue reading "Signature in the Cell, A "Wise Defense of Intelligent Design" »