The Impact Of Atlas Of Creation On The University Of Iowa

The Daily Iowan, a newspaper with a circulation of some 20,000 that serves Iowa City and the University of Iowa in the USA, reported that Harun Yahya’s Atlas of Creation has been dispatched to the University of Iowa. In its 26 July, 2007, edition, the daily, regarded as one of the best student papers in the USA, said:

The UI biology department recently received a stack of hefty, nearly 800-page books via express mail, and … researchers have had time to peruse the work...

Atlas of Creation - a 12-pound, extravagantly illustrated book decrying evolution - has made its way around the world and set scientists sputtering with indignation, just as its author, Adnan Oktar of Turkey, intended.

Americans, typically, are not as accepting of evolution as are the Japanese and Europeans, according to a study published August 2006 in Science.

In the study of 34 countries, only Turkey ranked lower than the United States in general acceptance of the theory of evolution.

Under the pen name Harun Yahya, the Islamic fundamentalist author has produced more than 180 works with such titles as The Miracle of the Cell and The Secrets of the DNA - many of which use Allah and holy writings to explain science.

Atlas of Creation compares fossils" close appearance with modern organisms to try to refute Darwin"s theory of evolution…

Translated into French, a fleet of books appeared in France"s public high schools earlier this year. Now, an English translation has made its way to the United States. Oktar"s website, harunyahya.com, features embedded video clips of headlines his newest book has provoked.

The books" unexpected appearance in the UI biology department raised curious discussion…

… Ritchie [Bruce, the Biology Building manager] said the department received eight to 10 copies around two weeks ago, which he delivered to the intended professors.

… the receivers marveled at the “beautiful” illustrations and “exquisite” printing quality of the Atlas.…

With religious fundamentalists in states such as Kansas still grappling with the subject in public schools, such outcries against evolution are often unavoidable in the scientific community. Logsdon, whose research focuses on molecular evolution, decided to skim the book because of an interest in creationist literature. …