'Why Evolution Is True' by Jerry Coyne, AAI 2009

@FaithPlusReason What would you consider a "real" example? If a fish turned into a human? That would be evidence of a miracle, not evolution. Evolution occurs on a very slow, gradual ramp. We know it happens. The fossils prove it. The DNA proves it.

Also, how would you expect them to demonstrate the kind of macroevolution and speciation that normally takes place over millions of years? You can't possibly expect them to demonstrate this before your very eyes, that's simply impossible, and extremely unreasonable.

What you're probably expecting is something like a small-beaked finch laying an egg that hatches into a large-beaked finch that's perfectly adapted to the new environment. That's just silly, and it's not how evolution works.

A "real" example of a transitional form is the evolution of diatom. It's depicted so clearly that it's baffling that you could miss how it works, and deny it.

Dawkins is so far up his own ass, its unreal.

You would be too if you were called the world's 3rd top intellectual.

They do. Talkrational has two full pages of references of observations of speciation in the literature, some in the lab, some in the wild. Then there are also ring species like Larus Gulls or Ensatina Salamanders.

He didn't say that natural selection was the only driving force, he said that it was the only evolutionary mechanism that can give the impression of design. Drift is completely random by definition, and therefore it is extremely unlikely that any significant complexity arises from it. It's probably important for eliminating neutral traits, and it'll play a role in driving change in cases of extreme bottlenecks, but that's a different matter.

Wow, Jerry Coyne's voice reminds me of Ben Stein's, it's uncanny.

@sciencemile The difference being that Coyne has something intelligent and worthwhile to say.

Jerry Coyne is a wonderful writer, and his book is fantastic.