PAUL R. GROSS: Congratulations are in order. In his latest COMMENTARY essay on "Darwinism"-as it is often called by those who do not know much evolutionary biology-David Berlinski seems to have reversed himself ["Has Darwin Met His Match?," December 2002]. He is now critical of the effort to rehabilitate the ancient "argument from design," these days holiday-wrapped as "intelligent-design theory." This change of mind is all the more praiseworthy because Mr. Berlinski is not only the author of "The Deniable Darwin" (COMMENTARY, June 1996) but, according to his current author's note, closely associated with the Discovery Institute, the conservative Christian think tank that serves as the primary promoter of "intelligent design." The manner of Mr. Berlinski's dismissal is less creditable, however. His argument might be paraphrased as follows: intelligent design has failed, evolutionary biology has failed, and therefore nobody has a plausible scientific explanation for the diversity of life on earth. This is absurd.

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