Arguments against the Theory of Evolution, of course, are nothing new.  But as recent changes in the political sphere have pushed the 'Evolution vs Creation' battle to the forefront of public debate (and into your children's schoolrooms), it is worthwhile to review the empirical territory covered so far.  Philosopher Daniel Dennett does just that in "Darwin's Dangerous Idea".

Dennett often relies on his own jargon and favorite hobbyhorses - something which I find endearing but others may find irritating - and this book is no exception.  One of his key concepts here is a slightly-blurry distinction between two warring metaphors: 'Cranes' (empirically-conceivable processes built upon existing algorithms and materials) and 'Skyhooks' (unprovable teleological assumptions made in order to salvage weak theories or provide 'lifting power').  But heuristic as some of his talking points may be, the core of his argument remains sound and all material is vividly explained by entertaining examples.

The main point Dennett would like you to come away with is that natural selection operates as an algorithmic process, a fractal piece of 'code' running a perpetual loop in the vastness of Design Space, blindly (yet 'instinctively') moving toward the nearest 'Forced Moves' and 'Good Tricks.' Along the way he treats us to another of his trademark whirlwind tours through conceptual space, this time populated by such colorful gedanken entities as spandrels, panglossians, greedy reductionists, hopeful monsters, and The Library of Mendel.

To ruffle the feathers of Creationist types, Dennett makes sure to toss in some wonderfully incendiary statements (reminding us that natural selection applies to faiths as well as species, for instance, and suggesting that religions should be 'preserved in cultural zoos'). But the Theory of Evolution has been attacked with rigor and (varying degrees of) logic by scientists and philosphers ever since The Origin of Species was first published, and such are the arguments that make up the meat of the book.  Dennett takes on each of these worthy opponents in turn, in roughly chronological order, tracing the history and development of evolutionary theory as it faced off against such adversaries as Teilhard, Larmack, Gould and Chomsky. From each battle, says Dennett, the Theory of Evolution - and its modern incarnation as Neo-Darwinism - has emerged not only victorious, but stronger and more well-defined.