In this encyclopedic book, Dr. Sodera explores the living world from coelacanths to embryology; from dinosaurs to muscle contraction; from whales to human fossils; and shows conclusively that the 'one small speck to man' theory of evolution is more imagination than reality. With 564 pages and over 1300 color images, this truly outstanding work deals purely with the scientific evidence and provides a highly detailed reference.

Some readers may already be familiar with many of the critiques of Darwin's theory presented in this book. However, to have them nicely organized in one volume, with outstanding photos and graphics to illustrate the points, makes this a wonderful high school or college level text, as well as a prized coffee table book that is fun to browse. Like most full-color coffee-table books, this volume will cost you a chunk of change. But we think you will find it a worthwhile investment, especially if you are a homeschool teacher looking for a life-sciences textbook that does not assume that Darwinian evolution is the only way to look at the evidence. The topics covered in individual chapters include animal fossils, time, mass extinctions, variation, DNA and proteins, molecular machines, whales, birds, the eye, human fossils, bipedalism, chromosomes, and intelligence.

The chapter on Human Fossils was particularly interesting as Dr. Sodera pictorially and analytically compares human-like fossils with modern man. His conclusion: So the human-like fossil evidence actually paints a completely different picture from that which is commonly portrayed. Instead of man evolving from apes via crude-looking ancestors, the evidence points to populations of ancient human beings having passed through some morphological changes (whether from inbreeding and/or disease) before these groups gained the modern human form.

This is the third major book critiquing evolution to come out of the UK in recent years joining Dawkin's God: Genes, Memes and the Meaning of Life by Alister McGrath, and Evolution Under the Microscope: A Scientific Critique of the Theory of Evolution by David Swift. Perhaps there is a movement brewing in the UK similar to the ID movement in the US.

About the Author
Dr. Vij Sodera was born in India, and has lived in the UK since the age of four. He attended St. Clement Danes Grammar School in London, gaining major school prizes for academic achievement and art, and graduated from Sheffield University Medical School in 1975 with distinction in chemistry. He became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1981.

For 19 years, he looked after a Minor Injuries Unit in West Sussex; and for the last 21 years, he has run his own private skin surgery clinic. He is the author of three acclaimed surgical textbooks:

Skin Surgery in General Practice ~ a Diagnostic Atlas, Minor Surgery in Practice, and Illustrated Handbook of Minor Surgery and Operative Technique, all of which are extensively illustrated with his own photographs and drawings. He also regularly publishes articles in national medical magazines on surgery in general practice and minor injuries.

Although he was taught evolution at school and university, Vij Sodera has always been concerned that the idea of evolution is based on the most fragile foundations. This led him to take a critical detailed look at the subject, and the first edition of One Small Speck to Man was the result of 14 years’ rigorous exploration of the scientific evidence. In this second edition, the content has been revised and expanded, with an additional 100 pages and over 500 new images.

Vij Sodera has always had a special love of animals and is an accomplished wildlife artist, having exhibited and sold many of his paintings. A number of his paintings are featured in this book and are also on view in his consulting rooms.

His natural history studies have taken him to East Africa, Canada, Iceland, Malta, Denmark and the USA, where he has photographed diverse wildlife. Along with the anatomical dissections and the majority of the photographs, most of the artwork and diagrams in this book are his own work.

Vij Sodera recently presented a six-part television studio-documentary on The Case for Creation, which included his own wildlife footage and dissections. The programmes are now available in a 3-DVD set. His other DVDs include Ape and Human Fossils and Evolution Impossible.

Vij Sodera is working on two new textbooks: Minor Surgery in General Practice and Minor Injuries ~ a Diagnostic Atlas. He is also planning a six-part natural history television series based on One Small Speck to Man.

His other interests include music. He plays guitar and writes his own songs, and is soon to release two albums on CD.

Vij Sodera and his wife Margaret live on the south coast of England. They have two daughters.

Chapter 12 ~ Chromosomes

Chromosome number, shape and size
It is commonly stated that humans and chimpanzees have over 98.5% of their genes in common, and that humans and gorillas have around 97.7% of their genes in common. However, since in terms of anatomy and intelligence humans are hugely different from apes, these often repeated and currently fashionable statistics are meaningless without a broader understanding. So, before we can meaningfully discuss human and ape chromosomes with regard to any supposed evolutionary relationship, it is necessary to examine the numbers, shapes and sizes of the chromosomes (the karyotype), and the DNA content found in the cells of different creatures in general.

However, in terms of chromosome number, chromosome size, and DNA content, from worms to mammals, the observed patterns do not fit with an evolutionary model.

Gene and chromosome alterations do not give rise to new creatures
If a break in a chromosome does occur, any small broken fragment is usually lost since chromosome portions that lack a centromere cannot be captured and retained by the spindle mechanism during cell division. If the lost portion contains vital genetic information, then the result will be serious disease or death

Any reorganisation of chromosome sections that contain whole genes does not result in a different animal emerging. A good example in humans of a balanced translocation is when one chromosome 21 joins onto another chromosome, where the affected individual is entirely normal.

It is highly likely that random loss of chromosome material, or breaks in chromosomes associated with random fusions of gene fragments, would result in damaging changes in the genes involved, resulting in diseases and congenital abnormalities. In addition, it is implausible that any new enzymes, structures or organs could be so produced.

Human and ape genes
What should we make of the common statement that humans have over 98.5% of their genes in common with chimpanzees? In actual fact, this figure gives a warped perspective on (supposed) relationships since the Mouse Genome Project has demonstrated that mice and humans have more than 99% of their genes in common. We have no detailed knowledge of the genomes of the other 3500 mammals on earth, without which it is entirely invalid to ascribe any relationship between apes and humans.

If orang-utans have been separated from chimpanzees for (supposedly) more than 8my, we should expect that, if it were possible, orang-utans would by now have different numbers of chromosomes to chimpanzees, but they do not. Furthermore, we should expect that those orang-utans that are separated into distinct breeding populations in different clumps of forest in different islands should by now have different numbers of chromosomes, one compared to the other. The fact is, however, that while the orang-utans of Borneo and Sumatra are as genetically distinct from one another as chimpanzees are from gorillas, those two populations of orang-utans have the same karyotype and represent very much the same animal.

Conclusion
In summary, there is no demonstrable trend in chromosome number, size and shape from "simple" to "complex" animals, and it is implausible that the differences between various animals, or between apes and human beings, are the result of rearrangements in genes or chromosomes. The genetic evidence does not support the notion that humans are modified apes.