Thousands...Not Billions: Challenging an Icon of Evolution Questioning the Age of the Earth

Thanks for the great information in Thousands Not Billions. This book gives a better understanding of the young earth view of the age of the earth.

The chief complaint against this book seems to be "...This book is another example of TRUE scientific theory mixed with UNTESTED hypothetical ideas (somewhat like "bait and switch"). The end result is that the author claims to prove his ideas when in fact the untested hypotheses are still untested." I would say the same for evolutionary theory since TRUE SCIENTIFIC METHODS CANNOT BE APPLIED IN BOTH CASES. No human being was there during creation or evolutionary beginnings to observe the actual event, so we cannot test and observe either hypothesis. To me, the biggest issue here is not which is the more accurate theory. But rather, both positions cannot be solved scientifically and that it takes a measure of FAITH & a healthy dose of WORLDVIEW to believe which ever side you believe. The author of this book casts significant doubt on the VALIDITY of old earth age radioisotope dating methods which he purports to be the "lynchpin" of old earth views. * The RATE Project tested coal beds throughout North America. They requested & received coal samples from the US Geological Dept. They received coal from the top of the coal bed and the bottom of the coal bed over many sites. You know what they found? The coal samples had the "same" (same within the sample statistics) C14 levels whether it was on the top or bottom. * Also, they tested diamonds from nearly 100 miles within the earth. And you know what? They also had C14 in them. Diamonds are supposed to be billions of years old, one of the first minerals formed when the earth "evolved" 3.5 billion years ago; yet they have C14 in them. We have NO instrument that can measure C14 levels past 100,000 years. * They observed that most of known fossils are found within one layer of sediment (which implies a quick, catastrophic event, a.k.a. flood) * They discuss helium diffusion within zircons. These zircons mean something very important to geologists. And I admit, this was a little over my head since I have not taken the time to study these. But suffice it to say, the amount of helium still in rocks indicates a "younger" earth. * They discuss all the forms of radioisotope dating and show how worldview "taints" the "scientific" principles that govern them. Also, many assume a steady state of radioactive decay, however, there is compelling evidence that shows the steady state theory is not accurate. That there may have been accelerated decay in the past and it has been slowing down (which I think aligns nicely to the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics). To me, these are the most important issues this book addresses.

I've read thousands of books to try to keep up to date - and this book has got to be one of my favorite books of all. The book summarizes eight years of research by a team of scientists. Not only does the book provide the results of radioisotope dating tests, but it explains the process as well as what the results mean. This book found the perfect balance to being readable yet precise and detailed. It also refers the readers to two other books that are much more detailed regarding the radioisotope dating discused in the book. The book explains about some of the radioisotope methods in use, such as: * Carbon-14 dating * Potassium-Argon * Rubidium-Strontium * Lead-Lead * Samarium-Neodymium The book also explains both alpha decay and beta decay, and why it matters. This team of scientists not only reference published dating test results but also did their own dating tests utilizing multiple state-of-the-art commercial radioisotope dating laboratories. The book also explains a vitally important concept: Iscochrons (Isochrons are utilized today in almost every radioisotope dating experiment) Ini order to give an age estimate for a rock using radioisotope dating, there are several assumptions that are made ... three fundamental assumptions are: 1) the initial conditions of the sample are known accurately 2) we can tell whether or not the rock has exchanged atoms with the surroundings during its history 3) the nuclear decay rate or half-life of the parent isotope has remained constant since the rock was formed. (isochron methods are not sensitive to testing the correctness of this assumption) The book presents the evidence of the results of careful testing that you can analyze on your own. However, the team of scientists also provide their summary of what the results show and provide possible explanations as to what they mean and what could account for the evidence. Overall, I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in finding out just how radioisotope dating is done and in reviewing evidence from a variety of tests performed recently. It provides scientific evidence gathered by a team of scientists presented in an easy to read format with tables, charts and figures.

I don't think he read the book, honestly. There are MANY intriguing issues that are brought up in this book by SCIENTIFIC, PHYSICAL EVIDENCE. If you think that evolution has all the answers in the bag, think again. Why is Carbon-14 found inside of diamonds? Diamonds are supposedly 3.3 billion years old. Carbon-14 has a half life of 5,700 years. Do the math. It is beyond me to figure out how this is not physical evidence. Why is there Helium in Zircon crystals when it should have dissipated a very long time ago? It seems to me like some people don't even read the book, that they just have a chip on their shoulder and feel it is nessecary to TRY and belittle the work these SCIENTISTS have done. Even if you are against Creationism this is still a good scientific book to dive into. The book even admits that there are many problems yet to be solved. I look foward to further research in these fields.

I'm currently re-thinking my indoctrination into the evolution theory. I have kept science separate from my faith in God and had always believed that the earth was very old. However, recently, I have found that this belief is irreconcilable with my belief in a loving God. I had never even read any creationist literature, thinking, like most people that it is "hokum". Most of the creationist literature is unconvincing to me. However, after reading icr.org I wanted to find out more about the RATE project in detail because I was especially curious about two research projects that seemed to be convincing, the helium diffusion in zircons (helium should have long ago escaped into the atmosphere after millions of years, yet why is it still in zircon?) and the radiohalos found in rocks (has there been rapid nuclear decay in certain periods of history?) I read this book in conjunction with "Starlight and Time" by Humphreys. I realized that there are some very intelligent people who believe in a young earth and have made some major scientific contributions that will definitely have an impact on science, that is, if people would read this literature. I especially liked the paragraph that says, "Some critics have argued that the young-earth viewpoint is a hindrance to scientific progress. They claim that belief in biblical creation returns us to the dark ages of naive, pre-scientific, and false views of natural history. However, such claims are mistaken. The questioning of radioisotope dating and the geologic time scale neither stifles inquiry nor hinders sceintific progress. Instead, it serves the healthy purpose of uncovering assumptions and bias. The reappraisal of earth history also opens up entirely new areas for study and research as the RATE project has shown." I agree that the RATE project has done exactly that and this book is worthwhile reading for any scientist. One problem that I had was statements like "The original creation from nothing, or ex nihilo in Latin, was clearly supernatural. Likewise, the theological reasons for accelerated decay and the mechanisms behind it may lie entirely beyond the limits of scientific inquiry. Still, it is of interest to apply our present knowledge of the nucleus to explore possible mechanisms for accelerated decay." The problem I have with statements like this in creationist literature, is that unsolved mysteries are commonly relegated to the "supernatural". Also in "Starlight and TIme" the author did the same thing, for the things he couldn't explain in his theory, he assumes that God stepped in and acted supernaturally and "suspended the laws of nature." I'm not sure if God would actually suspend His own laws and act beyond the scope of his own creation. I believe that everything God does is purposeful and he placed specific laws in nature that we are to obey-- I don't think he would want to confuse us by acting outside of His own laws. So I think that everything that exists should have a "r