I'm really stunned that this book got published, it's so full of errors and misunderstandings. He seems to be unaware of the transitional fossils of the whale and and giraffe lineages dug up in the past 20 years. He also wants to take Darwin down, a man who lived in the 19th century. Though his foundation was correct, we now know he made some missteps. Imagine an attack on Christianity called "what Adam didn't know."

His lazy "things must be as they appear" approach is flawed (resurrected from the Bronze Age, perhaps). For example, to most of us, the sun *appears* to go around the earth, space *appears* to not be curved near massive objects, matter *appears* to not be made of mostly empty space. Yet these are incorrect. Likewise, to some people, human life *appears* to be designed. There's strong evidence that this is also wrong.

The author should join the 21st century. It's quite nice here.

The book basically gives a very simplistic overview of each body system (college-level anatomy and physiology textbooks are much deeper in scope) and ends with several main points from each chapter that would seem to point to design. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a Christian and I believe in God. However, I have read better and more informative books about the design inherent in the universe as well as in humanity.

I felt embarrassed for the author. Moreover, I felt embarrassed to have bought the book new and thereby contributed to his royalties.

He maintains he is a doctor bringing fascinating medical gems to a wide audience - but his explanations and analogies are humdrum and often misleading to the point that he verges on saying: 'Wow, this is a really intricate mechanism whose development I can't begin to understand - magic must be involved.'

Unforgivable is the distorted 'flat-earth' logic he applies to his arguments. As an example, he suggests our balance apparatus amazingly filters out distracting stimuli, including all the rotations of our spinning planet. It is indeed an impressive filter - but more miraculous would be if we could detect such minuscule relative accelerations as caused by our rotating and revolving solar system.

He glibly dismisses the fossil-record; insists that all our organ systems must have sprung up fully-formed as their individual components could serve no possible purpose without all the others; he fails to address 'Darwinian propaganda-mill' theories except as straw men; points out a few differences between us and monkeys; and rounds off with a chapter on how 'gifts' such as painting or singing serve no evolutionary cause so must, presumably, be divinely bestowed. These may be standard enough moves in ID literature - but can only be overlooked if he is preaching to the converted. Anyone with a modicum of scepticism will struggle to trust the author's deliberate and blatant distortions of others' arguments.

His salient point is that science itself continually adapts and no theory claims to be the final word. Hence, Darwinist theory too must be expected to undergo modifications or be superseded by new models and paradigms. As indeed does happen. What sits uncomfortably is his failure to acknowledge the usefulness of theories despite their incompleteness. How does science's lack of omniscience justify a return to his superstitious fire-and-cave notions of life? Such an alternative theory as he proposes is of the sort known as 'Not even wrong'.

If you want fascinating insights into the human body, buy a college-level Physiology textbook such as Sherwood's 'Human Physiology'. If you want to explore Omphalos theories, the best versions are still to be found in the holy books. If you want to wallow in shameless polemic, try 'Of Pandas and People'. And if you want to know what weaknesses and limitations Darwinism really has, head to the popular science shelves and explore the likes of Dawkins' 'The Selfish Gene' first-hand.

First of all, this book received two stars from me as opposed to one because it was very interesting to read about some of the intricacies of the human body. However, I could have just as easily gone to an anatomy text for such a purpose. For that reason, I say that it is misguided.

Dr. Simmons, while writing passionately and eloquently, does absolutely nothing to discredit or bring to doubt evolution. In a nutshell, the book largely consists of a pattern that first describes an intricacy of the human body, and then fallaciously states in one manner or another that 'it can't be imagined' how something of such complexity could possibly arrived through evolution; i.e. the argument from personal incredulity, which is extremely popular among creationists and apologetics.

Additionally, I found it quite interesting that though the concept of evolution clearly applies to all living beings - macro and micro alike - Dr. Simmons curiously decides to ignore the rest of life by focusing only on humans to myopically imply that humans are the divine exception to biology.

I feel that this book was 'designed' for those who are already staunch supporters of Intelligent Design and have no wish to learn the actual science behind evolution. This book will no doubt be very successful in reinforcing creationist belief, but for those who have an actual grasp on the specifics of evolution as a whole, this book in actuality fails to dispute any of the key cornerstones such as random mutation coupled with non-random natural selection over a geological timespan to produce complexity.

If someone is interested in learning about evolution as opposed to human body complexity, they are urged to search elsewhere, because any actual discussion of it within this book is sorely lacking.

Those wishing for a true expose on the shortcomings of Dr. Simmons' book need only to read a general evolution text such as Richard Dawkins' "The Blind Watchmaker".

The ancients had it all wrong. They dubbed the Pyramid of Giza, and Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Colossus of Rhodes, etc to be the Seven wonders of the world. Little did they know that to find the biggest wonder in the world, all they had to do was look inside themselves. That ability had to wait for the technology that would allow humans to discover what a marvel they really are. As the wonders of what transpires under my skin were skillfully unfolded, my mind was filled with awe. There is no part of the body I will take for granted again. Who can not be impressed that their blood vessels laid out end to end would circle the globe twice? How about the fact one cell is more complex than the space shuttle? Those stories and more await discovery between the covers.

Dr. Simmons tells the story with humor and clear, precise language. He is the tour guide on this ultimate, incredible journey. At each stop in the human machine, he reveals in detail the complexity of that particular part of the body and how it relates to the whole. The chapter on reproduction is absolutely mind boggling. The chapter on the development of an embryo gives the reader a play by play account of the development of a new human being. All the major systems of the body are explained in language that makes it fun to read this book. Dr. Simmons is a writer who is also a scientist. This is one of the most edifying books I have ever read.

If you home school your children or teach science in a private school, this book is an excellent resource to augment your curriculum.