Table of Contents
List of Figures xiii
List of Tables xiv
Publisher’s Preface xv
Foreword by Douglas Wilson xv
Acknowledgements xix
Introduction xxi
Chapter 1: In Whom Do You Trust? 1
Chapter 2: Can Genesis Accommodate Deep Time? 5
Chapter 3: Blind Dating 13
Chapter 4: Designer Genes—What’s the Difference Between Microevolution and Macroevolution 29
Chapter 5: Testimony of the Entombed—Does the Fossil Record Reveal Common Ancestry? 55
Chapter 6: Who Was Our Ancestor: Australopithecusor Adam? 85
Chapter 7: Alphabet Soup—Can Biological Building Blocks Become a Living Cell by Chance? 99
Chapter 8: Micro-machines—Is a Darwinian Origin of Irreducible Complexities Possible? 115
Chapter 9: Faded Genes—Does Genetic InformationErode? 135
Chapter 10: According to Their Kinds 141
Chapter 11: Biological Badness and the Goodness of God 167
Chapter 12: Tying Off Loose Ends 187
Chapter 13: The End of the Matter 201
Conclusion—A Creationist Manifesto 211
Index 215

“Written in vivid, accessible language, and well-illustrated with drawings and diagrams, Darwin’s Sandcastle provides a reader-friendly introduction to the major themes and lines of evidence of the Young Earth viewpoint. Dr. Wilson surveys both the Biblical and scientific reasons why someone would defend a young Earth and specially created life. The chapters are brief, but well supplied with data and arguments. This is a book to give to friends and family who want to understand the Young Earth position. Highly recommended for that purpose.”
– Paul A. Nelson, Ph.D. Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute
“Gordon Wilson has put together a content-rich yet approachable book that will appeal to laymen wishing a better understanding of how creation answers our Darwin-saturated world. Light-hearted without sacrificing accuracy, this book defends a solid Biblical worldview without compromise. After having left Darwin’s sandcastle washed away by wave after wave of science, he boldly addresses some of the most difficult questions remaining for Biblical creationists. This he does in an even-handed way that teaches the reader how to think rather than what to think. Readers will enjoy Gordon’s conversational style, feeling like they are chatting with a friendly science professor at home about matters of mutual interest.”
– David Coppedge, Science Writer for Evolution News at the Discovery Institute, former Sys. Admin. Cassini Mission to Saturn, NASA-JPL.
“In Darwin’s Sandcastle, creation biologist, herpetologist and filmmaker Dr Gordon Wilson takes evolution head on using young age creation and intelligent design arguments. There are plenty of creationist books out there with a similar goal. However, one of the problems we have had historically in creationism is that although it was lay ministries and laymen who were brave to take on the challenge of evolution in the last century, few in-depth empirically based answers were developed to problems evolutionists presented. Wilson’s approach has the advantage of several decades of published peer review work from; scientists in the intelligent design movement, research Institutes like the Institute for Creation Research and the Logos Research Associates, societies like the Creation Biology and Geological Societies, educational institutions like the Center for Origins Research and Core Academy of Science, conferences like the International Conference on Creationism, and peer reviewed creation journals like the Answers Research Journal. Creationism has been growing up. What Wilson implies in his text in a big way, is that good creation research helps lessen the need for unfounded polemics and points the debate toward the open door of Christian theism.”
– Joseph Francis, Ph.D. Adjunct Professor of Biology at The Master’s University
“A cheerful biologist, Dr. Wilson shows his humor and keen views of our world. He presents a creative mosaic from science that shouts ‘life is designed.’ Insightful, engaging, and joyful, this book points us toward glorious adventures to share with others!”
– D. Eric Aston, Ph.D. Professor of Chemical & Biological Engineering at the University of Idaho