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Thousands...Not Billions by Dr. Don DeYoung Reviewed by Tim Chaffey |
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This book presents the findings of an eight year research program by a group of scientists calling themselves the RATE team. RATE stands for Radioisotopes and the Age of The Earth. Thousands...Not Billions is the layman's guide to RATE research. Two technical volumes have been published as well. Radioactive dating methods have often been used to promote an ancient age for the earth. Students are often told that radioactive dating has conclusively shown that earth is about 4.6 billion years old. Young earth creationists (YECs) have often pointed out the numerous unverifiable assumptions that are inherent in the dating methods. Although these assumptions can account for some of the age discrepancies, it seems unlikely that these assumptions can always account for the massive difference between several thousand years and several billion years. This is where the RATE team comes in. These researchers proposed the idea that billions of years of radioactive processes have taken place but only because radioactive decay had been significantly increased at various times in the past. The RATE team believes that radioactive decay processes were sped up during the early days of the creation week and during the year-long worldwide flood. To support their hypothesis, the RATE team studied carbon-14 dating, helium retention in zircon crystals, radiohalos in granite, and fission tracks in zircons. These seemingly difficult concepts are explained in terms that are easy to understand for anyone that has taken chemistry. The RATE team also points out numerous problems with the old earth view and their reliance upon these dating methods. At the same time, they were honest enough to admit the difficulties with their theory, namely, there would be an enormous amount of heat released as a result of accelerated decay. The RATE team offered a few possibilities to account for this but also admitted the need for further study. My favorite chapter in this book covered the research of Dr. Steven Boyd, Hebrew professor at The Masters College. Boyd performed a statistical analysis of the Hebrew verb forms that are used in poetic and narrative passages in the Old Testament. His work conclusively demonstrated that Genesis 1 should be viewed as historical narrative rather than poetic as many OECs claim. Many old earthers (both creationists and evolutionists) accuse YECs of not doing real science. The RATE group cannot be accurately accused of this. These men are real scientists doing real science and their conclusions are contrary to popular scientific belief. The earth is thousands of years old, not billions. Some of the concepts in this book might be a little advanced for some readers. DeYoung does a great job of writing in layman's terms but there might still be some difficulties. One helpful tool is the DVD by the same title produced by the RATE team. This video helps the reader by providing visual images of what is being discussed. Both of these resources are highly recommended for anyone interested in the age of the earth debate. (01/26/06) |
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Rating: (9.5 out of 10) About the Author (from back cover) Author Don DeYoung is a member of the RATE team of scientists. He is a physics professor at Grace College, Winona Lake, IN. Dr. DeYoung has written 12 books on Bible-science topics. See also: |