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John Corrigan "Jonathan" Wells, Ph.D., is a biologist, author, and critic of Darwinism.

Wells holds a PhD from University of California, Berkeley in Molecular and Cell Biology and a PhD in Religious Studies from Yale University. He is a Fellow of the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture.

In 2002 Wells wrote the book Icons of Evolution, which critiques the presentation of evolution in public education in American schools.

Background
After dropping out of school and driving a taxi in New York City, Wells was drafted into the United States Army, serving from 1964 to 1966. He returned to college (UC Berkeley), but was ordered to reserve duty. By that time a critic of the Vietnam War, he refused to report for duty, and was incarcerated for 18 months in the United States Disciplinary Barracks in Leavenworth, Kansas.

In the mid-1970s Wells joined the Unification Church, founded by Sun Myung Moon. Wells graduated from the church's Unification Theological Seminary in 1978 with a Masters in Religious Education.

He has written extensively on Unification theology, and since 1981 has taught from time to time at the Unification Theological Seminary. He then earned a PhD in Religious Studies at Yale University in 1986, and another PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California at Berkeley in 1994.

Shortly after receiving his doctorate Wells joined Philip E. Johnson at the Discovery Institute. He now serves as a fellow at the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture and at the International Society for Complexity, Information and Design.

Campaign against Darwinism
In an essay posted to the tparents.org website, Wells wrote: "'Father's [Sun Myung Moon's] words, my studies, and my prayers convinced me that I should devote my life to destroying Darwinism, just as many of my fellow Unificationists had already devoted their lives to destroying Marxism. When Father chose me (along with about a dozen other seminary graduates) to enter a Ph.D. program in 1978 [in Religious Studies], I welcomed the opportunity to prepare myself for battle.'"

About his studies at Yale, Wells said: "'As a graduate student at Yale, I studied the whole of Christian theology but focused my attention on the Darwinian controversies. I wanted to get to the root of the conflict between Darwinian evolution and Christian doctrine. In the course of my research I learned (to my surprise) that biblical chronology played almost no role in the 19th-century controversies, since most theologians had already accepted geological evidence for the age of the earth and re-interpreted the days in Genesis as long periods of time. Instead, the central issue was design.'"

Evolution and Intelligent Design
Wells asserts that traditional arguments supporting evolution, such as the theory of common descent, have come under scrutiny:

The central point of his thesis is not that evolution is wrong, but that the evidence for it is weak and (in same places) use circular reasoning:
 * This view that the major kingdoms ... are modified descendants of a common ancestor has been challenged in recent years by three things. Molecular evidence, fossil evidence, and embryo evidence.


 * ... So the inconsistency in the evolution tree based on molecular comparisons have to actually be explained away in the light of evolution theory. They actually don't provide evidence for the theory. I'm not saying the theory is proven false, but this certainly doesn't provide evidence for it.

He is not a Young Earth creationist.

Icons of Evolution
In 2000, Wells wrote the book Icons of Evolution, in which Wells discusses ten examples which he says show that many of the most commonly accepted textbook arguments supporting evolution are invalid.

AIDS reappraisal
Wells, along with fellow Discovery Institute member Phillip E. Johnson, once signed a petition for AIDS reappraisal.

Articles in peer-reviewed journals

 * Wells, J. Inertial force as a possible factor in mitosis Biosystems - PubMed entry
 * Larabell CA, Rowning BA, Wells, J, Wu M, Gerhart JC. Confocal microscopy analysis of living Xenopus eggs and the mechanism of cortical rotation. Development. 1996 Apr;122(4):1281-9.
 * Rowning BA, Wells J, Wu M, Gerhart JC, Moon RT, Larabell CA. link Microtubule-mediated transport of organelles and localization of beta-catenin to the future dorsal side of Xenopus eggs. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1997 Feb 18;94(4):1224-9.

Books

 * Charles Hodge's Critique of Darwinism: An Historical-Critical Analysis of Concepts Basic to the 19th Century Debate. Edwin Mellen Press, April 1988. ISBN 0889466718 and ISBN 978-0889466715
 * Icons of Evolution. Regnery Publishing. 2000. ISBN 0-89526-276-2
 * The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design. Regnery Publishing. 2006. ISBN 1-59698-013-3

Official/supportive

 * Jonathan Wells biography from the Discovery Institute
 * Articles by Wells from the Discovery Institute
 * ARN page with essays
 * The Words of the Wells Family
 * Wells hits a home run at Harvard

Neutral

 * Panelists Discuss Validity Of Evolutionary Theory at Harvard University

Criticism

 * FAQ on Wells from talk.origins
 * The antievolutionists.org - Jonathan Wells
 * Answers to Wells' 10 questions from National Center for Science Education
 * A response to Wells hits a home run at Harvard
 * Pandas Thumb's Chapter by Chapter analysis of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design
 * New Mexicans for Science and Reason debate Jonathan Wells
 * Critics Rave Over Icons of Evolution: A Response to Published Reviews - Jonathan Wells, Discovery Institute -June 12, 2002

Wells, Jonathan Wells, Jonathan Wells, Jonathan Wells, Jonathan Wells, Jonathan

pl:Jonathan Wells fi:John Corrigan Wells