Brian Inglis
I did, not expect to be impressed by a book putting the creationist case, probably be- cause I have tended to equate Creationism, with a capital 'C', with bible-thumping. In his Adam and Evolution (Rider) Michael Pitman puts what he describes as a creationist interpretation of the myth, based on scientific research in a variety of disciplines, which has been confirming Sir James Jean's view of the universe as 'more like a great thought than a great machine'. This is Vitalism revisited; yet another nail in neo-Darwinism's coffin, though that putrefying corpse refuses to lie down.
My impression is that Pitman could have compiled an even more impressive dossier had he not been understandably anxious to present his evidence in conventional scien- tific ways. The reverse is true of Neville Hodgkinson's Will to be Well (Hutchinson Paperback), which is effective precisely because his indictment of what have been conventional forms of treatment, from anti-inflammatory drugs for arthritis to mastectomy for breast tumours, is based on the evidence from orthodoxy's own journals. Anybody who begins to doubt the wisdom of a GP or consultant in prescribing for the commoner disorders, from angina to headaches, will do well to consult this book, and to take Hodgkin- son's advice to try 'the real alternative medicine', which is informed self-care, bringing mind and spirit, as well as diet and exercise, to the body's rescue.
One of this year's books is sufficiently awful to deserve a place to itself: Trevor Hall's The Enigma of Daniel Home (Prom- etheus Books). If it does not contain quite the wealth of suppressio veri and sugges- tio falsi of earlier works, such as The Spiritualists, this is partly because it is shorter, and partly because — surprisingly, for so assiduous a turner-up of stones in the hope of finding creepy-crawlies — he has been unable to find anything to Home's detriment that had not been claimed, usually falsely, before. Come to think of it, in fact, this represents a welcome vindica- tion of Home: if Hall cannot do worse than this, it is unlikely anybody else will be able to.
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