In his book, ‘Man and his Planet: An Unauthorized History,’ James E. Strickling Jr. presents an analysis of a topic that has been debated by scholars, scientists, and religious leaders for generations – Creation versus Evolution. In his book, he examines both sides and provides an argument that refutes both their conclusions. His argument is based on the following specific line of reasoning: “Natural selection is Science’s equivalent to religious fundamentalism and Creationist’s interpretation of the origin of life as the ‘Great Mistake.’” The overall objective of ‘Man and his Planet’ is to show that the creationists’ “fixity of species” and the evolutionists’ “very orderly gradual evolution of life on earth” are in error, and it is disadvantageous for them not to listen to opposing views as there is another potential alternative to how life emerged and evolved.

Strickling contends that “the creationist system of belief offers little value to our understanding and enlightenment.” He also challenges the evolutionary concept of speciation by natural selection by arguing: “By surviving, it produces a circle; the surviving species survive because they are the fittest, and they are adjudged to be the fittest because they survive. Explains nothing – survived has survived. There are no facts to support speciation by natural selection.” Instead, Strickling argues that natural selection allows a species to maintain its identity by means of natural selection.

Strickling provides an account of the Standard Geological Column Geological Record where the picture presented is a very orderly gradual evolution of life on earth. He details an assessment of Uniformitarianism vs. Catastrophism and argues that speciation is accelerated in times of catastrophe such as the ends of the Paleozoic and Mesozoic periods that were marked by extinction on a global scale. He contends Uniformitarianism does not satisfactorily explain evolution by natural selection. » Read more: Man and His Planet: An Unauthorized History