Found On The Interwebs - Grandpa: Book Critic, Evolution Promoter

Surfing the tubes on the interwebs, I found a Summer 1983 book review by Grandpa in Dialogue, A Journal of Mormon Thought. The book appears to be about the Creation -- that is, the Big Bang and evolution -- and Grandpa's review is positive:

Whether or not one agrees with all of the ideas presented by William Lee Stokes, it is not possible to read his little book the Creation Scriptures without being stimulated, entertained, and enlightened. Its bite-sized chapters make for easy reading and easy reference, and his writing is lucid.

And negative:

Most readers, however, will find some of his logic seriously defective. Several speculations are elaborately introduced and weakly defended.

And both at the same time:

An editor could have removed the numerous, annoying typographical errors and the several incidents of redundancy. Despite its weaknesses, however, it is a delightful stimulating contribution that deserves to be read.

It does not sound like a book I would read, with its logical defects and poor writing, but perhaps that was the real point of the review. There are already too many poorly thought out yet entertaining (in a sad sort of way) opinions in the world that I do not have to seek them out. Was the world so different in 1983?

Grandpa's review is most interesting (and strongest) when he discusses biology, of course.

He also suggests that chloroplasts may have been present in interstellar plant life, an absurd postulate because of the inordinate complexity of chloroplasts and their interdependence upon nuclei and other cellular organelles.

Grandpa follows up the biology discussion with the statement, "Excessive stretching to accommodate a literal scriptural interpretation is common," but, alas, Grandpa does not provide additional thoughts on this subject; I would have found discussion of this topic enlightening. In Brigham Young University: A House of Faith (1985), though, Grandpa is quoted regarding scriptural interpretation and evolution, as follows:

There is absolutely nothing in the scriptures which is incompatible with the concepts of organic evolution as now understood by trained biologists. ... The concept of evolution is at the very heart of the gospel. ... It is God's method of accomplishing His purposes.

Grandpa -- a trained biologist and a man of God -- says that organic evolution is "the very heart of the gospel" and "God's method of accomplishing His purposes," and I have no reason to doubt Grandpa on this.

Anyway, if you are interested in reading the full book review, it is available at http://content.lib.utah.edu/u?/dialogue,14624. Navigation was not intuitive -- at least, not to me -- but the "previous page" and "next page" links are on the left, above the table of contents list.

Your thoughts are always welcome in the comments. Or, perhaps, your review of my review of Grandpa's review of a poorly written book from a quarter-century ago is too meta at this point.