Scientists & Scholars
Unlocking the Mystery of Life includes interviews with many scientists and scholars who have devoted their careers to the study of evolution and intelligent design. Here you will find more information about the experts featured in the film.
Stephen C. Meyer
Stephen C. Meyer is Director of the Center for Science and Culture at Discovery Institute. Formerly a geophysicist with Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO), Meyer earned his Ph.D. in the history and philosophy of science at Cambridge University as a Rotary International Scholar. From 1990-2002, he was on the faculty of Whitworth College. Meyer is the author of peer-reviewed publications in technical, scientific, and philosophical journals. His latest book is Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design. His other books include Darwinism, Design and Public Education and Explore Evolution. Stephen Meyer’s website can be visited at www.stephencmeyer.org.
Paul Nelson
Paul Nelson is a Philosopher of Biology, specializing in evolutionary developmental biology. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1998, and is presently an Adjunct Professor in the M.A. Program in Science and Religion at Biola University. Nelson has published articles in journals including Biology & Philosophy and Zygon and has contributed essays to numerous anthologies.
Michael J. Behe
Michael J. Behe is Professor of Biological Sciences at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. He received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Pennsylvania in 1978. Behe's current research involves delineation of design and natural selection in protein structures. In addition to publishing over 35 articles in refereed biochemical journals, he has also written editorial features in Boston Review, American Spectator, and The New York Times. His book, Darwin's Black Box discusses the implications for neo-Darwinism of what he calls "irreducibly complex" biochemical systems. The book was internationally reviewed in over one hundred publications and recently named by National Review and World magazine as one of the 100 most important books of the 20th century.
Jonathan Wells
Jonathan Wells is currently a Senior Research Biologist at the Discovery Institute. He holds two Ph.D.s; one in Molecular & Cell Biology from the University of California at Berkeley, and one in Religious Studies from Yale University. He has worked as a postdoctoral research biologist at the University of California at Berkeley and as supervisor of a medical laboratory in Fairfield, California. He also taught biology at California State University/ Hayward. Wells has published articles in numerous journals and is the author of Icons of Evolution: Why much of what we teach about evolution is wrong and The Politically-Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design, and co-author of The Design of Life.
Jed Macosko
Jed C. Macosko is an Assistant Professor of Biophysics at Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC. He received his B.S. in Chemistry from MIT and his Ph. D. from UC Berkeley for his work on influenza hemagglutinin and HIV RNA. Macosko's research involves the detection of forces in single biomolecules and molecular machines by using microspheres and centrifugal force. He studies protein motors and machines, mapping their potential energy surfaces. Surveying and mapping the potential energy surfaces of protein machines is essential for understanding their function and for developing drugs to halt their activity.
Scott Minnich
Scott Minnich holds a Ph.D. from Iowa State University and is currently Associate Professor of Microbiology at the University of Idaho. He is a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture and a fellow of the International Society for Complexity, Information and Design. Minnich is widely published in technical journals including the Journal of Bacteriology, Molecular Microbiology, the Journal of Molecular Biology, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Journal of Microbiological Method, Food Technology, and the Journal of Food Protection.
Dean Kenyon
Dean H. Kenyon is Professor Emeritus of Biology at San Francisco State University. He received his Ph. D. in Biophysics from Stanford University. He was a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in Chemical Biodynamics at the University of California at Berkeley, a Research Associate at NASA-Ames Research Center, and a Visiting Scholar at Trinity College, Oxford University. Kenyon coauthored Biochemical Predestination and Of Pandas and People: The Central Question of Biological Origins.
William A. Dembski
William A. Dembski is Research Professor in Philosophy at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth. He is also a Senior Fellow with Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture in Seattle and Executive Director of the International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design. Dembski has taught at Northwestern University, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of Dallas. He has done postdoctoral work in mathematics at MIT, in physics at the University of Chicago, and in computer science at Princeton University. Dembski is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he earned a B.A. in Psychology, an M.S. in Statistics, and a Ph. D in Philosophy. He also received a Doctorate in Mathematics from the University of Chicago in 1988 and a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1996. He has held National Science Foundation graduate and postdoctoral fellowships. Along with publishing articles in mathematics, philosophy, and theology journals, Dembski has also written several books including The Design Inference: Eliminating Chance Through Small Probabilities and No Free Lunch: Why Specified Complexity Cannot Be Purchased without Intelligence and maintains the blog Uncommon Descent.
Phillip E. Johnson
Phillip E. Johnson is co-founder and Program Advisor for the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture. He received a B.A. in English Literature from Harvard before studying law at the University of Chicago. Johnson taught law at the University of California/ Berkeley from 1967-2000. Johnson is considered by many to be the father of the Intelligent Design movement. His book Darwin on Trial is considered one of the seminal works on Darwinism and design.
