Introduction

Introduction

The field of engineering is divided into many different branches, but its main objective is to make our daily lives more comfortable, easier and safer. A great many details we hardly think about are the products of engineering—designs and technology that have emerged after years of research, experience, and hard work by well-trained individuals.

For example, the refrigerator that keeps your food from spoiling was designed by engineers, as were your television, music set, elevator, watch, car and computer. All industrial machinery, satellites, spacecraft, and military technology are the product of engineering, representing the work and brainpower of a great many people.

Just like these designs that make our lives easier, there are countless designs in the bodies of living things that make their lives possible at all: perfectly functioning wings, cells that work like miniaturized chemical laboratories, infra-red-sensitive eyes that let their owners see in the dark, thick skin that can withstand heavy blows and harsh climatic conditions, and suckers that make it possible to walk on smooth surfaces— to name but a few.

When we compare such perfect designs in living things to the artificial designs that they often inspired, a striking parallel emerges: almost all the products of man's technology are no more than imitations of those in nature; and usually, they fail to match the superior design in living things.

Throughout this book, we shall be examining just a few of the proofs of this evident truth.

The Incomparable Design in Living Things

Scientists have carried out various studies on how owls are able to approach their prey so silently in the still of night without making themselves heard. Research carried out under the U.S. Air Force's "Ghost Plane Project" revealed these birds' faultless wing design.

The feathers of other bird species have sharp edges, while owls' feathers do not. This enables the animal to fly and hunt at night, completely silently.

According to a statement by scientists at NASA's Langley Research Center, the soft edges of an owl's feathers prevent air turbulence, that in turn prevents noise. When looking for ways of making ghost planes fly through the sky without being detected, military designers copied the owl feather's structure.1

"Ghost" planes invisible to modern radar have been manufactured, but the noise from all low-flying planes can be heard from hundreds of meters away. Scientists are trying to solve this problem by studying the silent flight of owls and adapting their wings' designs.

At the world's busiest airports, planes land and take off roughly every two to three minutes during the day. Airway traffic of this density is controlled by leaving between planes a distance of 4 to 5 km (2 to 3 miles). This minimum security distance needed is determined by such considerations as the size of the plane and its maneuverability.2

Yet birds fly in huge flocks, with a far greater density than that of airplanes in formation. How do hundreds of creatures fly with such control and safety at the same time?

Consider the plover, which lives in coastal areas. The "safety gap" for this species is only a few lengths, yet the birds fly at more than 30-40 km (18-25 miles) per hour. Despite that speed, however, they are able to take off and land with ease.

This superior flying ability requires a special engineering calculation, which aircrafts have not yet been able to achieve. Long years of research have produced some high-maneuverability planes, such as helicopters that can hang suspended in the air and land and take off vertically. Yet these machines' flying abilities and maneuverability come nowhere near to those exhibited by living things.

The structures in the bodies of living things are far superior to those we humans have designed. This perfection can be clearly seen when we consider just the example of wings. How did these incomparable designs come about? Why is it that the owl has silent wings that lets it hunt at night, and not the noisy wings of a pigeon or a swan? How does the pit viper locate its prey at night by using its infrared sensor? Who placed all these complex systems— which our human engineers now strive to duplicate—in the bodies of living things?

Evolutionists answer such questions by supposing that living things acquired their present characteristics through accidental genetic changes in their bodies over time, in other words, by "gradual change." Yet this claim is meaningless when considered in the light of logic and reason, as well as the scientific facts. It is impossible for cells to have come about by chance and then, of their own accord, to have combined to form such flawless structures. This is just as irrational and illogical as claiming that giant skyscrapers or bridges came into being by accident.

It's impossible for even one of the billions of cells that comprise the bodies of living things to have arisen by chance. The cell's structure is so complex that it cannot be reproduced even with today's technology. All attempts to create an artificial cell have ended in failure. Countless similar examples of design in nature reveal the evident truth that God, the Lord of infinite might and knowledge, designed all living things right down to their tiniest details, in an incomparably perfect manner. Evolutionists find themselves in a position that needs to be weighed more carefully.

The presence of perfect technologies in the bodies of a tiny insect, fish, or bird, far superior to those planned by man, reveals proof that they were created. These unique designs in nature are the work of Almighty God, Who in one verse reveals:

Say: "Who is the Lord of the heavens and the Earth?" Say: "God." Say: "So why have you taken protectors apart from Him who possess no power to help or harm themselves?" Say: "Are the blind and seeing equal? Or are darkness and light the same? Or have they assigned partners to God who create as He creates, so that all creating seems the same to them?" Say: "God is the Creator of everything. He is the One, the All-Conquering." (Surat ar-Ra'd: 16)

This book's purpose is to let the reader grasp the infinite might of God by revealing once again, from a different perspective, the perfect designs that have existed in nature, unchanged for billions of years.

Intelligent Design, in other words Creation

In order to create, God has no need to design

It's important that the word "design" be properly understood. That God has created a flawless design does not mean that He first made a plan and then followed it. God, the Lord of the Earth and the heavens, needs no "designs" in order to create. God is exalted above all such deficiencies. His planning and creation take place at the same instant.

Whenever God wills a thing to come about, it is enough for Him just to say, "Be!"

As verses of the Qur'an tell us:

His command when He desires a thing is just to say to it, "Be!" and it is. (Surah Ya Sin: 82)

[God is] the Originator of the heavens and Earth. When He decides on something, He just says to it, "Be!" and it is. (Surat al-Baqara: 117)

1. "Owls Teach Scientists to Fly Silently," CNN.com; http://www.cnn.com/NATURE/9903/05/owls.enn/index.html
2. John Brackenbury, Insect in Flight, Distributed in the US by Sterling; annotation copyright by Book News, Inc. Portland, March 1996, p. 11.