In the past few
weeks I have rediscovered a thick coffee table volume entitled Chronicle of the American Automobile—Over
100 years of Auto History by James M. Flammer. I occasionally encounter
this book and revel in pictures of automobiles in the post-World War II era. My
interest in automobile designs was piqued by the renewed availability of cars to
the public at the end of the war. Too young to drive, I settled for drawing the
new arrivals and memorizing grille and body features in what proved to be a surfeit
of designer imagination during that era.
Lest readers wonder
where this post is headed, I confess to my fascination with the chronicle of
automobile industry design and its analogies to design concepts in every aspect
of our lives. In the early 1990s Philip Johnson and others proposed the concept
of intelligent design to the public as an adjunct to more traditional concepts
of creationism. These proposals were an effort to counter the increasing
popularity of belief in evolution. As a reaction to Johnson and other
blossoming organizations such as Discovery Institute, the term intelligent design began to acquire a
somewhat negative reputation. Some posed suspicions that it was really a cover
for theistic creationism which had acquired antagonism from many mainstream
scientists who had gone to great lengths to establish science as a totally secular
enterprise.
You may ask why our
coffee table volume has anything to do with the concept of intelligent design.
We will attempt to pose analogies on two levels. As a pre-teen I was fascinated
with exterior automotive designs which tended to change rapidly in that era. The
designs were meant to be the work of talented designers--creative, esthetically
pleasing, and perhaps even excessive. Choices of colors offered could enhance
eye-catching appeal. The Chronicle volume
author did not shy from commending genius design strokes (“masterful,
aircraft-inspired…curvaceous roof and fender lines”) or criticizing clumsy
designs (“slab-sided or flush-fendered”). All considered, the hundreds of
automotive designs are the work of intelligent minds. We may call the book’s
608 pages a chronicle of automotive “intelligent design.” Features of
intelligent design are everywhere present in daily life and readily
identifiable from the mundane automobile to ubiquitous everyday wonders.
On another level
the buyer is concerned about the mechanical capabilities of their automotive
purchases. In particular, what about horsepower, braking, driving comfort, fuel
use, and entertainment? Automobile design is a blend of appearance and function.
Chronicle of the American Automobile
is a book on intelligent design. The Creator has enabled man to design
automobiles, homes, schools, and businesses and carry out each of our daily
activities using the principles of intelligent design. All human productions
are fueled by intelligent design. Who could pose disbelief, therefore, in
intelligent design in any of life’s contexts?
Personal coffee
table books sometimes tend to be tucked away for months or years. Many such
volumes are produced for our edification and instruction. We suggest that many of our books may enhance
awareness of ubiquitous intelligent design in our surroundings, man-made or in
the world of nature. Intelligent design is a God-provided characteristic of a
universe filled with order.
