Intelligent Design (book)

Intelligent Design is a book authored by William A. Dembski, published in 1999 by InterVarsity Press. The book presents a formulation of intelligent design, a pseudoscientific argument for the existence of an intelligent cause or creator based on purported features of the natural world that proponents argue are best explained by intelligent design rather than natural processes such as evolution.

Dembski's work focuses on his concept of "specified complexity," which he argues can be used to distinguish intelligently designed systems from those produced by chance or natural law. He posits that specified complexity can be reliably detected and that its presence indicates intelligent agency. He argues that certain biological systems, such as the bacterial flagellum and the blood-clotting cascade, exhibit specified complexity and therefore must have been designed.

The book has been widely criticized by the scientific community, which rejects intelligent design as pseudoscience and a form of creationism. Critics argue that Dembski's concept of specified complexity is flawed and that his arguments are based on misrepresentations of evolutionary theory and a lack of understanding of complex systems. The central claims of Intelligent Design have not been empirically verified and have been refuted by scientific evidence. The book is considered a key text in the intelligent design movement.