In addition I wanted to write a Southern novel, because I’m a Southerner.

America in particular imposes an horrendous burden on the world. We have this wonderful standard of living but it comes at enormous cost.

I grew up as a Southern Baptist with strict adherence to the Bible, which I read as a youngster.

It’s like having astronomy without knowing where the stars are.

Of course, there is no reconciliation between the theory of evolution by natural selection and the traditional religious view of the origin of the human mind.

What’s been gratifying is to live long enough to see molecular biology and evolutionary biology growing toward each other and uniting in research efforts.