Debate over the origin of man is as much alive in the 21^st century as it was during the famous Scopes trial of 1925. A 2001 Gallup Poll found the public about evenly divided between belief that God created man within the last 10,000 years and belief in some form of evolution. At the very heart of the question of the origin of man is the matter of the origin of the earth.

How did the earth arrive at its present condition? Was it through slow, random, evolutionary changes? Or is there evidence the earth was called into existence by an infinite Creator who is above and beyond His creation? This book deals with these questions as I tell of my efforts to unlock the secrets of nature hidden within the Precambrian granites—the foundation rocks of the earth (Appendix, pp. 322-323).

According to modern evolutionary theory, our planet originated from the accumulation of hot, gaseous material ejected from the sun, and the Precambrian granites were among the first rocks to form during the cooling process. University science courses convinced me that the evolution of the earth was just a part of the cosmic evolution of the universe. As a result I became a theistic evolutionist. Years later I began to re-examine the scientific basis for that decision. My thoughts turned to the age of the earth and the Precambrian granites. Were they really billions of years old? The supposed proof of their great age involved certain concentric ring patterns found in the granites. Under the microscope a tiny radioactive particle could be seen at the center of the rings, like the bull's eye at the center of an archery target. These microscopic-sized ring patterns became known as radioactive halos because of their radioactive origin and their halo-like appearance.

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Adventure in Science

My enthusiasm for pursuing research on radioactive halos began a few decades ago while I was teaching and working toward a doctorate in physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. I was informed, however, that the age of the earth had already been scientifically determined, and it was not something the physics department wanted to have reinvestigated. Concerns were expressed that I might find something which would conflict with the accepted evolutionary time scale, and this could be a cause of considerable embarrassment to Georgia Tech. Since the outlook for my research on radiohalos was unfavorable, my plans for completing the doctorate program were forfeited.

Working at home, I used a microscope to search for radiohalos in thin, translucent sections of granite-type rocks. One spring day in 1965 I was pondering over some special types of halos; there seemed to be conflicting requirements as to their origin. According to evolutionary geology, the granites now containing these special halos had originally formed as hot magma slowly cooled over long ages. On the other hand, the radioactivity responsible for these special halos had such a fleeting existence that it would have disappeared long before the magma had time to cool and form the granite rocks. I wondered how this baffling problem would be resolved.

As I peered into the microscope to view these tiny halos again, some profound questions flashed through my mind: Was it possible that the Precambrian granites were not the end product of slowly cooling magma, but instead were the rocks God created when He spoke this planet into existence? Were the special halos evidence of an instantaneous creation? Were they the Creator's fingerprints in Earth's primordial rocks? Was creation a matter of science as well as faith? I determined to explore these questions.

My goal, then, was clear: to pursue an investigation of these halos with the aim of publishing definitive results in well-known scientific journals. I felt the scientific community needed to examine my work prior to presenting it to nonscientists as evidence of creation. My investigations would require expensive research equipment, and the prospects of gaining access to such equipment seemed dim. There was no laboratory space save that carved from a small room in my house and no equipment but a borrowed microscope. Even the granite-type rocks used in my studies had been borrowed from a university in Nova Scotia. Personal funds were almost nonexistent. At the time I could not visualize where this meager beginning would lead in the future.

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Though I was an unknown in the scientific community when my research began, a few years later a way opened for me to affiliate for one year as a guest scientist at one of America's national research laboratories. Exceptionally cordial relations were established, and my stay was extended for thirteen years until June 30, 1982. During that time the laboratory's facilities were accessible for all phases of my research, including work on the special radiohalos.

The story behind these investigations, some of which provide evidence for a worldwide flood and young earth, is related in the pages of this book. It provides a behind-the-scenes account of the events surrounding the publication of over twenty reports in notable scientific journals. And it reveals how the scientific establishment reacts when one of its superstatus theories is threatened.

Creation on Trial

The book also details the last year of my guest appointment at the national laboratory, when I was faced with one of the most difficult decisions of my life: whether or not to testify as an expert witness in the 1981 Arkansas creation/evolution trial. The friendship and good will I had established with other scientists over the years were at stake, as was the opportunity to continue my research at this laboratory. As the trial drew near, a number of prominent evolutionists persisted in declaring that scientific evidence for creation was nonexistent.

It seemed the time had come for this claim to be publicly examined. I decided to confront the issue by testifying for creation at the Arkansas trial. There my work would be scrutinized by renowned scientists. They would have an opportunity to expose any flaws. If the special halos in Precambrian granites were not evidence for creation, they should be able to provide an alternative explanation—one which could be scientifically verified. But if the evidence for creation could withstand the scrutiny of some of the world's leading evolutionists and remain untarnished, this scientific truth should not remain hidden from the public.

At the trial, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argued against the Arkansas law requiring balanced teaching of evolution and creation science. They contended that creation science is religion in disguise because there is no scientific evidence for creation. All their science witnesses, including a world authority in geology, agreed to this view before the court. Under cross-examination the Deputy Attorney General asked this geologist [p. 4] whether he could explain the special halos in the granites. He responded that I had found a "tiny mystery" which scientists would someday solve.

This was a moment I had long waited for—a moment of truth. By postponing the day of reckoning to the indefinite future, one of the world's foremost geologists had deftly sidestepped a major confrontation with the evidence for creation. Yet press reports carried virtually no mention of this event. Moreover, after widely publicizing the evolutionary witnesses' testimony during the first week of the trial, some of the nation's leading newspapers let my testimony fade into oblivion as the trial drew to a close. When my testimony began, some of the media representatives actually left the courtroom.

In other instances the media reports, especially those in various scientific magazines, dealt a fatal blow to my hopes of continuing research at the national laboratory. One prestigious science journal denied me the right to correct a misleading account of my testimony—an action that had far-reaching effects on my research endeavors.

The aftermath of the Arkansas trial was a difficult period, one of those times marked by apparent failure. The ACLU had convinced the judge that my results were irrelevant to the creation/evolution issue. I went to the trial to settle the question of whether valid scientific evidence exists for creation. Yet my presence there had produced only an admission that I had found "a tiny mystery." The scientific press generally cooperated with the ACLU and their expert witnesses in writing my scientific obituary. My search for truth wasn't over, but my contributions to science seemed destined to remain entombed in obscurity.

Then some other thoughts occurred to me. The trial had been the crucial test of the scientific evidences for creation. Indeed, those evidences had stood unrefuted after the most critical examination. Like nothing else could have done, the trial had shown that creation does have a scientific basis. I began to realize that the secrets locked within the granite rocks—the secrets until now hidden within earth's invisible realm—provided the key which unlocked the scientific truth about the origin of the earth and humankind as well. I sensed this information might be of considerable import to the millions of individuals on this planet who are ardently searching for truth about their roots and their destinies. Thus the impetus for this book was born out of the ashes of my apparent defeat at the trial.