Return to 2nd Quarter 2026 articles.

Ultimate Engineering

by Stuart Burgess
Discovery Institute Press, © 2026
$24.95 (paperback), 373 pages, ISBN-13: 978-1637120842

We rarely recommend a book to the point of encouraging our readers to buy it, but in this case, we want to do that. Stuart Burgess has held academic posts at the University of Cambridge, Liberty University, and the University of Bristol, where he served as chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. At the Rio, Tokyo, and Paris Olympics, he was the lead transmission designer for the British Olympic Cycling Team, helping them win gold medals in track cycling each time. His patented gearboxes are used on the European Space Agency's four largest Earth-observation satellites. He has also received many design awards, including the top mechanical engineering award in the U.K.

This book examines fifteen aspects of human biometrics. Each part shows that its design is beyond chance and could only have been created by a great Intelligence. The parts are the foot and ankle, knee joint, wrist joint, fingers, spine, mouth/nose/throat, jaw, middle ear, eye, skin, birth biometrics, blood circulatory system, digestive system, muscles and tendons, and nervous system.

After more than 200 pages of academic discussion of the body's design, the remaining 118 pages are devoted to answering questions and challenges from leading atheists. The book is highly documented and includes debates that Burgess has had with Richard Dawkins (page 334). If you buy one book in 2026, we suggest this would be the best use of your book budget.

— Reviewed by John N. Clayton