In this book Mr. Whitefield goes to great lengths to be clear what the scriptures "don't" say and to let us hear them in their native tongue. The 150 pages Whitefield uses to translate the first chapter of Genesis demonstrate the effort required to read the Bible in such a way to argue nuances of words. It is impressive to see a layman's ability to reach scholarship in a topic as difficult as ancient Hebrew through pure devotion, diligence and patience. His original motivation for this work is to help pacify the heat of battle spawned by the "young earth" debate, but I feel that something much larger has been accomplished.
First, he has demonstrated that by using readily available reference and study materials we are all potentially capable of scholarly work. If nothing else, this eliminates the excuse we all so often use to broadly "interpret" the scriptures based on our personal assumptions about the subject because it is "too difficult" to discover the facts. We are more likely just too lazy to discover the facts.
Second, for the Christian reader, Mr. Whitefield has very clearly pointed out that the Christian battle against Darwinism is not a battle against science. No reputable scientist would back long-term interspecies evolution given the volumes of evidence against it and almost total lack of evidence for it. The Darwin church of believers (boy, won't they hate that description!) is as bad about reading "into" science as the Christian church has been about reading "into" the scriptures. Mr. Whitefield should write a companion book on properly reading the first chapter of the scientific method!
Finally, for the scientist reader, Mr. Whitefield shows that the scientist's battle is not with the Bible. Although they may find themselves at many times in debates with Christians, that debate is man-to-man not man-to-God. It is not sound logic to argue about a point the Bible doesn't make.
On a more practical note, this book is a work of scholarship, and it is not a novel on creation and evolution. Expect to study and learn not just to sit back and be entertained with someone else's opinion on creation. I think Mr. Whitefield's true purpose in writing this book would be most fulfilled if upon study you felt more qualified and comfortable in forming your own educated opinion. If you are willing to learn then buy this book!