The Greatest Show on Earth
September 4, 2009 by Michael Nugent
“What is the greatest show on earth? Well, it’s life. The whole diversity of life, the complexity of life, the beauty of life, the sheer number of species that are all doing their own thing in their own way. How does it come about? By evolution. Evolution by natural selection. The book is about the evidence for evolution. How do we know it’s a fact?”
— Richard Dawkins introducing his new book, the Greatest Show on Earth
For decades before writing about reason and faith in The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins wrote prolifically about science for a popular audience. Now he returns to this turf, with a book that outlines the evidence for evolution. Here are some extracts and reviews of The Greatest Show on Earth, which is out today in the UK and on 22 Sep in the USA.
Extract from Chapter 1
“Imagine that you are a teacher of Roman history and the Latin language, anxious to impart your enthusiasm for the ancient world… Yet you find your precious time continually preyed upon, and your class’s attention distracted, by a baying pack of ignoramuses (as a Latin scholar you would know better than to say ignorami) who, with strong political and especially financial support, scurry about tirelessly attempting to persuade your unfortunate pupils that the Romans never existed…”
Extract from Chapter 2
“We can turn to the example of dogs for some important lessons about natural selection. All breeds of dogs are domesticated wolves: not jackals, not coyotes and not foxes. But I need to qualify this in the light of a fascinating theory of the evolution of the dog, which has been most clearly articulated by the American zoologist Raymond Coppinger. The idea is that the evolution of the dog was not just a matter of artificial selection. It was at least as much a case of wolves adapting to the ways of Man by natural selection…”
Review in The Times
“Thank the Lord for creationists. Without their blinkered belief in the biblical account of how life came to be, Richard Dawkins would never have felt the need to give us The Greatest Show on Earth. And what a fine, lucid and convincing exhibition he puts on, walking us through the natural world to demonstrate that evolution by natural selection is everywhere…”
Review in The Economist
“A SCIENTIST on a flight across America falls into conversation with his neighbour, who turns out to be gratifyingly interested in his research on wild guppy populations in Trinidad. He probes deeply the scientist’s methods, his findings and setbacks. Then comes the big question: what is the theory underlying the work? Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection, replies the scientist. The rest of the journey passes in chilly silence…”
Querying the Dawkins view of science
“At the website for Dawkins’ latest book, The Greatest Show on Earth, we read: “Evolution is accepted as scientific fact by all reputable scientists”. However, a theory like evolution may be composed of facts but it must always extend beyond logical boundaries into the unknown – such are the “facts” of logic on which science rests. We cannot therefore explain the process of modern science using reason alone as Dawkins would have us believe…”
Read full article in Australasian Science Magazine
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It's indeed a greatest show on earth, that is a different thing I hardly watch it.:S