About this title: In a brilliant follow-up to his blockbuster "The God Delusion," world-renowned evolutionary biologist and author Dawkins lays out the evidence for evolution.
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Binding: Hardback
Publisher: TRANSWORLD PUBLISHERS LTD Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780593061732ISBN:059306173X
Description: BRAND NEW HARDBACK. 480 pages. Takes on creationists, including followers of 'intelligent design' and those who question the fact of evolution through natural selection. 32-pages colour picture sections, plus 100 b&w line drawings integrated throughout text (Hardback) read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Free Press
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781416594789ISBN:1416594787
Description: New. Items ship once payments have cleared. Media mail 5-8 days Priority 2-3 days and international orders may be subject to customs clearance procedures which can cause delays. Seasonal delays can occur in postal system. All items ship within 24 hours of receiving payment. read more
Binding: Hardback
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781416594789ISBN:1416594787
Description: New. In a brilliant follow-up to his blockbuster "The God Delusion, " world-renowned evolutionary biologist and author Dawkins lays out the evidence for evolution. read more
Binding: Audiobook CD
Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781846571756ISBN:1846571758
Description: New. Takes on creationists, including followers of 'Intelligent Design' and all those who question the fact of evolution through natural selection. This title sifts through fascinating layers of scientific facts and disciplines to build a cast-iron case fr... read more
Description: New. PLEASE NOTE: All books are promptly shipped from our UK warehouse using Royal Mail or DHL. International Priority mail for non-UK deliveries. Delivery is typically 2-4 working days for UK delivery. Heavier or more expensive books are shipped with a TRACKING NUMBER. Professional and reliable bookseller (est.1987). read more
Description: New. Please note that deliveries to addresses in the UK and Europe will be in 4-14 business days. Other countries should refer to Alibris standard times. ISBN10: 1846571758. read more
"While I generally dislike Dawkins in interviews (he comes off as a brittle, humorless prick), I wanted a book that would arm me against creationists. Which is to say that I understood the basic tenets of evolution... but when you start getting into arguments with creationists, they throw out all sorts of facts that SOUND reasonable.
Well, Dawkins slays 'em. He lays out tons of information that says that, essentially, even if we'd never found a single fossil the evidence for evolution would be irrefutable. And he explains things very clearly, and logically, and gives good facts.
This is a must-read for anyone who needs an intro. Recommended strongly."
"Written by Richard Dawkins as a step-by-step rebuttal for natural selection against creationism, "The Greatest Show On Earth" attempts to arm its like-minded reader with an arsenal of facts, ostensibly for use in debate with Biblical literalists. Which begs the question, why bother?
On the topic of evolutionary biology, what we know, and how we know it, "The Greatest Show" is endlessly interesting and entertaining (although anyone with a passing familiarity with biology should not expect to have his or her mind blown). But, as with Dawkins' previous book "The God Delusion", there is the faint echo of a man preaching passionately to his choir of skeptics. On the one hand, he claims that he's rallying a well-informed army against anti-science forces, but on the other he knows perfectly well that facts don't work against faith. Moreover, Dawkins himself has claimed many times that creationists don't read.
So, while his opening image of the beleagued Classics professor trying to teach his syllabus without offending the obstinate student who doesn't believe Romans ever existed is both apt and sympathetic, I think this controversial (and what a shame that it is) premise distracts slightly from the book as a whole.
Or maybe evolutionary biologists just need to sell books, too, and controversy sells. I stood in line for two hours to see him speak last month, and he's become somewhat of a celebrity in the style of Carl Sagan or Stephen Hawking. His outspoken atheism has attracted many of these fans, including myself.
In the end, even if his target audience is unclear, I get the impression that he hopes to force a cultural shift by publicly shaming creationists through continued application of rational thought. I hope this works, but I'm, ahem, skeptical."
""Evolution is a fact. Beyond reasonable doubt, beyond serious doubt, beyond sane, informed, intelligent doubt, beyond doubt evolution is a fact."
So Dawkins ardently asserts by page seven of his latest coup de grace of scientific reasoning and logical deduction which is easily digestible by laypeople such as myself.
Dawkins also warns us readers several times of the ignorance that pervades our world, even in this new century.
"...some 40 million per cent of the American population, and a somewhat smaller percentage of the British population, claim to believe that the age of the Earth, far from being measured in billions of years, is less than 10,000 years. Lamentably, especially in America and over much of the Islamic world, some of these history-deniers wield power over schools and their syllabuses."
Although this hasn't been the norm for public schools here in Western Washington, despite being the home of the Discovery Institute, the supporters of intelligent design have attempted numerous times in recent decades to remake creationism in their challenge against the teaching of evolution. (One can only ponder the next moniker for creationism. Perhaps it could be called "scientifically intelligent design" in order to dupe those who won't bother to think things through for themselves first? Oh, but that's probably giving those folks a leg up on this ridiculous fight against true scientific evidence, inference, and reasoning.)
Religion, unlike science, has a hard time changing its mind no matter how incontrovertible the evidence against a mistaken belief.
"One of the nice things about science is that it is a public activity. Scientists publish their methods as well as their conclusions, which means that anybody else, anywhere in the world, can repeat their work. If they don't get the same results, we want to know the reason why."
Ask any established church that follows biblical literalism to open itself to public scrutiny and reasoned argument based upon data and empirical evidence, and you'll see a quick collapse of many, if not most, fundamentalist beliefs. (Dawkins skewers religion and its fallacies to much greater effect in his last book, The God Delusion.)
For the conservative-minded religious folk, Dawkins is obvious enemy number one in his relentless, yet reasoning, assault on their unquestioned beliefs. But for the secular-minded, his breadth of understanding of the nuances of evolution and its mechanisms is unparalleled. Consider reading The Greatest Show on Earth as time well spent."
"I liked Dawkins run down of Evolution more than other Evolution books I've read because he separates his tangents on Creationists from the topic of evolution. In other books I've read (wanting to learn more about Evolution) they get caught up in the language and boring science aspect, I feel bogged down with terms, only to wake up when the author finishes with "and that's why Creation could not have happened."
Dawkins does a great job of breaking it down. And although I don't care for battles for and against Evolution or Creation, it's hilarious for me to watch two sides go at it.
With Dawkins in the picture you get 1000 times more entertainment value than any other evolution book, and for that I recommend it."
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