Saturday, February 4, 2012

Reviews of Books by Richard Dawkins:


***** The Greatest Show on Earth - Richard Dawkins - Everyone should read this book. Though parts of evolution are open to criticism, the idea of evolution has been proven. If you don’t believe me, then this is the best argument that supports the idea of evolution that I have come across. I learned much of this information at college, but the reading level is not very difficult and any adult should be able to grasp why people defend the theory of evolution, if they read this book.

**** The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins - I fall into the category of one of those believers that Dawkin's says deserve respect. That is Dawkins is not criticizing all believers in God. He is criticizing the believers in God that are delusional.

*** The Ancestor’s Tale (did not finish) – Richard Dawkins – I skipped the invertebrate section because I felt already he was being too speculative. This part made up a good portion of the book, and I might have read it, had it been shorter. I found the section on hominids very interesting. For example, Dawkins reports that our hominid ancestors could only speak with consonants, that is if they can speak at all. I have found The Ancestor’s Tale to be a valuable tool when debating the so called literal creationists. The best part of this book is that it accurately gives the accepted chronology of evolution, as it relates to humans, according to what the best scientists believe. But, in my opinion, prior

* The Extended Phenotype – Richard Dawkins Good idea, but boring. This one is supposedly Dawkins magnum opus, and if you ask me, it's a dud. The idea is essentially that the environment species are raised in is really an extended phenotype. Don't know what a phenotype is? Then, don't bother reading this one.


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