The New York Times
Dawkins is creative, articulate and, above all, emotional.—Christine Kenneally
Publishers Weekly
Oxford don Dawkins is familiar to readers with any interest in evolution. While the late Stephen Jay Gould was alive, he and Dawkins were friendly antagonists on the question of whether evolution "progresses" (Gould: No, Dawkins: Yes, depending on your definition of "progress"). Dawkins's The Selfish Gene has been very influential, not least for his introduction of the "meme," sort of a Lamarckian culturally inherited trait. In this, his first collection of essays, Dawkins muses on a wide spectrum of topics: why the jury system isn't the best way to determine innocence or guilt; the vindication of Darwinism (or what he insists is properly called neo-Darwinism) in the past quarter-century; the fallacy in thinking that individual genes, for instance a "gay gene," can be directly linked to personality traits; what he sees as the dangers of giving opponents the benefit of the doubt just because they wrap their arguments in religious belief; several sympathetic pieces on Gould; and a final section on why we all can be said to be "out of Africa." Fans of Dawkins's earlier books should snap up this collection. Readers new to him may find that the short format (many of these essays were originally forewords to books, book reviews or magazine pieces) doesn't quite do his reputation justice. Dawkins will antagonize some readers by his attacks on religion: his tone in these essays may fall just short of intellectual arrogance, but he certainly exhibits an intellectual impatience not always beneficial to his argument. Still, Dawkins's enthusiasm for the diversity of life on this planet should prove contagious. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
A major Darwinian apologist, Dawkins put forth the idea that genes play a role in natural selection and dismissed so-called intelligent design theories of creation. This collection of disparate writings and essays, first published in scholarly monographs, newspapers such as the Guardian, and the electronic edition of Forbes, reinforces his position. In some selections, he eloquently pits scientific endeavors such as genetic engineering against what he sees as muddled and uninformed critics. In others, he ridicules pseudoscience as exemplified by "crystals" and misuse of scientific terminology in the social sciences. In "Darwinism Triumphant," Dawkins promotes his view that Darwin's theories have a universality-the question of how life evolved on earth-unmatched by thinkers such as Marx or Freud. His criticism of religion ("a dangerous collective delusion") reaches a crescendo of invective in his response to the terrorist attacks of 9/11. A highlight is "Son of Moore's Law," which makes a striking analogy between increasingly inexpensive computing power and increasingly inexpensive genetic sequencing. At its best, the book reflects both the author's delight in science and the range and extendibility of his knowledge. It will complement any popular science collection in a public or academic science library and delivers an illuminating portrait of an extremely challenging and multifaceted contemporary scientist. (Many of these essays are also available on the unofficial Dawkins web site, www.world-of-dawkins.com.)-Garrett Eastman, Rowland Inst., Harvard Univ. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Collection of mostly previously published pieces that’s no déjà vu trip, but a pleasure-inducing voyage into scientific principles. To be sure, there are familiar essays on the meme (the word Dawkins coined to describe how cultural phenomena are transmitted from mind to mind like viruses able to infect and replicate) and in celebration of Darwinism. But the title piece, derived from Darwin’s comment on the "book a Devil’s chaplain might write" about the clumsy, wasteful, and cruel works of nature, has inspired Dawkins (Unweaving the Rainbow, 1998, etc.; Science/Oxford). Yes, nature is cruel, he writes, but we have the capacity to combat it, using our brains and science to make things better and overcome delusions. And so he does, in essays attacking genetic determinism, homeopathy, and postmodernism; a particularly splenetic section excoriates religions as the root cause of war. Halfway through, and the pace and tone change. Dawkins gives moving eulogies for friends and mentors: Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; evolutionary biologist W.D. Hamilton, who wanted to be buried where dung beetles could transform his corpse into new life; and Stephen Jay Gould, subject of an entire section that includes Dawkins’s reviews of his books as well as commentary revealing the mutual respect that transcended their differences. The collection ends with a section on Africa, where Dawkins was born, with visits to Richard and Maeve Leakey, adventures with a couple devoted to saving wildlife, and descriptions of two exceptional books about Africa, one written by the three children of an Englishwoman who decamped to Botswana to bring them up in the wild. As a last word, there isa letter Dawkins wrote to his daughter when she was ten admonishing her not to take anything on faith or tradition—but to ask for the evidence. And evidence, brilliantly presented and celebrated, is what readers will find here.
