Book Review: The Greatest Show on Earth, The Evidence for Evolution by Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins most recent book “The Greatest Show on Earth” is a must read if you have to deal with people who do not believe in evolution!
This new volume supports the theory of evolution by natural selection. Once you have read this book you’ll have a lot of data and facts to utilize in your next heated conversation on this sometimes controversial topic.
Dawkins texts on science were kept under wraps by the fame resulting from “The God Delusion”. The people who do not believe in ‘evolution’ generally tend to be extremely spiritual and religious people which are sometimes at odds with his work, possibly also down to his previous work “the god delusion”.
The author makes some bold statements, according to him if fossils had not been discovered, man would not have even considered evolution. Man would have not known the mysterious ways in which living things around us have evolved, the extinct living plants and animals and about how life existed thousands of years ago. Dawkins also takes into consideration molecular and radioactive dating, geological strata and plate tectonics, DNA sequencing, Darwin’s voyages and the remarkable Lenski experiments with bacterial evolution demonstrating evolution.
Understandable, convincing, believable and easy are the words which can be used to describe Richard Dawkins writing style. Most people will be able to understand this book, although sometimes you have to read the passage twice before clearly understanding the topic. Even subjects like genetic science can be easily understood without prior knowledge.
Dawkins is the type of author who doesn’t “dumb down” his material, he puts trust in his readers ability to understand him. At times his style of writing can also be humorous which is always good.
The Greatest Show on Earth is one of Dawkins masterpieces, perhaps the definitive book on evolution as well.