The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing, Edited by Richard Dawkins

Christopher Hirst
Thursday 01 October 2009 19:00 EDT
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Reviewing Dawkins's latest offering The Greatest Show on Earth in this paper, Marek Kohn noted how the academic bruiser was also "fired with the need to explain and inspire": "If Dawkins carries on in this way, he'll be hailed as a national treasure yet."

Further evidence of the humane didacticism of Darwin's most tenacious champion comes in this engaging selection. Though Dawkins's belligerent certainty alienates many, he includes a view from Carl Sagan: "We will always be mired in error.

The most each generation can hope for is to move the error bars a little." If some inclusions bristle with the equations that are the language of science, others act as easily negotiable foothills to these mathematical crags.

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