- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd (Sep 30 1999)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0140264086
- ISBN-13: 978-0140264081
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.2 x 1.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 322 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nothing more than what I was meant to be,
By Alex Greer (Dayton, OH United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder (Paperback)
What was I meant to be you may ask? A wonderful , loving , happy, well-centered human being! Most people think that because I am Atheist that I have no purpose, that life is bland and I just scrape my botton through it only to die! Not so . I am amazed everyday when I wake to this world, to the life within it. Dawkins explains , crosses the t's and dots the i's. A wonderful book, I say all should have it and enjoy it as much as I have.A wonderful writer with a brilliant mind.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unweaving the mysteries of the mind and universe,
This review is from: Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder (Paperback)
After reading Dawkins' classic works on evolution and combatting creationism (_The Selfish Gene_, _The Blind Watchmaker_ and _Climbing Mount Improbable_), I was unsure as to what more our Prof. Dawkins could relate to us in his latest instalment. However, to my delight it seems that my skepticism was ill-founded. In this volume Dawkins does for Science in general what his previous books did for evolution. The book's title refers to Keat's criticism of Newton for destroying the mystery and beauty of the rainbow. Dawkins' mission in this book is to show the public that naturalistic science is just as, if not more intriguing than a poet's perspective of the natural world. Dawkins takes the reader on a journey that spans the mysteries of the rainbow, radio waves and genetics with occasional interludes in debunking the pseudo-science of astrology and other supersitions. Dawkins' writing is riddled with quotes from famous poets and the prose itself is akin to that poetry. For those lay readers that consider themselves experts in the realms of ccience, this book may seem a bit simplistic in places. At times I found myself wondering about the relevance of certain chapters in the book to the central tenet that science in its most natural form is poetic, however I enjoyed the digressions as they were interesting nonetheless. Overall, I enjoyed this book thoroughly and in paritcular I felt a warmth emanating from the prose that could only have been exuded by one of the most brilliant humanistic thinkers of our time.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A one stop shop, not a specialty store!,
By Kevin Currie-Knight "Education Grad Student" (Newark, Delaware) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder (Paperback)
Richard Dawkins was the thinker that introduced me to evolutionary biology. His books give everything one could want - enthusiasm, wit, engagement, substance and splendor. I can't tink of many others I would want writing a book for the laity on the wonder of science. There are a few problems - the first may be relevant to everyone and the second, to those who've read Dawkins before. The first criticism is that this book starts off with a stated goal. I, Richard Dawkins, do solemnly swear to explain that science is not stuffy, a killjoy, or a myth (as postmodernism would have it.) The problem is that from the title, we suspect the first goal to occupy the bulk of the book but #3 takes up the entire second half, where Dawkins rails against the religious and the superstitious. Of course, I can hardly blame him but this was not the book to do it in because the title would be horribly misleading if it was. The second problem (applicable mostly to those who've read Dawkins before) is that most of this has been written before - not literally but figuratively. Most of these thing have been explained to us before, either by him, or by Carl Sagan, Isac Asimov or (second half of the book)James Randi and Michael Shermer. If you want a one stop shop, where you can get a broad overview of science in all its mystery and wonder, than get this and/or Sagan's "Science as a Candle in the Dark". Otherwise, if you'd like to focus on one piece or aspect of science more indepth, look elsewhere.
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