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Dawkins, Richard : The Greatest Show On Earth: The Evidence For Evolution

Free Press, New York City, NY, 2009

ISBN 1416594787

First Edition / First Printing. As New in As New Dust Jacket. 470 pages. The author's book-length account on subject. One of the best books ever written on evolution in particular and science in general. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a regular first print run as a hardcover original only that sold out shortly after publication. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Richard Dawkins' "The Greatest Show On Earth". A meticulous and accessible account on a subject that he celebrates (more than argues) as indisputable scientific fact. The controversial author of "The God Delusion" "explains that all of his previous books have naively assumed the fact of evolution, which meant that he never got around to laying out the evidence that it is true. This shouldn't be too surprising: Science is an edifice of tested assumptions, and just as physicists must assume the truth of gravity before moving on to quantum mechanics, so do biologists depend on the reality of evolution. It's the theory that makes every other theory possible. Yet Dawkins also came to realize that a disturbingly large percentage of the American and British public didn't share his enthusiasm for evolution. In fact, they actively abhorred the idea, since it seemed to contradict the Bible and diminish the role of God. While it might fail as a work of persuasive rhetoric (Dawkins is too angry and acerbic to convince his opponents), it succeeds as an encyclopedic summary of evolutionary biology. If Charles Darwin walked into a 21st-century bookstore and wanted to know how his theory had fared, this is the book he should pick up. Dawkins remains a superb translator of complex scientific concepts. It doesn't matter if he's spinning metaphors for the fossil record (like a spy camera in a murder trial) or deftly explaining the method by which scientists measure the genetic difference between distinct species. He has a way of making the drollest details feel like a revelation. Even if one already believes in the survival of the fittest, there is something thrilling about learning that the hoof of a horse is homologous to the fingernail of the human middle finger or that some dinosaurs had a second brain of ganglion cells in their pelvis, which helped compensate for the tiny brain in their head. There is grandeur in this view of life" (Jonah Lehrer). An absolute "must-have" title for Richard Dawkins collectors. This title is a contemporary classic. This is one of few copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare copy thus. Lavishly illustrated with color plates. One of the greatest scientist/writers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER RICHARD DAWKINS TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 1416594787.

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