The Greatest Show on Earth

Charles Darwin's masterpiece, "On the Origin of Species", shook society to its core on publication in 1859. Darwin was only too aware of the storm his theory of evolution would provoke but he would surely have raised an incredulous eyebrow at the controversy still raging a century and a half later. Evolution is accepted as scientific fact by all reputable scientists and indeed theologians, yet millions of people continue to question its veracity. In "The Greatest Show on Earth", Richard Dawkins takes on creationists, including followers of 'Intelligent Design' and all those who question the fact of evolution through natural selection. Like a detective arriving on the scene of a crime, he sifts through fascinating layers of scientific facts and disciplines to build a cast-iron case: from the living examples of natural selection in birds and insects; the 'time clocks' of trees and radioactive dating that calibrate a timescale for evolution; the fossil record and the traces of our earliest ancestors; to confirmation from molecular biology and genetics. All of this, and much more, bears witness to the truth of evolution. "The Greatest Show on Earth" comes at a critical time: systematic opposition to the fact of evolution is now flourishing as never before, especially in America. In Britain and elsewhere in the world, teachers witness insidious attempts to undermine the status of science in their classrooms. Richard Dawkins provides unequivocal evidence that boldly and comprehensively rebuts such nonsense. At the same time he shares with us his palpable love of the natural world and the essential role that science plays in its interpretation. Written with elegance, wit and passion, it is hard-hitting, absorbing and totally convincing.

ISBN 059306173X   Pages 480 ISBN13 9780593061732 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 932 Publisher Transworld Publishers Ltd   Published in London Imprint Bantam Press   Height (mm) 238 Format Hardback   Width (mm) 157 Publication date 10 Sep 2009   Spine width (mm) 41 DEWEY 576.8   Academic level General DEWEY edition DC22

Ch. 1		Only a theory?		1
Ch. 2		Dogs, cows and cabbages		19
Ch. 3		The primrose path to macro-evolution		43
Ch. 4		Silence and slow time		83
Ch. 5		Before our very eyes		109
Ch. 6		Missing link? What do you mean, 'missing'?		143
Ch. 7		Missing persons? Missing no longer		181
Ch. 8		You did it yourself in nine months		209
Ch. 9		The ark of the continents		251
Ch. 10		The tree of cousinship		285
Ch. 11		History written all over us		337
Ch. 12		Arms races and 'evolutionary theodicy'		373
Ch. 13		There is grandeur in this view of life		397
App		The history-deniers		427
		Notes		439
		Bibliography and Further Reading		447
		Picture Acknowledgements		455
		Index		459

 Be the first to write a customer review

Watch a video interview with Richard Dawkins