The Greatest Show on EarthThe Evidence for Evolution
- Narrated by
Lalla Ward
,Richard Dawkins
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Audiobook Download Information
- Edition:
- Unabridged (Audioworks)
- Length:
- 14 hours, 35 minutes
- File Size:
- 401 MB (14 files)
- Published:
- September 2009
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Review by Scott Esposito, eMusic
The world's preeminent atheist lays out a case for evolution
On the 150th anniversary of The Origin of Species, Richard Dawkins has attempted to silence evolution's critics once and for all. Good luck with that. Though is unlikely to end a debate that's raged for well over 100 years, it's nonetheless a splendid read for those who want to know the facts behind the theory.
Fresh off The God Delusion — which flamboyantly provoked believers and non-believers alike with his unapologetic atheism — the curmudgeonly professor has now taken it upon himself to explain evolution from front to back. Thankfully, with this topic Dawkins is on much firmer ground than religion: where many critics rightly dinged The God Delusion for Dawkins' spotty knowledge of theology, there's no such problem here; Dawkins made his name writing about evolutionary science, and is more than up to the job of laying out all the evidence in a single book.
As in-command of his material as Dawkins is, it's fair to ask why the world needs another book explaining evolution to the masses. In Dawkins' case, the answer is twofold: the quality of his writing and the sheer comprehensiveness of The Greatest Show on Earth. Page after page, there's an apt metaphor or a gleaming phrase at hand, and he ably tackles everything from the biological resemblance of a horse's hoof and our middle finger to supposed gaps in the fossil record. One might quibble with the book's tone — Dawkins compares creationists to Holocaust-deniers and calls them "a baying pack of ignoramuses" — but this passion and candor often enlivens what might otherwise be tedious material. Love him or hate him, there's no doubting that Dawkins' take on evolution is unlike anyone else's.
On the 150th anniversary of The Origin of Species, Richard Dawkins has attempted to silence evolution's critics once and for all. Good luck with that. Though
Fresh off The God Delusion — which flamboyantly provoked believers and non-believers alike with his unapologetic atheism — the curmudgeonly professor has now taken it upon himself to explain evolution from front to back. Thankfully, with this topic Dawkins is on much firmer ground than religion: where many critics rightly dinged The God Delusion for Dawkins' spotty knowledge of theology, there's no such problem here; Dawkins made his name writing about evolutionary science, and is more than up to the job of laying out all the evidence in a single book.
As in-command of his material as Dawkins is, it's fair to ask why the world needs another book explaining evolution to the masses. In Dawkins' case, the answer is twofold: the quality of his writing and the sheer comprehensiveness of The Greatest Show on Earth. Page after page, there's an apt metaphor or a gleaming phrase at hand, and he ably tackles everything from the biological resemblance of a horse's hoof and our middle finger to supposed gaps in the fossil record. One might quibble with the book's tone — Dawkins compares creationists to Holocaust-deniers and calls them "a baying pack of ignoramuses" — but this passion and candor often enlivens what might otherwise be tedious material. Love him or hate him, there's no doubting that Dawkins' take on evolution is unlike anyone else's.
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