The world's leading scientific thinkers explore bold, remarkable, perilous ideas that could change our lives--for better . . . or for worse . . .
From Copernicus to Darwin, to current-day thinkers, scientists have always promoted theories and unveiled discoveries that challenge everything society holds dear; ideas with both positive and dire consequences. Many thoughts that resonate today are dangerous not because they are assumed to be false, but because they might turn out to be true.
What do the world's leading scientists and thinkers consider to be their most dangerous...
The world's leading scientific thinkers explore bold, remarkable, perilous ideas that could change our lives--for better . . . or for worse . . .
Are eugenics practices morally defensible? Who should have access to g enetic information about particular individuals? What dangers for cult ural and racial diversity do developments in genetics pose? And how sh ould scientific research be regulated and by whom? These are some of t he questions addressed in this book, which comprises the 1998 Oxford A mnesty Lectures. The lecturers are all respected in their specific fie ld, including Hilary Putnam, Ian Wilmut (co-creator of 'Dolly' the she ep), and Jonathan Glover. Each lecture is proceeded by a discussion ar ticle written by prominent...
Are eugenics practices morally defensible? Who should have access to g enetic information about particular individuals? What dangers for cult ural and...
What is a meme? First coined by Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene, a meme is any idea, behavior, or skill that can be transferred from one person to another by imitation: stories, fashions, inventions, recipes, songs, ways of plowing a field or throwing a baseball or making a sculpture. The meme is also one of the most important--and controversial--concepts to emerge since The Origin of the Species appeared nearly 150 years ago. In The Meme Machine Susan Blackmore boldly asserts: "Just as the design of our bodies can be understood only in terms of natural selection, so the design of our...
What is a meme? First coined by Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene, a meme is any idea, behavior, or skill that can be transferred from one person to...
In the last fifteen years a controversial new theory of the origins of biological complexity and the nature of the universe has been fomenting bitter debates in education and science policy across North America, Europe, and Australia. Backed by intellectuals at respectable universities, Intelligent Design Theory (ID) proposes an alternative to accepted accounts of evolutionary theory: that life is so complex, and that the universe is so fine-tuned for the appearance of life, that the only plausible explanation is the existence of an intelligent designer. For many ID theorists, the...
In the last fifteen years a controversial new theory of the origins of biological complexity and the nature of the universe has been fomenting bitter ...
How did the replication bomb we call "life" begin and where in the world, or rather, in the universe, is it heading? Writing with characteristic wit and an ability to clarify complex phenomena (the New York Times described his style as "the sort of science writing that makes the reader feel like a genius"), Richard Dawkins confronts this ancient mystery.
How did the replication bomb we call "life" begin and where in the world, or rather, in the universe, is it heading? Writing with characteristic wit a...
All living plants and animals, including man, are the modified descendants of one or a few simple living things. A hundred years ago Darwin and Wallace in their theory of natural selection, or the survival of the fittest, explained how evolution could have happened, in terms of processes known to take place today. In this book John Maynard Smith describes how their theory has been confirmed, but at the same time transformed, by recent research, and in particular by the discovery of the laws of inheritance.
All living plants and animals, including man, are the modified descendants of one or a few simple living things. A hundred years ago Darwin and Wallac...
Offers an assessment of what science is, how it feeds the human appetite for wonder, and how unweaving the mysteries of science can be even more beautiful than the mystery itself.
Offers an assessment of what science is, how it feeds the human appetite for wonder, and how unweaving the mysteries of science can be even more beaut...
Bringing together the best and brightest writers on science and nature, this year's collection includes essays on such wide-ranging subjects as astronomy's new stars, archaeology, the Bible, "terminal" ice, and memory faults.
Bringing together the best and brightest writers on science and nature, this year's collection includes essays on such wide-ranging subjects as astron...
The first collection of essays from renowned scientist and best-selling author Richard Dawkins.
Richard Dawkins's essays are an enthusiastic testament to the power of rigorous, scientific examination, and they span many different corners of his personal and professional life. He revisits the meme, the unit of cultural information that he named and wrote about in his groundbreaking work The Selfish Gene. He makes moving tributes to friends and colleagues, including a eulogy for novelist Douglas Adams; he shares correspondence with the evolutionary biologist...
The first collection of essays from renowned scientist and best-selling author Richard Dawkins.
Discovery" magazine has recently called Richard Dawkins "Darwins Rottweiler" for his fierce and effective defense of evolution. In his "New York Times" bestseller, Dawkins turns his considerable intellect on religion, denouncing its faulty logic and the suffering it causes.
Discovery" magazine has recently called Richard Dawkins "Darwins Rottweiler" for his fierce and effective defense of evolution. In his "New York Times...
