Short description
A polemic against anti-science movements of several kinds. Keats accused Newton of destroying the poetry of the rainbow by explaining the origin of its colours. In this book, Richard Dawkins argues that Keats could not have been more mistaken, and shows how an understanding of science enhances our wonder of the world.
Long description
A dazzling, passionate polemic against anti-science movements of all kinds. Keats accused Newton of destroying the poetry of the rainbow by explaining the origin of its colours. In this illuminating and provocative book, Richard Dawkins argues that Keats could not have been more mistaken, and shows how an understanding of science enhances our wonder of the world. He argues that mysteries do not lose their poetry because they are solved: the solution is often more beautiful than the puzzle, uncovering even deeper mysteries. Dawkins takes up the most important and compelling topics in modern science, from astronomy and genetics to language and virtual reality, combining them in a landmark statement on the human appetite for wonder.
Review
A spellbinding storyteller. The New York Times
Brilliance and wit. The New Yorker
An extended rebuttal - not so much by argument as by radiant example - of perennial anti-science convictions. Few among us are better qualified for the job. If any recent writing about science is poetic, it is this. The Wall Street Journal
Like an extended stay on a brain health-farm . . .You come out feeling lean, tuned and enormously more intelligent. The Times of London