Simon P’s Review: The Greatest Show On Earth: The Evidence for Evolution, by Richard Dawkins
One of the great shames of modern life is that Richard Dawkins is, for the time being, lost to the noise of the intense argument surrounding him. To be fair, he does more than his bit to generate this noise and to some, persuasion has long since given way to antagonism. To these people, even to some liberal agnostics, he is no longer Britain’s communicator in chief of natural wonder but AN Other zealot occupying an entrenched position.
So much so, it may just be that he is now only preaching to the converted, while the other lot have a finger inserted in each ear singing “la la la”. What a pity, because at his fluent best Richard Dawkins is the greatest communicator of complex scientific ideas in living memory.
If he carked it tomorrow, Dawkins’ reputation would probably not rest on this massive contribution to the public understanding of wonder, but on the anti-God stuff. It is true he doesn’t subscribe to the notion religion should be respected merely because lots of people believe in it. Also, his waspishness does not seek accommodation with faith because, according to him, when it comes to how the world came into being and how we came to be what we are, there simply isn’t one to be made. But his real life’s work is dedicated to promoting an evidentially orientated view of the beauty and grandeur of life on Earth.
Some argue this is simply “Scientism”, i.e. an alternative belief system. I’ve never thought this fair, due to one crucial difference: scientists cheerfully abandon their own theories when faced with contrary evidence. No scientist “believes” in gravity. They accept the current theory that explains it, but if that theory should fail it will be discarded and a new one developed. In Dawkins’ world, which greatly resembles the real one, hypotheses are continuously tested, disproved, discarded and replaced in a gradual accretion of knowledge of the world as it really is, instead of how some would wish it to be.
Although completely accepted by all reputable scientists, Evolution By Natural Selection has become the main Faith vs Reason battleground. Dawkins earlier books assumed Evolution to be self-evidently true, because who wouldn’t, and simply communicated how it works and what the incredible results all around us are. Since the success of The Selfish Gene and Climbing Mount Improbable in particular, holders of faith-based positions, “Evolution Deniers”, in Dawkins’ typically provocative description, have realised the threat to their constituency and the subject has exploded.
Having played a full part in that conflagration, you can now hear Dawkins’ frustration at being forced to talk about the controversy rather than the subject itself, at having been sucked into this argument over there, instead of talking about nature’s wonders over here. If only, according to him, we could see the real beauty and wonder, a billion times more complex and beautiful than creation myths the world over. After all, truth is beauty and beauty truth.
The Greatest Show On Earth is his attempt at filling this gap. Instead of assuming Evolution to be self-evidently true, The Greatest Show on Earth discusses the evidence and once again, waspish asides apart, Dawkins has constructed a clear, precise and overwhelming argument. Particular favourites include the deconstruction of the specific meaning of the word “theory” and a thorough debunking of the supposedly problematic notion of Missing Links. If this was a rerun of the Scopes monkey trial, Dawkins would have any open-minded jury firmly onside and be applauded out of the courtroom.
For this to be a genuine debate holders of an opposing view would need to come up with competing hypotheses supported by evidence in order to prove Dawkins wrong. So far they have failed to do anything other than create a controversy in order to keep religious people away from heretical books such as The Greatest Show On Earth.
So far so good. Evolution is as accepted in the scientific world as the heliocentric view of our solar system. Except that, unbelievably, large swathes of the planet don’t believe a word of it. Worse, governments, even those in secular democracies, make policy as though Evolution is an open question. Such is the clarity of Dawkins’ logic and the non-existence of a credible alternative, that this becomes “you have to laugh” territory, or alternatively the subject matter for an absurdist drama. Instead the argument is being fought in the classrooms of the world, with some surprising fellow travellers in the Denial camp. Still at least we don’t kill people for heresy anymore. Oh hang on…
The Greatest Show On Earth is a significant contribution to a wider understanding of the beauty of the world as it is – if only people could read it without hearing the noise of the surrounding argument. Fat chance. In this run up to Christmas The Greatest Show On Earth, is perhaps the best gift book money can buy.
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2 Comments on Simon P’s Review: The Greatest Show On Earth: The Evidence for Evolution, by Richard Dawkins
This is a very good review. I believe Dr. Dawkins would agree with it. I sure do, especially the parts that indicate the lucidity of Dawkins’ writing. Dawkins explanations resonate with me more than any bible story or church service that I have attended. He simply makes sense.
I understand that the “greatest communicator of complex scienwatific ideas in living memory” bit is a hyperbole meant to emphasize Dawkins’ lucidity in explaining science. He certainly is a powerful communicator.
The trouble with hyperboles like that is that they’re troublesome to decide. For one, they may get us fans of Feynmann annoyed.
Let us know your thoughts below