How a Scientist Changed the Way We Think

With the publication of the international bestseller The Selfish Gene some thirty years ago, Richard Dawkins powerfully captured a newly emerging way of understanding evolution--a gene's eye view. Dawkins went on to publish five more bestselling books, including The Blind Watchmaker and Unweaving the Rainbow. He is one of the most high profile public intellectuals today and any attempt to understand the scientific view of the world must grapple with his ideas.

Now, in this exciting collection of original essays, some of the world's leading thinkers offer their take on how Dawkins has changed the way we think. Readers will find stimulating pieces by Daniel Dennett, the renowned philosopher of mind and author of Darwin's Dangerous Idea; Steven Pinker, the brilliant Harvard linguist who wrote The Language Instinct and The Blank Slate; Matt Ridley, author of the bestselling Genome; and James Watson, who with Francis Crick discovered the structure of DNA, arguably the greatest scientific discovery of the last century.
Dawkins' widely admired literary style forms the subject of several pieces, including one from novelist Philip Pullman (author of the bestselling His Dark Materials trilogy). As one of the world's best known rationalists, Dawkins' stance on religion is another theme in this collection, explored by Simon Blackburn, Michael Ruse, Michael Shermer, and the Bishop of Oxford. Numbering twenty in all, these articles are not simply rosy tributes, but explore how Dawkins' ideas have shaped thinking and public debate, and include elements of criticism as well as thoughtful praise.

Richard Dawkins' work has had the rare distinction of generating as much excitement outside the scientific community as within it. This stimulating volume is a superb summation of the depth and range of his influence.

User Review - Goodreads

Review: Richard Dawkins: How a Scientist Changed the Way We Think
User Review - Goodreads
Great book about a very interesting man. After reading many of his books it was great to see how he ended up where he did. Looking forward to the second book.

User Review - Goodreads
We think in ways other than empirical verification, ie a priori analytical verification, or poetic sympathetic convergence, both of which are more important to the 'way we live' than is 'science'.

Popular passages

Page 232 - IF IT could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down.‎
Appears in 241 books from 1838-2008

Page 107 - One may accept the Brentano thesis either as showing the indispensability of intentional idioms and the importance of an autonomous science of intention, or as showing the baselessness of intentional idioms and the emptiness of a science of intention. My attitude, unlike Brentano's, is the second.‎
Appears in 63 books from 1920-2007

Page 234 - The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.‎
Appears in 119 books from 1845-2008

Page 84 - The ground rule — or perhaps doctrine would be a better term — is that adaptation is a special and onerous concept that should be used only where it is really necessary. When it must be recognized, it should be attributed to no higher a level of organization than is demanded by the evidence. In explaining adaptation, one should assume the adequacy of the simplest form of natural selection, that of alternative...‎
Appears in 27 books from 1934-2007

Page 262 - We have kept our appointment and that's an end to that. We are not saints, but we have kept our appointment. How many people can boast as much?‎
Appears in 96 books from 1844-2008

Page 259 - Nor ought we to feel our situation insecure. In every nature, and in every portion of nature, which we can descry, we find attention bestowed upon even the minutest parts. The hinges in the wings of an earwig, and the joints of its antennae, are as highly wrought as if the Creator had nothing else to finish.‎
Appears in 47 books from 1804-2007

Page 104 - We are survival machines — robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes.‎
Appears in 144 books from 1869-2008

Page 262 - Dr. Rieux resolved to compile this chronicle, so that he should not be one of those who hold their peace but should bear witness in favor of those plague-stricken people; so that some memorial of the injustice and outrage done them might endure; and to state quite simply what we learn in time of pestilence: that there are more things to admire in men than to despise.‎
Appears in 37 books from 1971-2007

Page 53 - The question of chromosomes as the presumed ' ' bearers of hereditary qualities" seems to be an idle one. I am not able to see any reason for localizing "the factors of heredity" (ie, the genotypical constitution) in the nuclei. The organism is in its totality penetrated and stamped by its genotype-constitution. All living parts of the individual are potentially equivalent as to genotypeconstitution.‎
Appears in 9 books from 1911-2007

About the author (2007)

Alan Grafen is Professor of Theoretical Biology in the Department of Zoology at Oxford. He is co-author of iModern Statistics for the Life Sciences/i (OUP, 2002) and numerous scientific papers. Dr Mark Ridley lectures at the Department of Zoology at Oxford, and is best known as the author of a number of books, including iEvolution/i (Blackwell, 2e, 2003), iEvolution: A Reader/i (OUP, 2e, 2003) and the critically acclaimed iMendel's Demon/i (Wiedenfeld, 2000).

Bibliographic information

Title
Richard Dawkins: How a Scientist Changed the Way We Think: Reflections by Scientists, Writers, and Philosophers

Product Details
Hardcover: 298 pages
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (May 1st 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0199291160
ISBN-13: 978-0199291168
Editors Alan Grafen, Mark Ridley
Edition illustrated
Subjects: Science › Life Sciences › Evolution