Modern Science Writing rar

Modern Science Writing by Richard Dawkins

My introductory remarks are distributed through the book itself, so
I shall here limit myself mostly to acknowledgements. The idea for an anthology
of modern science writing was put to me by Latha Menon of Oxford
University Press, and it was a pleasure to work with her on it. She
and I had previously collaborated on a collection of my own occasional
writings, and we slipped effortlessly back into the same synoptic vein as
before. We disagreed only over whether or not to include anything from
my own books. I won, and we didn’t.
This is a collection of good writing by professional scientists, not excursions
into science by professional writers. Another difference from John
Carey’s admirable Faber Book of Science is that we go back only one century.
Within that century, no attempt was made to arrange the pieces chronologically.
Instead, the selections fall roughly into four themes, although some
of the entries could have fi tted into more than one of these divisions. My
biggest regret concerns the number of excellent scientists that I have had to
leave out, for reasons of space. I would apologize to them, did I not suspect
that my own pain at their omission is greater than theirs. The collection is
limited to the English language and, with very few exceptions, I have omitted
translations from books originally composed in other languages.
My wife, Lalla Ward, has again lent her fi nely tuned ear for the English
language, together with her unfailing encouragement. I remain deeply
grateful to her.
I have long wanted to dedicate a book to Charles Simonyi, but I was anxious
to be clear that it was a dedication to him as an individual and friend,
rather than as the munifi cent benefactor of the Oxford professorship in
Public Understanding of Science that I hold. Now, in the year of my retirement,
it fi nally seems appropriate to offer this volume to him as a personal
friend, while at the same time conveying Oxford’s gratitude to a major
benefactor through a book published by the University Press. Charles Simonyi
is a sort of combination of International Renaissance Man, Playboy
of the Scientifi c World, Test Pilot of the Intellect, and Space-age Orbiter
of the Mind as well as of the Planet. Although most of the words in an
anthology belong to others, I hope that my love of science and of writing,
which Charles shares and which he generously chose to encourage in me,
will shine through both my selections and my commentary, and give him
pleasure. ■
Richard Dawkins