Monday, November 9, 2009 | Science : TGSOE | print version

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Heaps of evolution evidence

by John Horgan - The Philadelphia Inquirer

CLICK HERE to see more about Richard Dawkins' new book The Greatest Show on Earth

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/entertainment/books/20091108_Heaps_of_evolution_evidence.html

If I believed in God, I would thank him for blessing us with Richard Dawkins. The British biologist has become renowned lately for denouncing religion, most recently in his 2006 best seller The God Delusion. But I prefer his explanations and celebrations of "eating, growing, rotting, swimming, walking, flying, burrowing, stalking, chasing, fleeing, outpacing, outwitting" creatures, as he describes them in The Greatest Show on Earth.

Dawkins calls this work his "missing link." His previous nine books offered reinterpretations of evolutionary theory (The Selfish Gene, The Extended Phenotype) and addressed challenges to it (The Blind Watchmaker, Climbing Mount Improbable). But he never presented the basic evidence for evolution and its prime mover, natural selection. Greatest Show fills that gap in a timely fashion, coming 200 years after Darwin's birth and 150 years after the publication of On the Origin of Species.

Justifying the book, Dawkins deplores the stubborn rejection of evolution by as many as 40 percent of Americans and, he claims, growing numbers of Europeans. He realizes that these nonbelievers, whom he equates with Holocaust deniers, are unlikely to read anything he writes. He hopes that Greatest Show will be absorbed, rather, by those who know evolution deniers, "perhaps members of their own family and church," and want to be "prepared to argue the case."
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http://www.philly.com/inquirer/entertainment/books/20091108_Heaps_of_evolution_evidence.html

Posted: Monday, November 9, 2009 | Permalink

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1. Comment #430600 by BeyondBelief on November 9, 2009 at 4:45 pm

Most enjoyable book I've read in a while! Perhaps because it had color pictures, including a tattooed female biologist's back. :-)

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2. Comment #430602 by cerad on November 9, 2009 at 4:51 pm

But I prefer his explanations and celebrations of "eating, growing, rotting, swimming, walking, flying, burrowing, stalking, chasing, fleeing, outpacing, outwitting" creatures, as he describes them in The Greatest Show on Earth

Did he really write "rotting"? Or was that supposed to be "rutting"? Maybe it's an English thing.

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3. Comment #430610 by Lucas on November 9, 2009 at 5:05 pm

He realizes that these nonbelievers, whom he equates with Holocaust deniers, are unlikely to read anything he writes.

Ack! No! No one believes in evolution. Many of us except it as fact (because of undeniable evidence and the proven ability of the scientific method to accurately describe the universe) but we do not blindly "believe" in it. Belief itself is the problem and the exact thing that we are arguing against. Sigh. But thanks at least for leaving the hyphen out.

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4. Comment #430612 by Tyler Durden on November 9, 2009 at 5:18 pm

Lucas -

Many of us except it as fact...

Most of us accept it as fact. Sorry, pedantic about grammar ;)

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5. Comment #430614 by crookedshoes on November 9, 2009 at 5:38 pm

I am reading The Greatest Show on Earth and have not yet gotten to the point where Richard invokes the Anthropic Principle. However, having read The God Delusion, I think Richard's opinion on the topic is spelled out clearly there. As for the point I am at in the current book, I'd like to thank Richard for an epiphany I had over the weekend regarding embryology, flocking starlings, and computer programming (local, local, local). I have taught Biology for 15 years and been close to lucid on this point. Richard, you crystallized it for me and brought my awareness of how things work to a higher level. Thank you.

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6. Comment #430623 by ridelo on November 9, 2009 at 5:57 pm

Still eagerly waiting for the Dutch version. Hurry, hurry, Santa Claus!

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7. Comment #430624 by TIKI AL on November 9, 2009 at 6:02 pm

Isn't Santa German?

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8. Comment #430629 by rokeisland on November 9, 2009 at 6:37 pm

A quote off of the comments section under the article:

echo1 So lets see, no undeniable evidence has been found that would prove evolution to be the sole and undeniable factor for the origin of man. The dozen or so missing links that would be needed to make the jump from our closest "ancestors" have not been found. And all living things on planet earth have biological similarities from originating on the same planet (Genesis 1:20). So nothing has changed. Everyone is still entitled to their own belief, and atheists continue to express theirs in a way that is as condescending and arrogant as possible. As for Mr John Horgan with a M.S. in journalism, (emphasis on no PhD in any relevant scientific field whatsoever) his obviously biased opinion means as much to me as the random scrawl on some homeless persons cardboard sign. bob with a bunch of x's, the only possible excuse for your ignorant rambling is that your an immature teenager on your parents computer who knows very little about the world and has no clue on how to express your ideals in a civil manner.

So, he's basing his opinion on a non-scientific book written 2000 years ago, based on even more ancient tales, while the man who is trained to seek FACTS in the writing of others compliments the writing of a recognized expert who is also reporting the FACTS. Guess who is really interpreting the random scrawls.....

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9. Comment #430635 by Lucas on November 9, 2009 at 7:08 pm

Tyler - Isn't "most" a bit hopeful? I actually typed that first, then changed it to "many" so as to be more accurate, or at least less susceptible to error. Kind of depends on what "us" means; I guess if "us" means atheists, then "all" might be more appropriate. Yeah, point taken. Good to see you around here man!

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10. Comment #430655 by Art Vandelay on November 9, 2009 at 8:45 pm

Tyler-

Pedant x2

It's not grammar, it's spelling ;)

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11. Comment #430669 by InYourFaceNewYorker on November 9, 2009 at 10:00 pm

I always feel like I see things with greater clarity after reading Richard's books...

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12. Comment #430674 by -dr- on November 9, 2009 at 10:19 pm

Tyler - Isn't "most" a bit hopeful? I actually typed that first, then changed it to "many" so as to be more accurate, or at least less susceptible to error.

Actually, it was the except/accept error that was being cited. Your original “many” is fine.

Cheers,
David

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13. Comment #430677 by ridelo on November 9, 2009 at 10:34 pm

7. Comment #430624 by TIKI AL on November 9, 2009 at 6:02 pm
Isn't Santa German?

Yes, but here he's aka "Sinterklaas". And dressed up as an RK bishop. Now he's rather benign but in the old days round 1950 he still was used to threaten unruly children with.

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14. Comment #430715 by Ignorant Amos on November 10, 2009 at 2:23 am

10. Comment #430655 by Art Vandelay

No I think Tyler is right...grammer...miss use of a word....except instead of accept...sound similar but have different meanings...semantics I know....LOL

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15. Comment #430721 by BigJohn on November 10, 2009 at 3:04 am

grammar...misuse...the rest is OK.

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16. Comment #430724 by BigJohn on November 10, 2009 at 3:12 am

Sorry, I missed it. It's accept instead of except. I read it wrong. No score, Amos.

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17. Comment #430725 by Ignorant Amos on November 10, 2009 at 3:30 am

ahh come on Big J...I wasn't professing any expertise, just making an observation....and I have got the best part of a bottle of Smirnoff in me so I'm happy enough just being able to see the piggin' screen don't ya know....but I'll accept my fail...or is that except...sheeesh...pour me another.

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18. Comment #430727 by BigJohn on November 10, 2009 at 3:46 am

Only half a bottle? What size bottle? I have half a bottle of cheap vodka, half a bottle of cheap Bourbon, and, half a bottle of cheap Scotch in me. The bottles are all liters. But, the night is young.

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19. Comment #430730 by steveroot on November 10, 2009 at 4:50 am

I'd rather have a free bottle in front of me
than a pre-frontal lobotomy. :-)
Steve

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20. Comment #430734 by Strakh on November 10, 2009 at 5:42 am

I have to say this is the most brilliantly written book on this subject I've read, and I've read all of Darwin's works.
When I say brilliantly, I mean in the sense of accessibility as well as technical accuracy about the facts.
When a godbot confronts me now all I have to answer is: "The facts are all there. If you have a question it is not for me nor for Professor Dawkins, your question is about the facts themselves. You either accept the facts or you deny them. That I cannot help you with."
This book was in turns hilariously witty and scientifically exciting. It brings back to mind the great excitement and joy I felt as a child when I gravitated toward the many fields of science.
Well done, good sir, well done.

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21. Comment #430758 by glid on November 10, 2009 at 8:27 am

Gotta love this comment by "Goddess" on the page where the article was posted:

"Actually, all of this is really about monotone thinking. It is Christianity vs Science. Both need to be updated. I created God in this universe. But "creation" ended before the Big Bang began. The whole purpose of this reality IS Evolution. Humans are the best example of proof for MY existence. The whole universe is one long existential experience. Before a star goes nova it feels, "Uh oh..." then "Yee Haw!" then "Catch ya on the rebound..." The real issue is whether or not there is Free Choice and Randomness. The answer is: Absolutely! Negative numbers were a very clever way to get past "0", but it never resolved the breaking down of math. Fractions will never get one there as well, only canceling the number out. 2-1-0... there goes Math. Science as it is cannot get past this point. Infinity passing into non-existence to emerge as a singularity. Evolving and then passing back into infinity. Over and over again. This process of Infinite to Singular running and humming causes a 1 Dimensional Force to exist. This we call gravity. Evolution exists, and God was created. Only Yin exists in the Ultimate Reality. Creatress, not Creator. Yang is strong in this reality because it would be overwhelmed and we would cease to exist as we are if it were not. Dawkins is delusional. Most organized religions are delusional. Darwin was not delusional and neither is God."

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22. Comment #430760 by RainDear on November 10, 2009 at 8:48 am

Just glanced through the original article, which ends in Horgan's misunderstanding of the (weak) anthropic principle. And having done that, he goes on to bash Richard for invoking such a bogus idea.

It never ceases to amaze me how smug, arrogant, condecending these literary critics can be. Horgan didn't say "I think Dawkins was wrong in this one statement". Instead, he claims to have written "Oh, no!" in the margin, as if he was some school master correcting a term paper by a fairly promising student who just made a royal blunder.

Yes, criticism is fine and always necessary. But seems that all critics, everywhere, are arrogant asses. They never stop to think whether they perhaps should adjust their own understanding about something, given that the writer of the criticized book is brilliant and has devoted his life to the subject.

The sad, sad thing about all criticism is that in any given community, more people usually read the critique than the actual book. Critique is shorter, entertainingly confrontational, sometimes even accompanied by nice little stars or a grade, so you don't even have to read the critique itself. And being conditioned to this teacher/student, master/apprentice kind of hierarchy themselves since childhood, most newspaper readers actually think the critic is a specialist whose wisdom and intellect somehow surpasses that of the actual author being criticized.

I wonder if this Horgan guy actually thinks that of himself.

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23. Comment #430767 by Art Vandelay on November 10, 2009 at 10:24 am

Yes, he does ruin it all with his final two paragraphs. The anthropic principle is not supposed to provide a "solution to the mystery of the universe"- although Fred Hoyle cleverly use it to work out the build-up of carbon in the early universe.

Amos, yes, but semantics isn't grammar: he meant "accept", so technically it's still a misspelling of the word he should have written... I think...

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24. Comment #430768 by George Lennan on November 10, 2009 at 10:33 am

Father Christmas is BRITISH.

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25. Comment #430773 by Peacebeuponme on November 10, 2009 at 11:25 am

George Lennan

Father Christmas is BRITISH

This is true, actually. Santa Claus on the other hand, is American.

It would be great if my fellow Brits would try not to let yet another cultural term get assimilated with the American version. It's more interesting to have these differences, surely?

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26. Comment #430774 by hungarianelephant on November 10, 2009 at 11:41 am

25. Comment #430773 by Peacebeuponme

It's more interesting to have these differences, surely?

Not if the alternative grates on the eardrums, such as the Dublin version, "Santy". As in: "Jaysis, will ye ever shut the feck up, ye little bollix, or Santy won't come".

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27. Comment #430786 by bluebird on November 10, 2009 at 12:21 pm

"Sinterklass kapoentje..."
Charming little tune :)

Tonight is part 2 of NOVA's 'Becoming Human' - I won't miss it this time!
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/beta/evolution/becoming-human-part-2.html

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