Richard Dawkins, Brian Eno and the art of evolution
By MARK HENDERSON - THE TIMES ONLINE
Added: Sun, 23 Aug 2009 23:00:00 UTC
Thanks to Kevin for the link.
http://timesonline.typepad.com/science/2009/08/richard-dawkins-brian-eno-and-the-art-of-evolution.html
Richard Dawkins's new book, The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution, is out on September 10, and The Times is serialising it this week. The first extract appeared today, and you can also read a fantastic interview with Professor Dawkins by Stefanie Marsh that ran in the Saturday Review at the weekend, and a shorter piece I wrote about his latest ambition -- to have a bestseller in the Islamic world. The Times leader on Saturday is also worth a look.
Speaking to Dawkins about the book on Friday, he drew my attention to a unique event at the Oxford Playhouse on September 4, which should be of great interest to Science Central readers. It features Dawkins in conversation with Brian Eno, the musician and artist once of Roxy Music, who is another perceptive thinker about evolution and science in general.
One of Eno's latest projects, 77 Million Paintings, will be a particularly interesting topic of discussion. You can see some of the images in the video above, along with Eno's explanation. The work uses software written by Eno to generate randomised music and images that evolve in a different fashion each time. It is art produced by evolution: the principles involved are similiar to those that Dawkins has used in computer programs that simulate evolution.
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