The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution

Engaging, thoroughly entertaining narrative explaining and supporting the evidence for evolution. Would make an excellent spine text for an introductory course on understanding evolution. Dawkin's “footnotes”–dry little asides that feel like you're having a real-time discussion with the author–adds more than a little touch of humor and wit to the book.

Ik las dit boek als een combinatie van audioboek en e-boek, om volledig aandachtig mee te zijn en om de foto's te kunnen bekijken waar nodig.

“Evolution is a fact. Beyond reasonable doubt, beyond serious doubt, beyond sane, informed, intelligent doubt, beyond doubt evolution is a fact.”

Heel welbespraakt, boeiend en duidelijk uitgelegd, maar ook nogal langdradig en soms liep de uiteenzetting wat verloren in de details en werd het wat te repetitief.

Doordat een groot deel van het boek voorgelezen wordt door de auteur, kwam zijn verontwaardiging, irritatie, frustratie en soms zelf woede aan het adres van creationisten en evolutieontkenners nog scherper door. Hoewel ik die scherpe kritieken vaak grappig vond en dus regelmatig moest gniffelen, kan ik mij wel heel goed voorstellen dat dit eerder het omgekeerde effect heeft dan wat de auteur wil bereiken. Als hij met dit boek mensen wil overtuigen, dan vrees ik dat hij toch beter een andere, minder beledigende, strategie had gekozen.

“We are surrounded by endless forms, most beautiful and most wonderful, and it is no accident, but the direct consequence of evolution by non-random natural selection - the only game in town, the greatest show on earth.”

Voor iemand die niet overtuigd moet worden van het feit van evolutie, dan is dit zeker een vermakelijk en informatief werk.
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This book made me more appreciate the beauty of our Nature; how grande and elegant they are. Every species are connected by space (ecosystem) and time (evolution). Dawkins beautifully explains evolution in a way that you really respect the beauty of how nature works, truly the greatest show on earth.

One side note, Dawkins likes to oppose creationism, for me it does not really matter, but I think I can't recommend this to my hardcore creationism friends, as they might easily drop off the book.

This is a challenging book to assess. My first question, upon finishing it, is “who is this for?”

The science is too involved for a scientifically illiterate fundamentalist creationist audience, the sardonic tone likewise off-putting to them, and the atheists like me who share his broad perspective hardly need a hand-held walk through the garden of nature's wonders and weirdnesses.

Then again, maybe we do: it should be emphasised that this book makes for a fantastic full spectrum look at the subject of evolutionary theory, one complete with some excellent analogies, stunning facts, and wise correlations. Anyone with a high school level understanding of biology will be more than equipped to follow along and learn.

Unfortunately, Dawkins' extensive expertise in the subject matter often falls prey to his fairly direct sense of humour, expressed via a mocking tone that does more to further the stereotype of him as a shrill British ponce than to reveal his truer nature as a passionate humanist.

Inevitably, I am drawn to wonder what the inimitable Christopher Hitchens would have done with a similar task, equipped with Dawkins' subject expertise. I suspect his subtler wit, fantastically evocative writing, and sophisticated understanding of debate would have produced a finer work.

Nevertheless, I would not hesitate to recommend The Greatest Show On Earth to anyone who seeks a peerless introduction to the current state of evolutionary theory, or to a thicker-skinned creationist seeking to inform themselves about the opposing side in the debate about the origins of life.