| Product: |
A Devil's Chaplain - Richard Dawkins |
| Date: |
11/07/04 (71 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Mocks creationists and other woo-woo types, Vivid and clear style, Joy to read
Disadvantages: Not more of it
In "A Devil's Chaplain", Dawkins takes no prisoners. Creationists, crystal ball gazers, alternative medicine quacks, true believers and more creationists. Did I mention the creationists? What, at first, seems like a disjointed collection of essays, articles, twiddly bits for the beginning of books and other collected scraps turns out to be a fantastic collection of material covering the various magisteria (to use Gould's famous expression).
Science and specifically evolutionary theory take first place. When Dawkins writes on these topics, he is at his finest. While at times, it is difficult to understand what scientists are on about, Dawkins tries his hardest to explain complicated theories in such a way that we can understand them. For all my posturing as a wannabe Popperian, I am a grade C scraping scientist at GCSE and the sort who bangs my head on the desk when faced with a page full of formulas, diagrams and complicated terminology. But Dawkins explains it clearly and calmly.
Second, what strikes immediately, is a lust - no, love - of truth. In a world of postmodernists (another good target of Dawkins) who claim that truth is only a social construct, anybody who expose this inspid and vainglorious thinking is a breath of fresh air. From the first page, the piddly remarks made by the half-witted creationists are proven wrong. There IS a grandeur in this view of life. It's thanks to Dawkins that I have adopted this view.
The book also has a sense of loss. Inside there is a lament for Douglas Adams, the famous science fiction author, who was as good an author of fictions as he was a dealer of facts. There are a number of reviews included of the writings of the late Steven Jay Gould, and a copy of the rousing forward to John Diamond's "Snake Oil and Other Preoccupations".
Read Dawkins for his anger, but also for his devotion to clear truth and human kindness.
A Devil's Chaplain is available in paperback from Phoenix and, acc
ording to my copy, costs around £7.99. In addition, it has a nice chunky index suitable for tiresome shed-bound research bores like myself. You should buy it. It's brilliant.
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