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book2009

The Greatest Show on Earth

Disciplines:
evolutionary biology

Summary

Richard Dawkins's systematic presentation of the evidence for evolution — his explicit confrontation with creationism and Intelligent Design, presenting evolution as fact.

Core Contribution

The evidence for evolution assembled comprehensively: the fossil record, molecular phylogenetics, comparative anatomy, direct observation of evolution in laboratory and field, geographical distribution of species. 'Only a theory' demolished: theory in science is not guess but well-tested explanation — evolution is as well-established as any fact in science. Dawkins's most explicitly anti-creationist work.

Historical Influences

Charles Darwin The Selfish Gene

Intellectual Lineage

Evolutionary Biology Popular Science

Allied Works

The Selfish Gene The Blind Watchmaker The God Delusion

Contemporaries & Peers

The God Delusion Why Evolution Is True

Minds Influenced

Evolution Education

Intellectual Posterity

Evolution Education

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