Book Club: The Greatest Show on Earth

The RiAus hosts a bi-monthly Book Club for those keen to explore, rediscover and get excited about science-themed books, new and old. In March 2010 we saw our first foray into non-fiction with Richard Dawkins’ new work The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution. With the literary skill that made The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion instant bestsellers, Dawkins took us on a journey through the ins and outs of evolution.

Evolution is largely accepted as scientific fact by reputable scientists and indeed theologians, yet millions continue to question its veracity. In this book, Richard Dawkins takes on creationists, including followers of  “Intelligent Design” and those who question the fact of evolution through natural selection. He sifts through layers of scientific facts and disciplines to build his case: the living examples of natural selection in birds and insects; the “time clocks” of trees and radioactive dating that calibrate a timescale for evolution; the fossil record and the traces of our earliest ancestors; and confirmation from molecular biology and genetics.

Dawkins shares his love of the natural world and the essential role that science plays in its interpretation in this hard-hitting, absorbing and convincing work.

In association with The Advertiser Big Book Club

See also our  Special event for RiAus members, and Adelaide Writers’ Week.