| 词条 | The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution |
| 释义 |
| name = The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution | author = Richard Dawkins | language = English | country = United Kingdom | genre = | publisher = Free Press, Transworld | isbn = 978-0-593-06173-2 | image = The Greatest Show on Earth The Evidence for Evolution.jpg | image_size = | subject = Evolution | release_date = 3 September 2009 (UK) 22 September 2009 (US) | media_type = Print, e-book, audiobook | oclc= 390663505 | pages = 470 pp. | preceded_by = The God Delusion | followed_by = The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True[1][2] }} The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution is a 2009 book by British biologist Richard Dawkins, which was released on 3 September 2009 in the UK and on 22 September 2009 in the US.[3] It sets out the evidence for biological evolution, and is Dawkins's 10th book, following his best-selling critique of religion The God Delusion (2006) and The Ancestor's Tale (2004), which traced human ancestry back to the dawn of life. The book is published in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth nations by Transworld,[4] and in the United States by Free Press.[5] In its first week of release, it topped The Sunday Times Bestseller list, with more than twice the sales of its nearest competitor.[6] An audiobook version has also been released, read by Dawkins and his wife Lalla Ward. Background{{Quote|This book is my personal summary of the evidence that the 'theory' of evolution is actually a fact—as incontrovertible a fact as any in science.|Richard Dawkins|The Greatest Show on Earth, p. vii}}Richard Dawkins has written a number of books about evolution, beginning with The Selfish Gene (1976) and The Extended Phenotype (1982). These he followed with three books that attempted to address common misunderstandings about evolution.[7] His documentary series The Genius of Charles Darwin looks at Darwin's life and some of the evidence for evolution. However, when he looked back at the work he had published, he felt that he had never comprehensively addressed the evidence of common descent.[7] Dawkins believed that opposition to evolution was as strong as ever, despite the overwhelming, and growing, body of evidence for the theory. He started writing The Greatest Show on Earth during his final months as Charles Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science (Marcus du Sautoy now holds the position) and finished it in retirement. He thought that 2009, the bicentennial of Darwin's birth and 150th anniversary of his book On the Origin of Species, was the perfect time for such a work.[7][8] Other authors have written similar books recently, such as Jerry Coyne's Why Evolution is True which Dawkins highly recommends.[9] Dawkins's literary agent John Brockman promoted the book to publishers under the working title Only a Theory. However, American biologist Kenneth Miller had already used that title for his own book, Only a Theory: Evolution and the Battle for America's Soul (2008). He kept "Only a Theory?" as the title for the first chapter, "with a precautionary question mark to guard against creationist quote-mining".[7][10] Dawkins got the title from a T-shirt given to him by "an anonymous well-wisher" which bears the words "Evolution: The Greatest Show on Earth; the Only Game in Town".[7] He wore it occasionally when giving lectures,[11] and realised it was ideal for a title. However, since his editor would not permit such a long title,[12] they shortened it to The Greatest Show on Earth. On three occasions, Dawkins wanted to include new scientific findings that emerged late in the publishing process; despite the disruption, the publisher accommodated them.[7] Dawkins dedicated the book to Josh Timonen, who worked with others to build the website RichardDawkins.net. Dawkins writes in the preface: "Josh's creative talent runs deep, but the image of the iceberg captures neither the versatile breadth of his contributions to our joint endeavour, nor the warm good humour with which he makes them." Dawkins also thanks his wife Lalla's "unfailing encouragement, helpful stylistic criticisms and characteristically stylish suggestions", and his friend Charles Simonyi as he signs off after fourteen years and seven books.[7] SynopsisThe book is divided into 13 chapters spanning over 400 pages, and includes an appendix called "The history-deniers" in the end material.
Critical receptionThe book received mixed to positive critical reception on its release. Writing in The Times, Anjana Ahuja described Dawkins's account of the evidence for evolution as "fine, lucid and convincing". Though she criticised him for aggrandising the role of Islam in the spread of creationism and suggested that his writing style is unlikely to persuade disbelievers, Ahuja described these as merely "quibbles" and recommended the book to all readers.[14] The Economist also featured a favourable review, praising Dawkins's writing style as "persuasive" and lauding its educational value.[15] Mark Fisher in The List called Dawkins a "compelling communicator", adding that the book was "illuminating" and praising the use of humorous anecdotes throughout.[16] The Sunday Telegraph awarded it "Book of the Week", with reviewer Simon Ings describing Dawkins as a "master of scientific clarity and wit". Although Ings felt that anger had interfered with Dawkins's creativity to an extent, he also praised sections of the book as "magical" and "visceral", concluding that there was a "timeless merit" to the overall theme.[17][18][19][20][21] The New York Times reviewer Nicholas Wade, while praising the work overall, criticised Dawkins's assertion that evolution can be treated as an undeniable fact and asserted that Dawkins's insistence that it is a fact makes him as dogmatic as his opponents. Moreover, characterising his opponents as "history-deniers," "worse than ignorant" and "deluded to the point of perversity" Wade asserts, "is not the language of science, or civility." Wade sees both Dawkins and his creationist opponents as wrong.[22] Wade's review was subsequently criticised in numerous letters to The New York Times. In one, Daniel Dennett asserted that creationism deserves as much respect as believing that the world is flat. Another letter, from Philip Kitcher, Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University, asserted that evolution and other scientific findings "are so well supported that they count as facts".[23][24]See also
References1. ^{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/oct/23/richard-dawkins-teenagers-illustrated-book |title=Richard Dawkins targets teenagers with myth-busting illustrated book |accessdate=2 November 2009 |author=Alison Flood | work=The Guardian | location=London | date=23 October 2009}} 2. ^{{cite news |url=http://richarddawkins.net/comments/497395 |title=Comment: Richard Dawkins' Missing Link – A Book on the Evolution of Sex |accessdate=11 August 2010}} 3. ^{{cite web |title=The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution (Hardcover) |url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/1416594787 |date=2009-08-25 |publisher=Amazon.com |accessdate=25 August 2009}} 4. ^{{cite news |url=http://www.thebookseller.com/news/52925-transworld-signs-new-book-from-dawkins.html |title=Transworld signs new book from Dawkins |accessdate=12 January 2009 |date=15 February 2008 |publisher=The Bookseller |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227022515/http://www.thebookseller.com/news/52925-transworld-signs-new-book-from-dawkins.html |archivedate=27 February 2009 |df=dmy-all }} 5. ^{{cite news |url=http://www.observer.com/2008/richard-dawkins-follow-god-delusion-sold-free-press-3-5-million |title=Richard Dawkins' Follow-Up to God Delusion Sold to Free Press for $3.5 Million |accessdate=4 March 2008 |author=Neyfakh, Leon |date=7 February 2008 |publisher=The New York Observer |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080219170933/http://www.observer.com/2008/richard-dawkins-follow-god-delusion-sold-free-press-3-5-million |archivedate=19 February 2008 |df=dmy-all }} 6. ^{{cite news |url=http://richarddawkins.net/article,4303,The-Greatest-Show-on-Earth-debuts-at-1-on-the-Sunday-Times-Bestseller-List,Sunday-Times |title='The Greatest Show on Earth' debuts at No. 1 on the Sunday Times Bestseller List! |accessdate=15 September 2009 |date=13 September 2009 |publisher=RichardDawkins.net}} 7. ^1 2 3 4 5 6 Dawkins (2009), Preface 8. ^{{cite news |url=http://www.thebookseller.com/news/transworld-signs-new-book-dawkins |title=Transworld signs new book from Dawkins |accessdate=12 January 2009 |date=15 February 2008 |publisher=The Bookseller }} 9. ^{{cite web|url=http://richarddawkins.net/article,3594,Heat-the-Hornet,Richard-Dawkins|title='Heat the Hornet' by Richard Dawkins|accessdate=13 September 2009}} 10. ^Education: Questionable foundations: Providing millions of pounds to schools to teach creationism is dangerous, say atheist Richard Dawkins and Richard Harries, the Bishop of Oxford (Times article referred to in the first chapter by Dawkins and Richard Harries.) 20 June 2004 11. ^For example Neo-Darwinism Lecture by Richard Dawkins 12. ^{{cite web |title=Satellite interview with Richard Dawkins – Royal Society of New Zealand |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiMLWfyXRZk |date=2009-06-25 |publisher=RichardDawkins.net Official YouTube Channel |accessdate=7 September 2009}} 13. ^See also the RDF video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBkiT0zyYm0 Vestigial Organs: The Wings of the Flightless Cormorant] 14. ^{{cite news |title=Anjana Ahuja reviews 'The Greatest Show on Earth’ by Richard Dawkins |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/non-fiction/article6812474.ece |date=2009-08-28 |publisher=The Times |accessdate=3 September 2009 | location=London}} 15. ^{{cite web |title=The Evidence for Evolution: It's all there |url=http://www.economist.com/books/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14361755 |date=3 September 2009 |publisher=The Economist |accessdate=3 September 2009}} 16. ^{{cite web |title=Richard Dawkins – The Greatest Show on Earth |url=http://www.list.co.uk/article/20695-richard-dawkins-the-greatest-show-on-earth/ |date=3 September 2009 |publisher=The List |accessdate=4 September 2009}} 17. ^{{cite web |title=The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution |url=http://c0122981.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/090907TGSOEReview.pdf |date=7 September 2009 |publisher=The Sunday Telegraph |format=PDF |accessdate=8 September 2009 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091007052612/http://c0122981.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/090907TGSOEReview.pdf |archivedate=7 October 2009 |df=dmy-all }} 18. ^Review and Summary for the Reports of the National Center for Science Education by Douglas Theobald {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090914070647/http://ncseweb.org/rncse/29/review-greatest-show-earth |date=14 September 2009 }} 2009 19. ^WbqOnline.com{{Dead link|date=June 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=no }} October 2009 20. ^[https://www.theguardian.com/books/video/2009/sep/21/richard-dawkins-greatest-show-earth Video: Richard Dawkins on The Greatest Show on Earth: Richard Dawkins talks about why it's time for a book setting out the evidence for evolution, when calling someone ignorant isn't an insult, and how the media have made him into a militant atheist] 21 September 2009 21. ^[https://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2009/sep/21/science-weekly-extra-podcast-richard-dawkins Audio: Science Weekly Extra: Richard Dawkins: Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins discusses the science in his new book The Greatest Show on Earth] 21 September 2009 22. ^{{cite news | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/books/review/Wade-t.html |title = Evolution All Around | date = 8 October 2009 |accessdate = 10 October 2009 | work=The New York Times| first=Nicholas | last=Wade}} 23. ^{{cite news | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/books/review/Letters-t-THEFACTOFEVO_LETTERS.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss |title = Letters - The Fact of Evolution - NY Times.com | date = 23 October 2009 |accessdate = 3 November 2009 | work=The New York Times}} 24. ^{{cite news|title=Letters: Scientists Respond to Our Review of Richard Dawkins’s ‘Greatest Show on Earth’|url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/letters-scientists-respond-to-our-review-of-richard-dawkinss-greatest-show-on-earth/|accessdate=24 April 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=23 October 2009}} External links{{Wikiquote|Richard Dawkins#The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution (2009)|The Greatest Show on Earth}}
7 : 2009 non-fiction books|Books about evolution|Books by Richard Dawkins|Criticism of creationism|Free Press (publisher) books|Popular science books|Scientific skepticism media |
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