Ah yes,
I have heard about his others. I was put off by not being able to get through The Selfish Gene. In your opinion are they easier to get through?
(Jon_LTD Treat the world like a head!, Sun 27 Jun 2010, 11:53, 2 replies)

I really enjoyed them.
I can't compare them to The Selfish Gene, as I haven't read it. The Greatest Show on Earth sets out the evidence for evolution. It does use a lot of analogies, but also contains a lot of information.

The Ancestor's Tale is a walk back through time looking at the common ancestors of humans and all surviving species in the world. Different species tell 'tales' which explain aspects of evolution or scientific methods, such as logarithmic graph plotting or how phylogenies are worked out.It also contains a lot of natural history.

I thought both were excellent.
( The Awful Puppy Bakery is still bored, Sun 27 Jun 2010, 12:18, closed)

I think
I'll loan those out of the library before I attempt to read them then. =)
(Jon_LTD Treat the world like a head!, Sun 27 Jun 2010, 22:38, closed)

I'm reading the Selfish Gene 30th anniversary edition at the moment
Dawkins is a git, with good reasons to be smug. I've also read Unweaving the rainbow and a couple of others. These books should be studied in all schools.
( Bartleby A dead man on vacation, Mon 28 Jun 2010, 10:36, closed)

Oh yes,
That's the edition I've attempted to read as well. I struggled enough with the foreword's and the preface. I do agree that he is quite smug and so self-sure it's unbelievable. However, everything he practices and teaches are pretty much cut & dry accepted theories, with a mountain of evidence.
As said earlier, I will try and read his book, I guess I have to be in the right frame of mind. I tend to go through "intellectual" stages where I try my hardest to educate myself, and other times I just read anything which is easy to read. I it's me being unable to read his book as opposed to his book being genuinely crap. Wish me luck.
(Jon_LTD Treat the world like a head!, Mon 28 Jun 2010, 11:01, closed)

You really don't need the luck. Its an easy read.
I read about a page and half a day just before I fall asleep at night. I then have a massive binge on the weekends. I'll finish it this week, and skim through the extra notes at the back. If you like a bit of interlectual popular science, try some of Jared Diamond.
( Bartleby A dead man on vacation, Mon 28 Jun 2010, 11:08, closed)

Nope.
If you don't get The Selfish Gene, read "River out of Eden". It's an amalgamation of The Selfish Gene, The Blind Watchmaker and The Extended Phenotype, but written for those without a biology background.

The Ancestors' Tale is really hard work. And The Greatest Show on Earth is just another religion basher, which I find quite sad. It's a terrible shame that such an intelligent man has become such a drum-banging preoccupied arsehole.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 28 Jun 2010, 11:33, closed)

I don't think The Greatest Show ... is a 'religion basher', though it's purpose is to respond to Creationist issues with Evolution. Creationism isn't Christianity or any other religion, as most of the Christians I know see Genesis as a metaphor and don't deeply consider who exactly was mother of Cain's children etc.

The God Delusion is a Religion Basher, in the same way as the Bible is an 'Other Religion' Basher.
(sigismund, Mon 28 Jun 2010, 16:41, closed)

fair point.
Although my general point still applies. I don't know why he has the need to attack something so mindlessly irrelevant to his audience. It's not like he's going to get any creationists reading his book and going "you know what, now I'm convinced!" It's not a scientific debate between evolution and creationism - because only one of them is actually a theory. You don't need to debunk something that doesn't have any "bunk" to start off with.

In the same way that he's not converted one single religious person to atheism by writing the God Delusion. All he has done is alienated people, for nothing.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 28 Jun 2010, 16:49, closed)

I consider
myself to be modestly educated when it comes to biology and evolution. It's not that I don't understand it or I find it too advanced, I just get bored with it as it seems like a load of waffle to explain relatively simple concepts with a shit-load of analogies.
But like I said before, I'll just have to get into one of my "educate yourself" moods and plow through it.

Thanks for the other recommendation as well =)
(Jon_LTD Treat the world like a head!, Wed 30 Jun 2010, 21:58, closed)