Richard Dawkins, Books of My Life
Written by Richard Dawkins/Translated by Myeongju Kim
Youngsa Kim/640 pages/28,800 won
Consists of 6 chapters of dialogue with scholars in each field
“Carl Sagan’s book is my favorite” Praise
If you just glance at the title, you might think, ‘It’s probably just an ordinary book review book with a famous person’s name on it.’ However, after looking at the table of contents and the preface, I get the feeling that something is different. Moreover, isn’t the author Richard Dawkins, a scholar in the field of evolutionary biology and a science commentator who freely crosses the boundaries between science and literature?
This book, which consists of six chapters, each chapter is written by world-renowned scholars such as astrophysicist Neil Douglas Tyson, science commentator Adam Hart Davis, evolutionary psychologist Steven Pinker, author and journalist Christopher Hitchens, theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss, and science journalist Matt Ridley. The door opens with conversations with people.
Dawkins confessed that astronomer Carl Sagan’s book ‘A World Haunted by Evil Spirits’ is his favorite, saying, “I have a habit of underlining sentences I like when reading a book, but I stopped underlining this book because it was a waste of ink.” I give you the highest praise.
He also sharply criticizes the book ‘Conquerors of the Earth’ by sociobiologist Edward Wilson (1929-2021), who was once his comrade but later turned away due to differences in his views on evolution. He criticizes Wilson’s group selection as an ill-defined and incoherent view that evolution occurs through differences in the survival rates of biological groups.
The attack on Richard Milton, who wrote ‘The Theory of Evolution Even Darwin Didn’t Know’ under the title of the Korean translation, is sharper. Dawkins criticized the book as being full of ‘nonsense’ and especially criticized Milton for accepting the idea that the Earth suddenly arose before 8000 BC, asking, “Did dinosaurs appear and disappear just before the Bronze Age? “Did they train an iguanodon to carry stones to Stonehenge?” he said, calling it pathetic and ignorant.
Even the epilogue, titled ‘A eulogy to be read at my funeral’, shines with Dawkins-like humor and satire.
“I was born lucky and so were you. Besides, we were privileged. “Not only did we enjoy our planet, but it gave us the opportunity to understand why our eyes were opened and why we can see the way we do, for a brief period of time before those eyes close forever.”
Reporter Yoo Yong-ha
2023-11-02 15:34:20
#Evolutionary #biologist #loved #astronomers #book #Seoul #Newspaper
