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 DAWKINS IS BACK, and this time it's, well, more of
the same, actually. This isn't a criticism, just an acknowledgement that there aren't any radical new ideas here. What we do find here is a new and very readable treatment of evolution by natural
selection, a subject Dawkins has written about passionately in his previous popular works The Blind Watchmaker and River Out of Eden. The Mount Improbable of the title is a metaphor Dawkins has
used before (notably in his memorable Royal Institution Christmas lectures), and one which neatly counters William Paley's 'Blind Watchmaker' argument - as if it still needed countering after
the author's earlier onslaughts!
Interestingly this book also expands on the use of computation as a tool of biology, a theme Dawkins touched on in The Blind Watchmaker
(expanded as an appendix to the second edition), although disappointingly this early emphasis peters out after a while. It may sound vulgar, but I got the impression that we were going to be
directed to a 'Mount Improbable' web site where we'd find copies of the programs he was discussing! In balancing rigour against readability, the book lies somewhere between River Out of Eden and
The Blind Watchmaker, being considerably longer than the former but an easier read than the latter - easier in the sense that Dawkins seems to curb his passion for exhaustive (and,
it has to be said, sometimes tedious) expansion on a theme. On the whole the book covers ground already covered in exhaustive detail by Dawkins's earlier works, but because he uses new examples it's easy to
be caught up, once again, in the immensity and sheer wonder of what he's saying. I also thought the book ended rather (abruptly).
Richard Dawkins only hums a couple of tunes, but they're such good ones that we never tire of listening. If you want to read more about Dawkins and the things he talks about, check out http://www.world-of-dawkins.com |
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