Climbing Mount Improbable - Softcover

Dawkins, Richard; Ward, Lalla

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393316823 ISBN 13: 9780393316827

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 1997

Synopsis

The human eye is so complex and works so precisely that surely, one might believe, its current shape and function must be the product of design. How could such an intricate object have come about by chance? Tackling this subject-in writing that the New York Times called "a masterpiece"-Richard Dawkins builds a carefully reasoned and lovingly illustrated argument for evolutionary adaptation as the mechanism for life on earth. The metaphor of Mount Improbable represents the combination of perfection and improbability that is epitomized in the seemingly "designed" complexity of living things. Dawkins skillfully guides the reader on a breathtaking journey through the mountain's passes and up its many peaks to demonstrate that following the improbable path to perfection takes time. Evocative illustrations accompany Dawkins's eloquent descriptions of extraordinary adaptations such as the teeming populations of figs, the intricate silken world of spiders, and the evolution of wings on the bodies of flightless animals. And through it all runs the thread of DNA, the molecule of life, responsible for its own destiny on an unending pilgrimage through time. Climbing Mount Improbable is a book of great impact and skill, written by the most prominent Darwinian of our age.

About this title

Review:

Few scientific theories have been as influential or controversial in the past few centuries as Darwin's thoughts on natural selection; even now, laymen and scientists find fault with Darwin's argument. Richard Dawkins, the chair of the communication of science at Oxford University, has delivered a well-researched book supporting and supplementing Darwin's theories. Although not a work of Darwinian proportions, Climbing Mount Improbable is an advancement of those theories for scientists and general readers alike.

Review:

A beautiful, barnstorming thunderclap of a book (Michael White Mail on Sunday)

Mount Improbable is Dawkins's metaphor for natural selection: its peaks standing for evolution's most complex achievements ... a perfect, elegant riposte to a great deal of fuzzy thinking (Observer)

One of the most gifted storytellers of our generation ... he writes like an angel (Scotland on Sunday)

A cracking good book (John Gribbin)

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0393316823
• ISBN 13: 9780393316827
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352