Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder - Softcover

Dawkins, Richard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0618056734 ISBN 13: 9780618056736

Publisher: Mariner Books, 2000

Synopsis

Did Newton "unweave the rainbow" by reducing it to its prismatic colors, as Keats contended, and so diminish beauty? Far from it, says the author, an acclaimed scientist. He says Newton's unweaving is the key to much of modern astronomy and to the poetry of modern cosmology, in this tribute to scientific exploration.

About this title

Review:

Why do poets and artists so often disparage science in their work? For that matter, why does so much scientific literature compare poorly with, say, the phone book? After struggling with questions like these for years, biologist Richard Dawkins has taken a wide-ranging view of the subjects of meaning and beauty in Unweaving the Rainbow, a deeply humanistic examination of science, mysticism and human nature. Notably strong-willed in a profession of bet-hedgers and wait-and-seers, Dawkins carries the reader along on a romp through the natural and cultural worlds, determined that "science, at its best, should leave room for poetry."

Inspired by the frequently asked question, "Why do you bother getting up in the morning?" following publication of his book The Selfish Gene, Dawkins sets out determined to show that understanding nature's mechanics need not sap one's zest for life. Alternately enlightening and maddening, Unweaving the Rainbow will appeal to all thoughtful readers, whether wild-eyed technophiles or grumpy, cabin-dwelling Luddites. Excoriation of newspaper astrology columns follow quotes from Blake and Shakespeare, which are sandwiched between sparkling, easy-to-follow discussions of probability, behaviour and evolution. In Dawkins' world (and, he hopes, in ours), science is poetry; he ends his journey by referring to his title's author and subject, maintaining that "A Keats and a Newton, listening to each other, might hear the galaxies sing." --Rob Lightner, Amazon.com

Review:

"A spellbinding storyteller." The New York Times

"Brilliance and wit." The New Yorker

"An extended rebuttal - not so much by argument as by radiant example - of perennial anti-science convictions. Few among us are better qualified for the job. If any recent writing about science is poetic, it is this." The Wall Street Journal

"Like an extended stay on a brain health-farm . . .You come out feeling lean, tuned and enormously more intelligent." The Times of London

About this edition

• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0618056734
• ISBN 13: 9780618056736
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352