The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution is a 2009 book by British biologistRichard Dawkins, which was released on 3 September 2009 in the UK and on 22 September 2009 in the US.[3] It sets out the evidence for biological evolution, and is Dawkins's 10th book, following his best-selling critique of religion The God Delusion (2006) and The Ancestor's Tale (2004), which traced human ancestry back to the dawn of life.
The book is published in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth nations by Transworld,[4] and in the United States by Free Press.[5] In its first week of release, it topped The Sunday Times' Bestseller list, with more than twice the sales of its nearest competitor.[6] An audiobook version has also been released, read by Dawkins and his wife Lalla Ward.
Background
This book is my personal summary of the evidence that the 'theory' of evolution is actually a fact—as incontrovertible a fact as any in science.
— Richard Dawkins, The Greatest Show on Earth, p. vii
Richard Dawkins has written a number of books about evolution, beginning with The Selfish Gene (1976) and The Extended Phenotype (1982). These he followed with three books that attempted to address common misunderstandings about evolution.[7] His documentary series The Genius of Charles Darwin looks at Darwin's life and some of the evidence for evolution.
The book is dedicated to Dawkins' technical assistant and web designer Josh Timonen (left).
Dawkins's literary agent John Brockman promoted the book to publishers under the working title Only a Theory. However, American biologist Kenneth Miller had already used that title for his own book, Only a Theory: Evolution and the Battle for America's Soul (2008). He kept "Only a Theory?" as the title for the first chapter, "with a precautionary question mark to guard against creationist quote-mining".[7][10] Dawkins got the title from a T-shirt given to him by "an anonymous well-wisher" which bears the words "Evolution: The Greatest Show on Earth; the Only Game in Town".[7] He wore it occasionally when giving lectures,[11] and realised it was ideal for a title. However, since his editor would not permit such a long title,[12] they shortened it to The Greatest Show on Earth. On three occasions, Dawkins wanted to include new scientific findings that emerged late in the publishing process; despite the disruption, the publisher accommodated them.[7]
Dawkins dedicated the book to Josh Timonen, who worked with others to build the website RichardDawkins.net. Dawkins writes in the preface: "Josh's creative talent runs deep, but the image of the iceberg captures neither the versatile breadth of his contributions to our joint endeavour, nor the warm good humour with which he makes them." Dawkins also thanks his wife Lalla's "unfailing encouragement, helpful stylistic criticisms and characteristically stylish suggestions", and his friend Charles Simonyi as he signs off after fourteen years and seven books.[7]
The book received mixed to positive critical reception on its release. Writing in The Times, Anjana Ahuja described Dawkins's account of the evidence for evolution as "fine, lucid and convincing". Though she criticised him for aggrandising the role of Islam in the spread of creationism and suggested that his writing style is unlikely to persuade disbelievers, Ahuja described these as merely "quibbles" and recommended the book to all readers.[14]The Economist also featured a favourable review, praising Dawkins's writing style as "persuasive" and lauding its educational value.[15] Mark Fisher in The List called Dawkins a "compelling communicator", adding that the book was "illuminating" and praising the use of humorous anecdotes throughout.[16]The Sunday Telegraph awarded it "Book of the Week", with reviewer Simon Ings describing Dawkins as a "master of scientific clarity and wit". Although Ings felt that anger had interfered with Dawkins's creativity to an extent, he also praised sections of the book as "magical" and "visceral", concluding that there was a "timeless merit" to the overall theme.[17][18][19][20][21]
The New York Times reviewer Nicholas Wade, while praising the work overall, criticised Dawkins's assertion that evolution can be treated as an undeniable fact and asserted that Dawkins's insistence that it is a fact makes him as dogmatic as his opponents. Moreover, characterising his opponents as "history-deniers," "worse than ignorant" and "deluded to the point of perversity" Wade asserts, "is not the language of science, or civility." Wade sees both Dawkins and his creationist opponents as wrong.[22] Wade's review was subsequently criticised in numerous letters to The New York Times. In one, Daniel Dennett asserted that creationism deserves as much respect as believing that the world is flat. Another letter, from Philip Kitcher, Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University, asserted that evolution and other scientific findings "are so well supported that they count as facts".[23][24]
Endless Forms Most Beautiful – "The Greatest Show on Earth" song in the album contains quotes from the book read personally by Richard Dawkins himself.
The Greatest Show on Earth at RichardDawkins.net (includes a video and links to abstracts from the first two chapters as well as extensive links to book reviews and media coverage)
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