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

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 set 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. Excoriations of newspaper astrology columns follow quotes from Blake and Shakespeare, which are sandwiched between sparkling, easy-to-follow discussions of probability, behavior, and evolution. In Dawkins's 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

• Science in the Soul: Selected Writings of a Passionate Rationalist
• Climbing Mount Improbable
• The God Delusion
• Brief Candle in the Dark: My Life in Science
• River Out Of Eden: A Darwinian View Of Life (Science Masters Series)
• The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution
• Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True
• The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century
• An Appetite for Wonder: The Making of a Scientist
• A Devil's Chaplain: Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science and Love