Lindsey C. (abaisse) reviewed on 6/20/2013 + 21 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Had I not just read "The Bonobo and the Atheist" by Frans De Waal, I might be giving this book a very different review. Dawkins's point in "Unweaving" is that science need not be at odds with poetry, art, and the human sense of wonder; on the contrary, it can provide all the inspiration we need for these things. Dawkins is at his best when he is using his amazing gift for exposition to explain, in terms a layman could understand, the most crucial, complex, and fascinating scientific principles, such as how Newton's discovery of refraction allows us to understand the composition of distant stars, or how the brain turns huge amounts of input from the eyes into a stable, familiar world. These things are Dawkins's forte; when he strays from them to critique the writings of other scientists, he falters. Toward the middle of the book he sets aside a chapter or two to criticize the analogies and metaphors used by other scientists as "bad poetry." With some examples he makes valid points, but with others, he oversteps, as with his criticism of Frans De Waal's supposed reference to apes as role models. Dawkins's "Unweaving" was published in 1998; in De Waal's "The Bonobo and the Atheist," published in March 2013, it becomes clear that this feud has been going on for at least 15 years. Both scientists are brilliant at what they do, and both have very valid points to make in their own defense. Using popular writing to hash out what is clearly a political, not a scientific, conflict is unattractive, and distracts from the real value of the book. But Dawkins redeems himself in the last few chapters leaving this reader, as usual, eager for more.

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