The Magic Of Reality - How We Know What's Really True
Richard Dawkins
illustrated by Dave McKean
hardback edition
Richard Dawkins' passion for science and reason has
never been more evident than in his latest work, an attempt to convey to
"readers of all ages" just how wonderful and magical reality is. The
other side of that idea is that no matter how enchanting ancient or
modern myths might be, they are not based on reality and they are not
nearly as interesting or as exciting as the truth. Dawkins brings this
double point home in each of twelve chapters presented as questions,
with the myths of many peoples contrasted with reality as determined by
science. There will be little controversy over how he handles such
questions as What is the sun? What is a rainbow? Why do we have night
and day, winter and summer? What is an earthquake? or even Are we alone?
Unfortunately, many in America who should read this
book probably won't because of their religious beliefs. Those who think
Adam was the first person, that the god of Abraham created all animals
individually, that the universe was brought into being by the will of
some supernatural creator, and that bad things happen because god or the
gods are angry with us will reject this or any book that tells the
science like it is. Fortunately, the number of people who think the
Bible is the word of god and must be taken literally as if it were a
science text is not as great in other countries. I imagine the book will
do quite well in the UK and other places (in translation) where
fundamentalist anti-science is not so great as it is in the U.S.
All but two of the chapters focus exclusively on
scientific questions. Most chapters begin with a look at some of the
traditional myths that have been produced by various cultures around the
world. These are followed up with a look at what the science has to say
about the subject. The final two chapters enter the realm of
philosophy. Why do bad things (like tsunamis and cancer) happen? They
just do. There are causes but nature has no purpose in bringing about
harm to anyone. What is a miracle? Here he enlists the help of David
Hume to convey the idea that belief in miracles is not reasonable.
Many adults would benefit from reading The Magic of Reality
because it will explain to them things that apparently many of them
don't understand, such as why we have summer and winter. Many people
think it is because the earth is closer or farther away from the sun
that we have the seasons. Many people in the U.S. are clearly ignorant
of what evolution means. Many seem to think that if evolution were true
we should find one species giving birth to a new species from time to
time. Every offspring is the same species as its parents. To help the
reader who may not understand how species evolve, Dawkins asks us to
imagine a pile of 185 million pictures, each picture being the
grandparent of the picture after it. Any two or three or five hundred
adjacent pictures will look very similar in terms of species
characteristics. But if you go from your picture at one end to your 185
millionth grandparent, you'll see a picture of a fish-like creature.
Dawkins doesn't just tell the reader how old the
universe is, he explains how we know the age of the universe. He doesn't
just tell us what things are made of, he tells us how we know what
they're made of.
Of course the fundamentalist literalist Jews and
Christians will have an awful time with this book. Dawkins treats the
Judeo-Christian myths in the same way he treats African or Japanese or
American Indian myths. He doesn't make fun of the people who created the
stories. He simply retells the stories, occasionally expressing his
being baffled at certain parts of various stories, and then contrasts
them with what science knows about the same reality that the mythmakers
tried to explain. He doesn't ridicule religion or gods, but he does
reject those who appeal to a god's intervention or a miracle to avoid
trying to answer hard questions about reality. He has no tolerance for
those who want us to give up trying to understand something because they
claim it's miraculous and can't be understood.
If you want your child or you want yourself to know
something about the various myths of many different cultures without
showing any favorites, Dawkins' book fills that requirement quite well.
If you want your child or you want yourself to know something about
evolution, cosmology, physics, chemistry, biology, geology, and the
methods of discovery used in those fields, Dawkins' book fills that
requirement as well as anybody could.
What makes the book even more enticing is that Dawkins
has teamed with artist Dave McKean, whose illustrations take the book to
a level of visual enjoyment that matches the joy of following Dawkins
as he attempts to explain some very complicated ideas in terms even
those who will never read the book could understand if they dared do so.
Robert T. Carroll
October 10, 2011
