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# The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution (A Brief History of the Natural World)

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The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution (A Brief History of the Natural World) [Dawkins, Richard] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution (A Brief History of the Natural World)

Review: The Grand Story of Evolution - One of my fondest childhood memories was from a family vacation to Paris. Of all the wonderful things in that city, one place struck me the most, and my memories, upon a recent revisit, were relit: The Grand Gallery of Evolution. The Grand Gallery is organized far different than American museums. The entire structure is dedicated to placing Darwin's theory of natural selection right in front of you, to let your eyes see the story of life itself. There are few colorful placards, no special themed exhibits, or other things tailored to appeal to pop sensibility. Instead, the viewer is faced with endless rows of skeletal fish, reptiles, amphibians, marsupials, mammals, and crustaceans in one chamber, and a less dense collection of dinosaur fossils in the other room. The skeletons in the first chamber are each placed amidst related species, so as to indicate their shared heritage. The collection spans the smallest fish to the largest whales, the most humble toad to fearsome land predators. There is one particularly morbid shelf that places infant skeletons side-by-side of each ape species, including a human infant skeleton. Above all this is a wide class ceiling window that allows light to pour through onto the specimens. No artificial light is necessary to view life's grandeur. The Grand Gallery, through the sheer brute facticity of physical evidence, proves what Dawkins in his latest book "The Greatest Show on Earth" proves through citation and argument. Because of his crusading against theism during the 00s, it can be easy to forget that Dawkins is one of the titanic names of evolutionary biology. Not only did he pioneer research into the role played by genetic competition in competitions between organisms, but he has written multiple "user-friendly" guides to the mechanics and intellectual debates within evolution. With this most recent tome, however, Dawkins seeks to provide a much-needed guide to the evidence that proves Darwin's theory. He covers a wide variety of different "sectors" of evolutionary evidence, ranging from fossil dating, comparative anatomy, modern genetics, paleoanthropology, and others. He tackles each of these subjects, and demonstrates that when the study of life is approached with the scientific method in hand, it's impossible not to see the incredible explanatory power of Darwinism. Although Dawkins frequently addresses creationist critiques of evolutionary theory throughout the text, this book has both an effect and appeal beyond those who want to disprove the nonsense known as "Intelligent Design." Dawkins succeeds in paying homage to the awe-inspiring natural history of life itself. The book entertains and inspires, as well as informs. "The Greatest Show on Earth" is not just some recap of your high school bio courses either. Dawkins is a genuinely talented scientific writer, and his style aids greatly in absorption of the information he presents. However, Dawkins also tells the story of how modern science finally discovered natural selection, along with all the bumps and failures along the way. Furthermore, and this is something I give him a lot of credit for, Dawkins discusses the epistemological challenges that evolutionary biology has struggled to overcome throughout its development. One of the most basic challenges that evolutionary biology faced in its formation, in terms of its conceptual apparatus, was with the way the human mind conceives of living beings themselves. We like to think of living organisms as fixed species, and our complex taxonomical systems help perpetuate this illusion. As Dawkins states though, life is Heraclitean, not Platonic. It is always in flux. Organisms are bundles of genes which constantly compete with each other for expression. All evolutionary changes are contingent by essence. They depend on the pressures and mutations that an individual organism faces. They do not fit into a master plan, and it is clear that there is no intelligence behind their design, at least in the sense that Creationists argue. The physiological and behavioral characteristics that genes express can shift in their usage, and reconfigure to push evolution onwards. Feathers were originally "meant" to keep certain dinosaur species warm, or perhaps aid in sexual selection. However, at some point, natural selection pushed this characteristic towards usage in flight. The eventual usage of feathers for flight was entirely contingent. Evolution easily could have pushed the avian dinosaur species in another direction. This is the same reason, as Dawkins points out, why bats have an entirely different means of flight from birds, because the means by which they gained the ability to fly was contingent. It was based on certain selection pressures they faced at a certain point in their natural history, and was based on what biological tools bats already had in their repertoire, which didn't necessarily have anything to do with flight beforehand. Also, many seemingly complex devices, such as eyes, go through phases of increasing (and sometimes decreasing) complexity, but not because they are working towards an end goal, but because natural selection pushes them in different directions at different points in evolutionary history. Some of the most fascinating pieces of evidence that Dawkins provides are recent, and highly successful, attempts at recreating species evolution in laboratory settings. By simply exposing microrganisms, inspects, and fish into controlled settings, it has been demonstrated that evolution, and huge leaps in evolution at that, can occur before our very eyes. Many changes that Creationists used to claim were impossible can actually be observed directly by the scientific process! Aside from this, Dawkins provides the reader with glimpses into the story of natural history in our own bodies, the organs of animals, the fossilized imprints of plants, and countless other sources. The incredible thing, which I don't think I entirely grasped before reading this book, is that the evidence doesn't simply point to the fact that changes occur constantly throughout natural history, but that we can see the battles between competing genes as they're played out in the very bodily being of life itself. Needless to say, I have a high opinion of this book. If you've been turned off by the sometimes boorish (although often insightful) things Dawkins has to say about organized religion, then I implore you to put aside your prejudices and read this book. Dawkins is a lovely writer when you give him a chance. If you affirm the scientific theory of Darwinism, but don't feel as if you really know much about evolution per se, then this book will go a long way in filling that gap. If you're an ID proponent or a Creationist, then I double dog dare you to read this. I have no doubt that you'll come out shaken.
Review: Another Dawkins Home Run - After reading Dawkins's "The Magic of Reality" to my kids each night (which my 13 y/o and 9 y/o both love), I snuggled into my own bed and also read his latest book (for adults), "The Greatest Show on Earth". While I have read almost all of Dawkin's books, I must say this is amongst my favorites......literally bringing tears of amazement to my eyes. Dawkins brings stunning clarity and broad wisdom in presenting objective, unifying, diverse, and virtually irrefuteable scientific evidence for evolution. He leaves no doubt. He shows that evolution is by no means a theory in the lay definition of "theory", i.e. unproven conjecture. Rather he presents evolution in the strictly scientific definition of 'theory", i.e. a proven, reproducible, testable, dependable concept. I would argue that evolution is even more, actually a basic LAW OF NATURE. As such it is as real as the Law of Gravity, or the Laws Governing Conservation of Mass and Energy. Even the most narrow-minded, uniformed, biased zealot would be amazed by the incredible breadth of evidence Dawkins presents in support of what I call "the law of evolution". He provides centuries of bacterial, plant, and animal speciation data, accurate geological and cosmological dating information, traditional/mendalian genetic insights, modern (DNA) molecular genetic revelations, chemical/isotopic explanations, and of course, actual fossil record information (surprisingly the last proving to be the least important of all). Amazingly, all of this independent and indisputeably derived information converges upon, and can be explained by, only one simple evolutionary fact.......that every living species on this planet derived from a common shared ancestor. He presents ancestry "trees" which demonstrate how such common ancestors emerged amongst both plants and animals, many tracing back to the beginings of life on earth billions of years ago. He completely debunks the "fossil search for a missing link" gambit as completely irrelavent, despite that argument being so often advocated by creationists and intelligent designers. Dawkins does not discuss religion at all in his text, but rather only presents solid objective evidence of all types, yet understandable to non-scientists. He throws this evidence open to close scrutiny and challenge by anyone. Whether to embrace or reject the idea of evolution, one certainly needs to at least consider these facts. Dismissing evolution as only "a theory" while continuing to completely ignore proven facts, is simply disgraceful. Humans desparately and rightfully fear Nature's obvious indiscriminate and often cruel power. It seems difficult to rationalize such indifference in the context of a "responsive and all-loving God". Even worse, it is virtually impossible to mentally conceive of the unimaginably long timeframe over which genetic change occurs under varying selective pressures. Thus it is much easier to simply take the memetic way out, i.e. succumb to delusional (but biblically appealing) notions of a 6000 year old earth, designed and ruled by a divine power that is still responsive to our needs and pleas. Understanding evolution actually brings us much closer to a more realistic "God" than ever before, enabling us to finally see ourselves as top dog contenders in the cosmological and timeless realm of NATURE. As such, we are perhaps one of her more amazing genetic outcomes ever. Dawkins delivers warm clarity in revealing that, as well as in explaining how and why it happens. From such knowledge should emerge confidence that our own species will continue to survive and thrive along with, and in spite of, Mother Nature's fury.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #147,738 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #4 in Organic Evolution #27 in Creationism #69 in Mythology & Folklore Encyclopedias |
| Customer Reviews | 4.7 out of 5 stars 2,596 Reviews |

## Images

![The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution (A Brief History of the Natural World) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/713qU+f2e4L.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Grand Story of Evolution
*by A***L on May 22, 2012*

One of my fondest childhood memories was from a family vacation to Paris. Of all the wonderful things in that city, one place struck me the most, and my memories, upon a recent revisit, were relit: The Grand Gallery of Evolution. The Grand Gallery is organized far different than American museums. The entire structure is dedicated to placing Darwin's theory of natural selection right in front of you, to let your eyes see the story of life itself. There are few colorful placards, no special themed exhibits, or other things tailored to appeal to pop sensibility. Instead, the viewer is faced with endless rows of skeletal fish, reptiles, amphibians, marsupials, mammals, and crustaceans in one chamber, and a less dense collection of dinosaur fossils in the other room. The skeletons in the first chamber are each placed amidst related species, so as to indicate their shared heritage. The collection spans the smallest fish to the largest whales, the most humble toad to fearsome land predators. There is one particularly morbid shelf that places infant skeletons side-by-side of each ape species, including a human infant skeleton. Above all this is a wide class ceiling window that allows light to pour through onto the specimens. No artificial light is necessary to view life's grandeur. The Grand Gallery, through the sheer brute facticity of physical evidence, proves what Dawkins in his latest book "The Greatest Show on Earth" proves through citation and argument. Because of his crusading against theism during the 00s, it can be easy to forget that Dawkins is one of the titanic names of evolutionary biology. Not only did he pioneer research into the role played by genetic competition in competitions between organisms, but he has written multiple "user-friendly" guides to the mechanics and intellectual debates within evolution. With this most recent tome, however, Dawkins seeks to provide a much-needed guide to the evidence that proves Darwin's theory. He covers a wide variety of different "sectors" of evolutionary evidence, ranging from fossil dating, comparative anatomy, modern genetics, paleoanthropology, and others. He tackles each of these subjects, and demonstrates that when the study of life is approached with the scientific method in hand, it's impossible not to see the incredible explanatory power of Darwinism. Although Dawkins frequently addresses creationist critiques of evolutionary theory throughout the text, this book has both an effect and appeal beyond those who want to disprove the nonsense known as "Intelligent Design." Dawkins succeeds in paying homage to the awe-inspiring natural history of life itself. The book entertains and inspires, as well as informs. "The Greatest Show on Earth" is not just some recap of your high school bio courses either. Dawkins is a genuinely talented scientific writer, and his style aids greatly in absorption of the information he presents. However, Dawkins also tells the story of how modern science finally discovered natural selection, along with all the bumps and failures along the way. Furthermore, and this is something I give him a lot of credit for, Dawkins discusses the epistemological challenges that evolutionary biology has struggled to overcome throughout its development. One of the most basic challenges that evolutionary biology faced in its formation, in terms of its conceptual apparatus, was with the way the human mind conceives of living beings themselves. We like to think of living organisms as fixed species, and our complex taxonomical systems help perpetuate this illusion. As Dawkins states though, life is Heraclitean, not Platonic. It is always in flux. Organisms are bundles of genes which constantly compete with each other for expression. All evolutionary changes are contingent by essence. They depend on the pressures and mutations that an individual organism faces. They do not fit into a master plan, and it is clear that there is no intelligence behind their design, at least in the sense that Creationists argue. The physiological and behavioral characteristics that genes express can shift in their usage, and reconfigure to push evolution onwards. Feathers were originally "meant" to keep certain dinosaur species warm, or perhaps aid in sexual selection. However, at some point, natural selection pushed this characteristic towards usage in flight. The eventual usage of feathers for flight was entirely contingent. Evolution easily could have pushed the avian dinosaur species in another direction. This is the same reason, as Dawkins points out, why bats have an entirely different means of flight from birds, because the means by which they gained the ability to fly was contingent. It was based on certain selection pressures they faced at a certain point in their natural history, and was based on what biological tools bats already had in their repertoire, which didn't necessarily have anything to do with flight beforehand. Also, many seemingly complex devices, such as eyes, go through phases of increasing (and sometimes decreasing) complexity, but not because they are working towards an end goal, but because natural selection pushes them in different directions at different points in evolutionary history. Some of the most fascinating pieces of evidence that Dawkins provides are recent, and highly successful, attempts at recreating species evolution in laboratory settings. By simply exposing microrganisms, inspects, and fish into controlled settings, it has been demonstrated that evolution, and huge leaps in evolution at that, can occur before our very eyes. Many changes that Creationists used to claim were impossible can actually be observed directly by the scientific process! Aside from this, Dawkins provides the reader with glimpses into the story of natural history in our own bodies, the organs of animals, the fossilized imprints of plants, and countless other sources. The incredible thing, which I don't think I entirely grasped before reading this book, is that the evidence doesn't simply point to the fact that changes occur constantly throughout natural history, but that we can see the battles between competing genes as they're played out in the very bodily being of life itself. Needless to say, I have a high opinion of this book. If you've been turned off by the sometimes boorish (although often insightful) things Dawkins has to say about organized religion, then I implore you to put aside your prejudices and read this book. Dawkins is a lovely writer when you give him a chance. If you affirm the scientific theory of Darwinism, but don't feel as if you really know much about evolution per se, then this book will go a long way in filling that gap. If you're an ID proponent or a Creationist, then I double dog dare you to read this. I have no doubt that you'll come out shaken.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Another Dawkins Home Run
*by D***O on August 13, 2012*

After reading Dawkins's "The Magic of Reality" to my kids each night (which my 13 y/o and 9 y/o both love), I snuggled into my own bed and also read his latest book (for adults), "The Greatest Show on Earth". While I have read almost all of Dawkin's books, I must say this is amongst my favorites......literally bringing tears of amazement to my eyes. Dawkins brings stunning clarity and broad wisdom in presenting objective, unifying, diverse, and virtually irrefuteable scientific evidence for evolution. He leaves no doubt. He shows that evolution is by no means a theory in the lay definition of "theory", i.e. unproven conjecture. Rather he presents evolution in the strictly scientific definition of 'theory", i.e. a proven, reproducible, testable, dependable concept. I would argue that evolution is even more, actually a basic LAW OF NATURE. As such it is as real as the Law of Gravity, or the Laws Governing Conservation of Mass and Energy. Even the most narrow-minded, uniformed, biased zealot would be amazed by the incredible breadth of evidence Dawkins presents in support of what I call "the law of evolution". He provides centuries of bacterial, plant, and animal speciation data, accurate geological and cosmological dating information, traditional/mendalian genetic insights, modern (DNA) molecular genetic revelations, chemical/isotopic explanations, and of course, actual fossil record information (surprisingly the last proving to be the least important of all). Amazingly, all of this independent and indisputeably derived information converges upon, and can be explained by, only one simple evolutionary fact.......that every living species on this planet derived from a common shared ancestor. He presents ancestry "trees" which demonstrate how such common ancestors emerged amongst both plants and animals, many tracing back to the beginings of life on earth billions of years ago. He completely debunks the "fossil search for a missing link" gambit as completely irrelavent, despite that argument being so often advocated by creationists and intelligent designers. Dawkins does not discuss religion at all in his text, but rather only presents solid objective evidence of all types, yet understandable to non-scientists. He throws this evidence open to close scrutiny and challenge by anyone. Whether to embrace or reject the idea of evolution, one certainly needs to at least consider these facts. Dismissing evolution as only "a theory" while continuing to completely ignore proven facts, is simply disgraceful. Humans desparately and rightfully fear Nature's obvious indiscriminate and often cruel power. It seems difficult to rationalize such indifference in the context of a "responsive and all-loving God". Even worse, it is virtually impossible to mentally conceive of the unimaginably long timeframe over which genetic change occurs under varying selective pressures. Thus it is much easier to simply take the memetic way out, i.e. succumb to delusional (but biblically appealing) notions of a 6000 year old earth, designed and ruled by a divine power that is still responsive to our needs and pleas. Understanding evolution actually brings us much closer to a more realistic "God" than ever before, enabling us to finally see ourselves as top dog contenders in the cosmological and timeless realm of NATURE. As such, we are perhaps one of her more amazing genetic outcomes ever. Dawkins delivers warm clarity in revealing that, as well as in explaining how and why it happens. From such knowledge should emerge confidence that our own species will continue to survive and thrive along with, and in spite of, Mother Nature's fury.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Dawkins at his best: comprehensive proof of evolution
*by D***S on October 4, 2009*

There are few authors alive capable of weaving wonder and authority into popular science writing better than Richard Dawkins, and in his newest book The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution, released in September, 2009, he has shown that he is still the master of popular biology. Following a narrative that works much as the one employed by Charles Darwin in On the Origin of Species (and frequently mentioning Darwin), Dawkins presents a comprehensive look at the modern state of evolutionary theory, and more specifically, the evidence which proves it is true beyond any serious doubt. I had read many Dawkins books prior to Greatest Show, including his biology and science-oriented books The Selfish Gene, The Extended Phenotype, Unweaving the Rainbow, The Blind Watchmaker, and River Out of Eden. I have not yet read The Ancestors Tale (which I understand is Dawkins most comprehensive biological work, nor have I read Climbing Mount Improbably (which Dawkins has stated is his own favorite work), both of which I own but have yet to get to. So, my review is in light of these experiences (or lack thereof). The first couple of chapters are for softening up any hesistant readers and convincing new learners that evolution is not only realistic, it can be observed around us in a myriad of ways, including the comparisons between natural selection and the artificial selection practiced by human animal and plant breeders. Following this intro, Dawkins lays down the tool kit and shows how Neo-Darwinian theory knows how to trust estimated dates, looking at the various chemical clocks available. The chapter titled "Before Our Very Eyes" was the most enjoyable and enlightening for me, personally, as the reader has described for him/her several fascinating experiments which have demonstrated the power of natural selection and mutation to drive complex genetic progression. The information on the Richard Lenski-led study of E. coli is worth the price of the book alone. Tremendously important and strong evidence for Dawkins' central thesis. Dawkins follows this by moving into fossil records, showing the reader how scientists have studied and come to see the fossil record as important, but not the most important facts available to evolutionary theory. He shows that the 'gaps' in the fossil record are actually useful for taxonomic reasons, and posits that a complete fossil record would lead to immense confusion when trying to determine just where a new species begins from the old. Dawkins also knocks down the argument that talk of 'missing links' is useful, and pleads for the cessation of this term since its usefulness has long-since been destroyed. Like he says often, every fossil we find is a missing link, every one is a transitional fossil of some sort. The chapter "You did it yourself in nine months" was my least favorite, though it was certainly necessary to present in a comprehensive view of evolution. The following chapter on biogeography returns to a superior narrative and offers strong evidence for geographic proof of evolution, again, just as Darwin did in describing the variety of species found strew across the Galapagos Islands. Following that are chapters on cousinship among life forms and the ability of DNA to provide a historical archive which begin to draw together a personal closeness that derives from the evidence of the preceding chapters. The final couple of chapters move a bit more toward being meditative, though don't expect Dawkins to get too mushy. What begins as a discussion of arms races ends with a look at 'evolutionary theodicy', where Dawkins argues that we find suffering and pain exactly as we would expect from the emotionless processes of natural selection. Finally, the book winds down with more reflection as Dawkins expounds upon the last paragraph of Darwin's Origin and draws together the book's conclusion by reinforcing that the fact of evolution does not depend on any statement about abiogenesis or origin of life concerns. Clearly, what the theory suggest, and has been proven by practically every bit of evidence uncovered, is that, however it started, evolution is the way in which living things grow, compete, reproduce, and change. I haven't read a more comprehensive book on Evolution to date, and I think Dawkins has abolutely knocked it out of the park here. I admit to a strong Dawkins bias, so I wanted to like this book, but I also had very high hopes for it because it was the first Dawkins biology-centric book to be released since I started reading his work. I expected a ton. I got it and more. For the beginning reader, I would still recommend the much-more streamlined arguments in Jerry Coyne's Why Evolution is True, but for the reader with some science experience, or for the curious reader who wants the full picture, this is as good as it gets. Five stars.

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