Dawkins - The Greatest Show on Earth

Anyone read Dawkins latest book - "The Greatest Show on Earth"?http://www.amazon.co.uk/...-Evidence-Evolution/dp/059306173XAnyone intend to read it soon? Anyone intending specifically not to read it?The aim of the book is to "explicitly set out" the evidence in favour of evolution and Dawkins says this about his intended audience: Quote taken from an extract of the first chapter that can be found here: TLS - Times Literary SupplementDo you think he will get through to his stated target audience? Will creationists (or "history-deniers" as he calls them) read this book? Will those who are surrounded by "history-deniers" be better prepared as a result of this book? Or will it simply and inevitably be a case of preaching to the converted (I have my copy as yet unread)?I am particularly interested to know if any anti-evolutionists will be reading this book? Even if for "know thy enemy" reasons if nothing else.Edited by Straggler, : No reason given.

As an example of the superiority of scientific evidence over eyewitness testimony Dawkins discusses situations such as the following linked to awareness test.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RVJMSdIYaQDon't forget to count the passes as accurately as you can!

I'll give that one a look. Fair enough. Which were the interesting experiments mentioned? I haven't read it yet (beyond about the first 30 pages or so anyway) and I am quite prepared to believe that Dawkins just cannot resist some swipes at creationists. However I think his reputation often precedes him and that those who expect to be insulted by him will be more on the basis of style of actual argument than direct insult content.But it is a fair point you make about his stated target audience so I will bear it in mind when reading myself.

Well I would argue that the methods of science are exactly what they are explicitly because they promote objectivity at the expense of subjective interpretation of evidence. But that is a whole other thread........ I must admit that the 'anti-God' books I have read (Dawkins - The God Delusion and God: The Failed Hypothesis by Stenger are the two that spring to mind) have arguably not tackled some of the less easily dismissed pro-faith arguments that I have seen presented at EvC. Well at least you seem willing to see what he has to say on the subject. In some ways even a closed mind open to exposure of that which is disagreed with is a more open mind than most. That is true for all of us no matter which side of the debate we are on.Edited by Straggler, : No reason given.

He does have a "bias". It is more than an impression. Whether the bias is intellectualy justified or not is another question. A fair point with regard to actual full scale creationists. What about his other audience and stated intent of equipping those who know creationists with the tools to counter their anti-evo arguments? With regard to challenging creationists I think you are spot on. Dawkins, in my view, doesn't stand a snowman in hells chance of changing the mind of any creationist because the only reason they will read his books is to know what they are against (which is progress not to be neglected given the woeful ignorance of many anti-evolutionists).However given that 40% of Americans (figure from the book under discussion) believe in creationism of one sort or another there are perhaps many who simply cite what they have been raised to believe without too much thought who might be swayed by such a book. And there may also be a large minority of potential readers who can reach even more of those who are part of that 40%.

One of those rare events where we get the things first on this side of the pond. I wonder why that is? Different publisher in the US? Some sort of marketting date? I cannot think why that would be the case.

Well I guess that is the answer. But I still don't understand why that is necessarily so in this global age. I didn't know the harry Potter books worked like that too. I still don't get why difference in publishing dates. Some sort of marketting advantage I suppose?