Historically the most vocal critics of evolution have often been religiously inclined. And it’s not hard to see why he would think that. In USA, more than 40 percent of the population deny that humans evolved from other animals. The figures are equally worrisome in Turkey, where only 27 percent of the population accept the proposition that “human beings, as we know them, develop from earlier species of animals.” Dawkins doesn’t cite other Muslim countries, but argues that their figures cannot be better than that of Turkey’s. He seems to be implying that at least some of the opposition to evolution is stemming from religious convictions. He quotes recent opinion polls regarding the acceptance of evolution and the figures are very much depressing. Right from the beginning Dawkins makes it clear why this book is necessary. The alarming nature of the answer (or rather, answers) to that question lies in the very heart of why Richard Dawkins wrote The Greatest Show on Earth, The Evidence for Evolution (its working subtitle was “ The Only Game in Town”). But just what is it that makes evolution by natural selection such a dangerous idea? It is a dangerous idea.” That seems like a fair observation, given the never ending controversy since 1859. Simple as it may be, Darwin’s idea of natural selection is, as Dennett continues with his quote, “not just a wonderful scientific idea. That robust mechanism, namely natural selection, not only provided a general framework in which scientists could understand hitherto puzzling adaptations and diversity, it is also one of the simplest of all scientific ideas: the organisms with what it takes to reproduce and flourish, outreproduces and outflourishes those who do not. Likewise, the fact of life is explained with the arrival of Charles Darwin). In other words Einstein explained gravity where Newton only described it. In Einstein’s theory, however, a field permeated otherwise empty spacetime that was bent in the presence of energy and that’s how bodies were affected by gravity. In Newton’s theory, nobody knew how gravity affected things it just did. (This demarcation is reminiscent of the difference of Einstein’s theory of gravity with that of Newton’s. With the hindsight of evolution all those facts could be understood and explained by a robust mechanism. It has proven to possess immense explanatory power in biology, so much so that Theodosius Dobzhansky, one of the founding fathers of modern evolutionary synthesis, have aptly proclaimed that “nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.” Indeed, without the hindsight of evolution, facts of life were merely collected data, unexplained and unconnected. Since it was first published in November 1859, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution has passed every scientific test it has encountered with flying colors.
In a single stroke, the idea of evolution by natural selection unifies the realm of life, meaning, and purpose with the realm of space and time, cause and effect, mechanism and physical law” says American philosopher Daniel Dennett, who is also a good friend of Richard Dawkins. “If I were to give an award for the single best idea anyone has ever had, I’d give it to Darwin, ahead of Newton and Einstein and everyone else. This was submitted as a take-home assignment for a philosophy course entitled “Darwin & Philosophy.” It got a 9 out of 10, with the following criticism from the instructor (paraphrased): “You could have inquired further into the philosophical aspects of Dawkins’ ideas and supplemented them with your own.” Citations omitted, some corrections made. The review of The Greatest Show on Earth, The Evidence For Evolution by Richard Dawkins.
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