The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True
Richard Dawkins
The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True
What are things made of? What is the sun? Why is there night and day, winter and summer? Why do bad things happen? Are we alone? Throughout history people all over the world have invented stories to answer profound questions such as these. Have you heard the tale of how the sun hatched out of an emu's egg? Or what about the great catfish that carries the world on its back? Has anyone ever told you that earthquakes are caused by a sneezing giant? These fantastical myths are fun — but what is the real answer to such questions? The Magic of Reality, with its explanations of space, time, evolution and more, aims to inspire and amaze readers of all ages.
3.4 out of 5 based on 4 reviews
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Omniscore:
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| Classification |
Non-fiction |
| Genre |
Science & Nature, Childrens & Teenage |
| Format |
Hardback |
| Pages |
272 |
| RRP |
£20.00 |
| Date of Publication |
September 2011 |
| ISBN |
978-0593066126 |
| Publisher |
Bantam Press |
| |
What are things made of? What is the sun? Why is there night and day, winter and summer? Why do bad things happen? Are we alone? Throughout history people all over the world have invented stories to answer profound questions such as these. Have you heard the tale of how the sun hatched out of an emu's egg? Or what about the great catfish that carries the world on its back? Has anyone ever told you that earthquakes are caused by a sneezing giant? These fantastical myths are fun — but what is the real answer to such questions? The Magic of Reality, with its explanations of space, time, evolution and more, aims to inspire and amaze readers of all ages.
Read an extract from the book | Guardian
Reviews
The Guardian
Tim Radford
"I cannot think of a better, or simpler, introduction to science as a good idea: simpler, because the starting point is the world's palpable, experienced reality rather than say formal subjects such as genetics, wave mechanics or astrophysics; better, because it could hardly be more up-to-date."
21/09/2011
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The Financial Times
Neville Hawcock
"While it’s aimed at children of 10 and up, the text is persuasive whatever one’s age. After all, Dawkins is a populariser as well as a proselytiser; his argument, beautifully complemented here by Dave McKean’s copious illustrations, has wonderful clarity."
30/09/2011
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The Sunday Times
Christopher Potter
"Delightful … I wish there had been such a book when I was a schoolboy. I would have devoured it, and pored over the beautiful illustrations (by Dave McKean). I would probably even have enjoyed Dawkins’s retelling of various ancient myths he has collected from cultures around the globe and through history. As an adult these sections feel like mild propaganda."
11/09/2011
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The Independent
Colin Tudge
"Richard Dawkins has no sense of irony. He rails endlessly against fundamentalists yet he defends old-fashioned, Thomas Gradgrind-style materialism as zealously as the Mid-West Creationists defend the literal truth of Genesis. He accuses others of misrepresentation yet he seriously misrepresents religion. Also, which is irony writ large, he misrepresents science, in whose name he is assumed to speak. He condemns the Catholics for filling the heads of children with a particular view of life before they have had a chance to think for themselves — and now, in The Magic of Reality, written for readers as young as nine, he has done precisely that. As somebody said of Miss Jean Brodie, it's time he was put a stop to."
23/09/2011
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