The Making of a Scientist
Author : Richard Dawkins
Pages : 310
Publisher: Ecco Press
Published: 12 September 2013
Price : $27.99
ISBN : 978-0-062-22579-5
For nearly three decades, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins has remained arguably the world’s most significant and influential atheist. Since the landmark publication of his first book, 'The Selfish Gene' in 1976, Dawkins has become the premier proponent for a gene-centered view of evolution and an outspoken critic of religion.
'An Appetite for Wonder: The Making of a Scientist' is the first volume of the autobiographical memoir by him. Here, Dawkins shares a rare view into his early life, his intellectual awakening at Oxford, and his path to writing The Selfish Gene. He paints a vivid picture of his idyllic childhood in colonial Africa, peppered with sketches of his colorful ancestors, charming parents, and the peculiarities of colonial life right after World War II.
Dawkins is consistently old-fashioned in his methodical, chronological delivery, covering the facts of his parents’ lives; his early upbringing in Africa (his father served in the King’s African Rifles during World War II), and back in England, where he attended prep school and dutifully followed, at least initially, the traditionally Anglican teachings.
Though he harbored doubts, it was not until secondary school that the author truly began questioning the ideas of religion and its rote teaching in school as well as the way it takes advantage of the gullibility of children. After discussing his entrance and study at Balliol College, Oxford, where he absorbed the lessons of his mentor, Nobel Prize-winning ethologist Nikolaas Tinbergen,
Dawkins chronicles his first position as a professor of zoology at the University of California, Berkeley, and his brief participation in the late-1960s activism that surrounded the campus.As can be expected, the author is far more illuminating on the subjects of zoology, sociobiology, neurophysiology, and other scientific matters than he is on his autobiographical details. Indeed, the last third of the book will prove the most revealing and useful to Dawkins fans, as he finally delves deeper into the development of his scientific theories and the influences behind them.
At boarding school, despite a near-religious encounter with an Elvis record, he began his career as a skeptic by refusing to kneel for prayer in chapel. Despite some inspired teaching throughout primary and secondary school, it was only when he got to Oxford that his intellectual curiosity took full flight. Arriving at Oxford in 1959, when undergraduates "left Elvis behind" for Bach or the Modern Jazz Quartet, Dawkins began to study zoology and was introduced to some of the university's legendary mentors as well as its tutorial system.
It's to this unique educational system that Dawkins credits his awakening, as it invited young people to become scholars by encouraging them to pose rigorous questions and scour the library for the latest research rather than textbook "teaching to" any kind of test. His career as a fellow and lecturer at Oxford took an unexpected turn when, in 1973, a serious strike in Britain caused prolonged electricity cuts, and he was forced to pause his computer-based research.
There’s no question that 'The Selfish Gene' was one of the most important books of popular science of the past 30 years, but the mechanics of science writing don’t always translate to memoir. So it is with 'An Appetite for Wonder' which is, ultimately, a misnomer, as much of the narrative is a slog. Hopefully, once Dawkins explores the real meat of his career, the pace will pick up and provide more compelling revelations.
Youtube Link: http://youtu.be/1V4eQrO96IE
Review Courtesy: http://www.bostonglobe.com, http://www.richarddawkins.net,
No comments:
Post a Comment