“Magic of Reality” by Richard Dawkins `
BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS
PRINT:
© 2011, January 1; 978-0593066126; Bantam; First Edition; 265 pages; unabridged (Info from Amazon)
DIGITAL:
© 2012, September 11 Free Press; Reprint edition; 273 pages; unabridged. (info from Amazon)
(this one)-AUDIO:
© 2011, October 4; Simon and Schuster Audio; 06:42:00 duration; unabridged. (info from Amazon)
FILM:
No.

CHARACTERS: (Not Comprehensive)
N/A

SERIES:
No

SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
SELECTED:
This was next in line from the oldest to newest acquisitions in the Audible library. It is one that Don added. I think this is the third book by this author that I’ve listened to. I guess Don really likes him, although I’m pretty sure he hasn’t listened to any of them yet.

ABOUT:
A lot of the information in this one is everyday things that might be taught in elementary school, but if you were absent that day, or it’s been a long time, it can feel like learning. Each section starts with myths on the topic. I have my suspicions that Mr. Dawkins did this to show how many topics have myths that are very similar to Bible stories, which are also included in the myths section, to show these stories did not come to their writers through any divine/spiritual/visionary process. There are good explanations about the sun, like why it’s hotter in one season than in another, or how long it takes for the earth to make on full rotation; There’s an explanation of the rainbow. Things like that.

OVERALL OPINION:
This was informative, and enjoyable to listen to.

AUTHOR:
Richard Dawkins: (From Amazon)
Richard Dawkins taught zoology at the University of California at Berkeley and at Oxford University and is now the Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford, a position he has held since 1995. Among his previous books are The Ancestor's Tale, The Selfish Gene, The Blind Watchmaker, Climbing Mount Improbable, Unweaving the Rainbow, and A Devil's Chaplain. Dawkins lives in Oxford with his wife, the actress and artist Lalla Ward.
(*Note: They actually amicably separated after 24 years of marriage in 2016, according to Wikipedia)

NARRATOR(S):
Richard Dawkins (From Wikipdeia)
Richard Dawkins FRS FRSL (born 26 March 1941)[3] is a British evolutionary biologist, zoologist, science communicator and author.[4] He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was Professor for Public Understanding of Science in the University of Oxford from 1995 to 2008. His 1976 book The Selfish Gene popularised the gene-centred view of evolution, as well as coining the term meme. Dawkins has won several academic and writing awards.[5]
Lalla Ward (From Wikipedia)
Sarah Jill "Lalla" Ward[1] (born 28 June 1951)[2] is an English actress, voice artist and author. She is best known for playing the role of Romana II in the BBC television series Doctor Who from 1979 to 1981.

GENRE:
Nonfiction; Folklore; Mythology Studies; Mathematics; Philosophy; Religion; Biology; Atheism; Evolution

SUBJECTS (Not comprehensive):
Nature of Waves, Earthquakes, Light; Atoms; Evolution; Myths; Bible; Sun; rainbow; Physics; Spectrum of Elements, Evolution; Aliens; Miracles; Genetics

TIME PERIOD
N/A

LOCATIONS
N/A

DEDICATION:
“Clinton John Dawkins
1915-2010
O, my beloved father”

EXCERPT
From “1: What is Reality? What is Magic?”
“Reality is everything that exists. That sounds straightforward, doesn’t it? Actually, it isn’t. There are various problems. What about dinosaurs, which once existed but exist no longer? What about stars, which are so far away that, by the time their light reaches us and we can see them, they may have fizzled out?
We’ll come to dinosaurs and stars in a moment. But in any case, how do we know things exist, even in the present? Well, our five senses – sight, smell, touch, hearing and taste – do a pretty good job of convincing us that many things are real; rocks and camels, newly mown grass and freshly ground coffee, sandpaper and velvet, waterfalls and doorbells, sugar and salt. But are we only going to call something ‘real’ if we can detect it directly with one of our five senses?
What about a distant galaxy, too far away to be seen with the naked eye? What about a bacterium, too small to be seen without a powerful microscope? Must we say that these do not exist because we can’t see them? No. Obviously we can enhance our senses through the use of special instruments: telescopes for the galaxy, microscopes for bacteria. Because we understand telescopes and microscopes, and how they work, we can use them to extend the reach of our senses – in this case, the sense of sight – and what they enable us to see convinces us that galaxies and bacteria exist.”

RATING:
3.8 stars.

STARTED-FINISHED
9/4/2024-9/13/2024 ( )

I have a few of Dawkin’s books and I’m glad I started with this one: if I’d have read it after others (which seem a lot more in depth and aimed at a more adult audience) I think I would’ve found this less engaging.

The Magic of Reality is an amuse-bouche of the main pillars of scientific discovery whilst at the same time a fervent debunker of mythologies and faux-sciences propagated by religious and science fiction tendencies of human society.

This particular version is an illustrated copy by Dave Mackean and I’d like to state emphatically that illustrated non-fiction books are wonderful things (despite artistic license here occasionally spilling over into unnecessary illustrations). Most drawings enhanced the reading of the book however and created a useful visualisation of key concepts. As I’ve already alluded to, the level of science is perhaps more suited to a younger audience but it was still a decent read and overview of the main discoveries of our small time here on Earth. Being devoutly non-religious I was a bit surprised to feel that the underlining of the fallacies of beliefs to describe phenomena, was a little too insistent but Dawkins is a passionate scientist and exponent of critical thought and if this is indeed for younger readers, a message to question everything one is told, is not a bad thing. (For a great read on this topic of the importance of critical thought incidentally, Carl Sagan’s ‘Demon Haunted World’ is incredible.) All in all, ‘The Magic of Reality’ did it’s job and gets a 3/5. ( )

Not very exciting for an adult with a good grasp of science, but still very well written. Where I imagine it would shine is for teenagers, since it explains many complex scientific findings in clear and easy to understand language. ( )

If I had to recommend one popular science book for children/teens to study in schools here, it would be this. It's absolutely amazing and mind-blowing how seemingly complex matters can be made to be understood so easily, by everyone.

Now, you might think that this book is for children/young adults only. Wrong. I knew almost everything mentioned in this book but I don't think I ever really truly understood it that simply before. It will clarify what you already knew and make it easier for you to explain it to others. Either way, it's a fun read and it is aesthetically pleasing. I think I'll purchase the hardcover version of this book (the one I have is from iBooks), and keep it in my shelf for future reference - or whenever I need to explain something to someone. I will also try to get my nieces/nephews to read it once they are old enough to understand.

The chapters include:
1- What is reality? What is magic?
2- Who was the first person?
3- Why are there so many different kinds of animals?
4- What are things made of?
5- Why do we have night and day, winter and summer?
6- What is the sun?
7- What is a rainbow?
8- When and how did everything begin?
9- Are we alone?
10- What is an earthquake?
11- Why do bad things happen?
12- What is a miracle?

The God Delusion might have been a disappointment, but this book made Richard Dawkins awesome again. I am truly impressed.


( )

The audio version of this book is read by Richard Dawkins and some other Lalla Ward. This is mainly relevant because it meant that I got to spend 5 hours listening to British accents. =)

The book itself was good. Each chapter poses a question, gives some answers provided by traditional myths, and then talks about the real scientific answer. I'll lay out up front, that yes, Dawkins does use the Bible for some of his examples of myths, but except to the biblical literalists (especially of the Creationist variety), these are the parts of the Bible that are generally taken to have a mythical element.

Also, while I'm on the disclaimers, this book focuses on where Dawkins does best -- explaining science in a manner accessible to the lay reader -- but it does veer just a little into rantiness in one of the later chapters.

Moving along, the questions and answers presented in this book should be broadly familiar to anyone who had an retained a decent science education, but there was the occasional moment of "so that's how it works!" illumination. For me, one such moment was the explanation of why the angle of the earth relative to the sun makes such a difference in perceived temperature [1]. From an educational standpoint, I think that this would be a really great book to get for a high school student or even an advanced middle school student.

[1] When the sun hits the earth at a shallower angle, the same amount of solar energy is spread over a wider area, so the energy received per square inch is decreased. ( )