博客來演化生物學巨著《自私的基因》作者理查．道金斯科學散文選
在科學與信仰、實證與迷信仍然持續拉鋸的今日
且看始終追逐著真理的科學家
以橫跨30年的42篇科學散文
與讀者分享徜徉自然、理解知識的純粹感動
數十年來，理查．道金斯帶著他對科學的熱愛進行各種科學教育計劃。研究、教學、寫書、製作紀錄片、成立基金會，除了揭露許多令人驚豔的自然奇景與科學新知，也毫不留情的抨擊謬誤邏輯與偽科學。
Science in the Soul是道金斯科學散文與論辯的選集，包含二十篇首次在美國發表的作品。以熱情洋溢的筆觸、名聞遐邇的博學與機敏，生動描繪道金斯對自然界與人類行為的入微觀察與清晰思辨。即便有些文章寫得較早，本書仍是當今局勢的及時雨。例如，道金斯指出，我們應該遠離投票亭，使用本能直覺，看清那些在政治角力中被拋出的排外症、仇女症及任何盲目的偏見。他並調查大量的議題，為文章加入註解與評註。道金斯強調經驗主義中證據的重要性，並斥責偽科學、學校內的宗教活動與氣候暖化等負面因子。
另一方面，道金斯對「自然的神聖真理」有相同的熱情，並以大師級的表演，詳實描繪出自然世界的複雜性與活躍燦爛。以地理時代的廣大探索為例，那是關於巨大海龜與陸龜的獨特歷史，在水與陸地的旅程間為讀者帶來一個更深入的演化故事。正當如此多當權者仍質疑演化論的真偽之時，道金斯正面迎戰，並讚揚科學除了具備許多宗教的美德「解釋、安慰與振作」之外，並不會造成額外的迷信並帶來偏見與危害。
在一個面對真相越發不理性並對立的世界，Science in the Soul扮演著振聾發聵的理智力量。在科學光輝的映照之下，盲目愚信將無所遁形。
「道金斯是一位傑出的闡述者，一位十分明瞭議題到他也強迫他的讀者去了解的作家。」–紐約時報書評
身兼演化生物學家、無神論者、科學教育家、暢銷作家的理查．道金斯，承襲並演繹達爾文演化論，1976年出版以基因取代生物個體為演化單位的《自私的基因》一書，已被奉為20世紀最重要的演化生物學著作之一。著作等身，除了《盲眼鐘錶匠》《伊甸園外的生命長河》為《自私的基因》續作之外，更出版許多如《什麼才是真的?：真實世界的神奇魔力》等科普書籍。善於使用淺顯易懂的詞句與小說式的敘事手法，將複雜的科學問題深入淺出地呈現給一般讀者。道金斯於2006年成立理查道金斯理性與科學基金會，致力于推廣科學教育與世俗主義。(文/博客來編譯)
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - The legendary biologist and bestselling author mounts a timely and passionate defense of science and clear thinking with this career-spanning collection of essays, including twenty pieces published in the United States for the first time.
For decades, Richard Dawkins has been a brilliant scientific communicator, consistently illuminating the wonders of nature and attacking faulty logic. Science in the Soul brings together forty-two essays, polemics, and paeans--all written with Dawkins's characteristic erudition, remorseless wit, and unjaded awe of the natural world.
Though it spans three decades, this book couldn't be more timely or more urgent. Elected officials have opened the floodgates to prejudices that have for half a century been unacceptable or at least undercover. In a passionate introduction, Dawkins calls on us to insist that reason take center stage and that gut feelings, even when they don't represent the stirred dark waters of xenophobia, misogyny, or other blind prejudice, should stay out of the voting booth. And in the essays themselves, newly annotated by the author, he investigates a number of issues, including the importance of empirical evidence, and decries bad science, religion in the schools, and climate-change deniers.
Dawkins has equal ardor for "the sacred truth of nature" and renders here with typical virtuosity the glories and complexities of the natural world. Woven into an exploration of the vastness of geological time, for instance, is the peculiar history of the giant tortoises and the sea turtles--whose journeys between water and land tell us a deeper story about evolution. At this moment, when so many highly placed people still question the fact of evolution, Dawkins asks what Darwin would make of his own legacy--"a mixture of exhilaration and exasperation"--and celebrates science as possessing many of religion's virtues--"explanation, consolation, and uplift"--without its detriments of superstition and prejudice.
In a world grown irrational and hostile to facts, Science in the Soul is an essential collection by an indispensable author.
Praise for Science in the Soul
"Compelling . . . rendered in gloriously spiky and opinionated prose . . . Dawkins is] one of the great science popularizers of the last half-century."--The Christian Science Monitor
"Dawkins is a ferocious polemicist, a defender of reason and enemy of superstition."--John Horgan, Scientific American
