A Devil's Chaplain: Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science, and Love

Richard Dawkins

Oct 2004 · Sold by HMH

About this ebook

Essays on morality, mortality, and much more from the New York Times–bestselling author of The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion.

This early collection of essays from renowned evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins is an enthusiastic declaration, a testament to the power of rigorous scientific examination to reveal the wonders of the world.
 
In these essays, Dawkins revisits the meme, the unit of cultural information that he named and wrote about in his groundbreaking work, The Selfish Gene. Here also are moving tributes to friends and colleagues, including a eulogy for novelist Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; correspondence with fellow biologist Stephen Jay Gould; commentary on the events of 9/11; and visits with the famed paleoanthropologists Richard and Meave Leakey at their African wildlife preserve.
 
Ending with a vivid note to Dawkins’s ten-year-old daughter, reminding her to remain curious, ask questions, and live the examined life, A Devil’s Chaplain is a fascinating read by “a man of firm opinions, which he expresses with clarity and punch” (Scientific American).

Ratings and reviews

The author(s) seem to be going in circles... using a lot of big words but not really saying anything. Almost could pass for a chemically induced brain storm, without the brain.

For me the book was 1/3 great 1/3 ok and 1/3 pointless.. Worth reading if you're done with Dawkins other books I suppose

000202

About the author

Richard Dawkins taught zoology at the University of California, Berkeley, and at Oxford University. He was the Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford until 2008, a position he founded in 1995. Among Dawkins’s books are The Ancestor’s Tale, The Selfish Gene, The Blind Watchmaker, Climbing Mount Improbable, Unweaving the Rainbow, and A Devil’s Chaplain. He lives in Oxford with his wife, actress and artist Lalla Ward.