Author:Daniel C. Dennett
In Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life Daniel C. Dennett argues that the theory of evolution can demystify the miracles of life without devaluing our most cherished beliefs.
From the moment it first appeared, Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection has been controversial: misrepresented, abused, denied and fiercely debated. In this powerful defence of Darwin, Daniel C. Dennett explores every aspect of evolutionary thinking to show why it is so fundamental to our existence, and why it affirms - not threatens - our convictions about the meaning of life.
'Essential and pleasurable for any thinking person'
Stephen Pinker
'A surpassingly brilliant book. Where creative, it lifts the reader to new intellectual heights. Where critical, it is devastating'
Richard Dawkins
'A brilliant piece of persuasion, excitingly argued and compulsively readable'
The Times Higher Education Supplement
'Superb ... This is the best single-author overview of all the implications of evolution by natural selection available ... deserves a place on the bookshelves of every thinking person'
John Gribbin, Sunday Times
'Dennett's book brings together science and philosophy with wit, complex clarity and an infectious sense that these ideas matter, to us and the way we live now'
A.S. Byatt, Sunday Times Books of the Year
Daniel C. Dennett is one of the most original and provocative thinkers in the world. A brilliant polemicist and philosopher, he is famous for challenging unexamined orthodoxies, and an outspoken supporter of the Brights movement. His books include Brainstorms, Brainchildren, Elbow Room, Breaking the Spell, Darwin's Dangerous Idea, Consciousness Explained and Freedom Evolves.
A text of unusual beauty and perception
—— Publishers WeeklyMagnificent... Mystical
—— Daily TelegraphGritty and entertaining
—— Sunday TelegraphFowles' language is strong, green, discursive, related throughout to his own life and memories
—— VogueBateson and Martin have delivered what others have claimed to provide: a solid, signposted road out of the trench war between nature and nurture
—— Marek Kohn , IndependentWith a clarity of style that belies the complexity of the subject, Patrick Bateson and Paul Martin conduct us through the strategic highways adn tactical byways of individual life history
—— Richard Dawkins'Exhilarating'
—— Melvyn Bragg , Observer'As enthralling in its own way as was Darwin's original'
—— Kenan Malik , Independent on Sunday