Join Amazon Prime and get unlimited Free One-Day Delivery. Already a member? Sign in.

Quantity:

More Buying Choices

46 used & new from �10.83

Have one to sell? Sell yours here

Share your own customer images

Search inside this book

The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing (Hardcover)

by Richard Dawkins (Editor)

4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

RRP:	�20.00
Price:	�13.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save:	�6.01 (30%)
	o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Want guaranteed delivery by Tuesday, July 14? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details

34 new from �10.83 12 used from �10.85

Other Editions:	RRP:	Our Price:	Other Offers:
Paperback	�9.99	�6.99

Frequently Bought Together

Price For All Three: �25.83

Show availability and shipping details

This item: The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing by Richard Dawkins
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
Bad Science by Ben Goldacre
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
Eligible for FREE UK delivery on orders over �5 with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
Irrationality by Stuart Sutherland
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Bad Science

by Ben Goldacre

4.6 out of 5 stars (141) �4.85

Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Non-Believer

by Christopher Hitchens

4.7 out of 5 stars (15) �7.69

Irrationality

by Stuart Sutherland

4.2 out of 5 stars (26) �6.99

Your Inner Fish: The Amazing Discovery of Our 375-Million-Year-Old Ancestor

by Neil Shubin

4.6 out of 5 stars (22) �6.49

The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary edition

by Richard Dawkins

4.5 out of 5 stars (82) �6.69

› Explore similar items

Product details

Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: OUP Oxford (13 Mar 2008)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0199216800
ISBN-13: 978-0199216802
Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.4 x 4.2 cm

Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 2,263 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in this category:
#1 in Books > Reference > Writing > Poetry

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

See Complete Table of Contents

Product Description

BBC Focus, May 2008
'This is a superb collection'

Review
A book from which the love of science and the love of language shine. (Science )

An amalgamation of brilliant reads. (New Scientist )

Every school library should own a copy of this book; every person with even a passing interest in science should read it. (Jerry A. Coyne, Times Literary Supplement. )

Beautiful volume...A labour of love. (Steven Poole. The Guardian. )

A glorius celebration of literary scientists. (Harry Richie Mail on Sunday )

A brilliant collection... If you could only ever read one science book, this should probably be it. (New Scientist )

It is a real treasure trove of unexpected pleasures. (Sunday Telegraph. Kenan Malik )

See all Product Description

Inside This Book (Learn More)

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

(What's this?)

Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.

richard dawkins(7)

science(5)

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	61% buy the item featured on this page: The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing 4.8 out of 5 stars (13) �13.99
	22% buy Bad Science 4.6 out of 5 stars (141) �4.85
	8% buy Irrationality 4.2 out of 5 stars (26) �6.99
	5% buy Quirkology: The Curious Science of Everyday Lives 4.4 out of 5 stars (28) �4.79

Explore similar items

Customer Reviews

13 Reviews

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.8 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

79 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Modern Science Writing, 20 Mar 2008

By	A. Clark (England) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a varied collection of articles by just about every great modern science writer you can think of. The articles range in size from about 8 pages to as little as half a page, and each is preceded by a short, interesting introduction by Dawkins.

I read a lot of popular science books so inevitably there were a few items which I had already read, but it was nice to be reminded of them, such as Haldane's delightful poem which begins with the words "I wish I had the voice of Homer, to sing of rectal carcinoma!" The items vary considerably in difficulty - some could be understood by a child, others require concentration - and some topics were familiar to me, others were not, so although all the articles are good it is inevitable that the reader will enjoy some articles much more than others. They also vary considerably in subject matter - some are about what science has discovered, others about how scientists work, or the philosophy of science, or amusing anecdotes.

I think anyone interested in Science should get a lot out of the book, and I have been stimulated to seek out more writing by some of the authors. Highly recommended.

Comment Comments (2) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect bedside reading, 27 Jun 2008

By	Big Jim "Big Jim" (London, UK) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This mighty tome makes excellent bedside reading. You are unlikely to have the musclepower to take this commuting or to the beach (need to wait for the paperback edition for that) but propped up in bed with a cup of cocoa/glass of whisky (delete as appropriate) by your side, this is an excellent book for dipping into and as a previous reviewer says, will encourage you to seek out the books the excerpts come from. In this regard may I be so bold as to recommend any of the books by Richard Feynman. Dawkins himself supplies witty and erudite introductions to each essay so all in all there is absolutely nothing to criticise in this book - unless you hate science that is and even then this book might convince you otherwise.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pelucid writings from brilliant minds, 1 Jul 2008

By	Charles Gidley Wheeler (Kempsford, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

As one who is convinced that Spinoza's monism provides the philosophical basis for all the sciences, reading The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing and seeing Spinoza's view (that God and Nature are one and the same thing, under the dual aspects of thought and matter) confirmed over and over again was enthralling.

While reading it I repeatedly inserted markers into articles that I wished to re-read. In fact, I shall probably read the whole book again and refer to it repeatedly. What particularly fascinated me was the revelation that a quantum of energy appears to us under two aspects: as a wave or as a particle, but never both at the same time. This discovery accords perfectly with Spinoza's dual aspect theory.

My selection of five-star articles is as follows: 'Life Itself', by Francis Crick;`One Self: a Meditation on the Unity of Consciousness' by Nicholas Humphrey; `The Language Instinct', by Steven Pinker; `Avoid Boring People' by James Watson; `Consciousness Explained' by Daniel Dennett; `The Fantastic Combinations of John Conway's new solitaire game "Life"' by Martin Gardner; `Computing Machinery and Intelligence' by Alan Turing; `The Goldilocks Enigma' by Paul Davies; `The Elegant Universe' by Bryan Green, and `Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid' by Douglas Hofstadter.

Having been brought up in an evangelical environment, and having had a taste of Roman Catholicism as well, I can only say that there is no contest between the brilliance, lucidity, humility and open-mindedness of the scientists quoted in this anthology and the tendentious, hubristic, convoluted, ill-founded speculations of theologians - few of whom will have the courage to read this book.

The introductions by Richard Dawkins are excellent. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 13 customer reviews...

Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Dawkins Book Review
An excellent anthology by Richard Dawkins surveying the thoughts and contributions of leading scientists through the 20th Century. Read more

Published 6 days ago by D. A. R. Williams

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading - whether you're a scientist or not
The most important word in the title is the last - "writing". Dawkins' defining criterion for selection is the quality of the writing. Read more

Published 10 days ago by Clive Viegas Bennett

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice collection of scientific texts
The book is a collection of many many short texts ranging from 1 to 5 pages each on average, all selected and introduced by a small paragraph by Dawkins. Read more

Published 19 days ago by D. Quintiere

5.0 out of 5 stars Science and pure wonder
This selection by Richard Dawkins is full of wonder and magnificent prose. It also conveys the great sense of awe, excitement and sheer pleasure you encounter when exploring how... Read more

Published 1 month ago by Stephen Parry

5.0 out of 5 stars dawkins does it again
This was a pressie for my Dads birthday, it came before the last estimated delivery dates and was inexpensive compared to high street stores. A good buy, thanks

Published 5 months ago by Mr. J. Lees

5.0 out of 5 stars 6+ stars
This is one of the few books I feel that the star rating system fails. 5 stars is simply not enough!
So enjoyable and thought provoking. Read more

Published 7 months ago by S. Maxwell

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Collection
This book contains a superb collection of excerpts from books and essays of some of the world's greatest scientists. The amount of ideas discussed is truly mind-expanding. Read more

Published 9 months ago by Laurence "Burning Cold"...

5.0 out of 5 stars A marvellous anthology of modern science writing.
Richard Dawkins has compiled a fascinating and intellectually stimulating anthology of excellent writing from professional scientists over the past century. Read more

Published 13 months ago by Jazzrook

3.0 out of 5 stars Why so few women?
This accessible and informative anthology provides a selection of popular science writings, predominantly from the second half of the 20th century. It is a joy to read. Read more

Published 15 months ago by Dr. Jacoby

5.0 out of 5 stars A Review from the USA
This is a wonderful book. The level of the writing and the subject matter chosen by Dr. Dawkins are truly great. Read more

Published 15 months ago by J. Blilie

› See all 13 customer reviews...

.jsOffDisplayBlock { display: block; } .jsOffDisplayInline { display: inline; } .jsOffVisibility { visibility: visible; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jsOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; }

Customer Discussions

Beta (What's this?)

This product's forum (0 discussions)

	Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
	No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight

Start a new discussion

Topic:

First post:

Prompts for sign-in

[Cancel]

Guidelines

Listmania!

Secrets and Lies: A list by S Wood
Samuel Johnson BBC Prize for Non-Fiction 2009: A list by J. Holden "johnlholden"
The Atheism/God Debate: A list by R. Wilson "RW"

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Books > Reference > Writing > Poetry
Books > Science & Nature

Feedback

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.

The Body Shop

Protect and boost your glow with The Body Shop Vitamin C Skin Boost.

›Shop The Body Shop

Let Olay Amaze You

Amazon.co.uk sells all your favourite ranges from Olay, including Regenerist and Total Effects.

›Discover Olay at Amazon.co.uk

We've Got Converse

Stock up on your favourite styles with great deals on Converse shoes.

›Shop Converse

Treat Someone

With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

›Learn more about Gift Certificates

Where's My Stuff?

track your recent orders
view or change your orders in Your Account

Delivery and Returns

see our delivery rates and policies
thinking of returning an item? (See our Returns Policy)

Need Help?

Forgot your password?
Buy Gift Certificates.
still have questions? Visit our Help Pages

Your Recent History

(What's this?)

You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.

Continue Shopping: Top Sellers

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

4.5 out of 5 stars (75)�3.86

Breaking Dawn (Twilight Saga) by Stephenie Meyer

4.1 out of 5 stars (464)�6.49

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

4.1 out of 5 stars (165)�3.99

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

4.2 out of 5 stars (81)�3.86


Amazon Home

International Sites: United States \| Germany \| France \| Japan \| Canada \| China

Business Programs: Sell on Amazon \| Fulfilment by Amazon \| Join Associates \| Join Advantage

Customer Service \| Help \| View Basket \| Your Account

About Amazon.co.uk \| Careers at Amazon


Amazon Home

International Sites: United States \| Germany \| France \| Japan \| Canada \| China

Business Programs: Sell on Amazon \| Fulfilment by Amazon \| Join Associates \| Join Advantage

Customer Service \| Help \| View Basket \| Your Account

About Amazon.co.uk \| Careers at Amazon