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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
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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: 4,157 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #2 in  Books > Reference > Writing > Poetry

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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 )

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Customer Reviews

13 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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 8 hours 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 3 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 13 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 24 days 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 6 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 14 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

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