Person
Richard Dawkins's books and book recommendations
Across 4 podcasts. Every show Richard Dawkins appears on, in one place — not just one.
Richard Dawkins is a British evolutionary biologist, zoologist, science communicator, noted atheist, and author. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford. In 1995 he was named the first Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science, a position he held until 2008, and is on the advisory board of the University of Austin. Dawkins has won several academic and writing awards, among them the 2005 Shakespeare Prize and the 2006 Lewis Thomas Prize. Appearing on podcast interviews, Dawkins recommended several key scientific and literary works. On People I (Mostly) Admire, he strongly recommended Nick Davies's book Cuckoo while discussing avian behavior. On the Lex Fridman Podcast, he recommended Charles Darwin's The Voyage of the Beagle for an intellectual journey, Daniel F. Galouye's science fiction novel Dark Universe, and Fred Hoyle's The Black Cloud. During these discussions, he also referenced his own books, including The Selfish Gene and Flights of Fancy.
Books by Richard Dawkins
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The Selfish Gene
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The God Delusion
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The Blind Watchmaker
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The Ancestor's Tale
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Climbing Mount Improbable
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A Devil's Chaplain
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The Magic of Reality
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The Extended Phenotype
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Unweaving the Rainbow
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The Greatest Show on Earth
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River Out of Eden
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An Appetite For Wonder The Making Of A Scientist A Memoir
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The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing
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Caught in the Pulpit
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Books Do Furnish a Life
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The best American science and nature writing, 2003
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Brief Candle in the Dark
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Outgrowing God
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Flights of Fancy
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The Genetic Book of the Dead
Books recommended by Richard Dawkins
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The Blind Watchmaker
The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins is a seminal science book arguing that the complex adaptations of living organisms are shaped by natural selection rather than conscious design.
Discussed“in my third book The Blind watchmaker for example I devoted most of a chapter to bat echolocation sonar the navigation by bats using Echo”
Where to get it
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Cuckoo
Cuckoo by Nick Davies is a scientific examination of the evolutionary strategies, behaviors, and ecological adaptations of cuckoo birds, drawing heavily on decades of ornithological fieldwork.
Recommended“by the way I'm deriving this mostly from the work of Nick Davis of Cambridge University whose book called cucko I strongly recommend it”
Where to get it
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Dark Universe
Dark Universe by Daniel F.
Recommended“well actually um I I have I suppose I could say that I've learned some some science from science fiction um I I me I mentioned Daniel galloy and that's one example but another of his novels called Dark Universe which is not terribly well known but it's a very very nice science fiction story”
Where to get it
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The Black Cloud
The Black Cloud by Fred Hoyle is a classic 1957 hard science fiction novel by the renowned astronomer that depicts a massive, intelligent interstellar gas cloud entering our solar system and cutting off sunlight, leading to catastrophic global cooling.
Recommended“Fred hil's the black cloud oh by the way anything by Arthur C Clark I find very very wonderful too uh Fred Hall is the black cloud his first science fiction novel”
Where to get it
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The Time Sculptor
The Time Sculptor by Daniel Gallo is a speculative science fiction work exploring intricate concepts of time, reality, and human existence.
Recommended“but another of his novels called Dark Universe which is not terribly well known but it's a very very nice science fiction story”
Where to get it
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The Voyage of the Beagle
The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin is the celebrated travel memoir and scientific journal chronicling Darwin's five-year survey expedition that fundamentally shaped his theories on evolution and natural selection.
Recommended“what um what books would you recommend people consider reading in their own intellectual Journey Darwin”
Where to get it
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Contact
Contact by Carl Sagan is a classic science fiction novel that chronicles humanity's first detected radio signal from an extraterrestrial civilization and the subsequent efforts to build a machine to meet them.
Discussed“um another of his novels the um AA Andromeda which by the way the the the theme of that is taken up by Carl Sean science fiction novel another wonderful writer carlan contact where the idea is again we we will we will not be visited from Outer Space by physical bodies”
Where to get it
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Counterfeit World
Discussed“it's certainly an interesting thought experiment I first met it in a science fiction novel by Daniel galloy called um counterfeit world in which um it's all about I mean our heroes are running a gigantic computer which which simulates the world and um and something goes wrong”
Where to get it
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Flights of Fancy
Flights of Fancy is a science book by Richard Dawkins that examines the mechanics and evolutionary origins of flight in nature, featuring illustrations by Jana Lenova.
Discussed“yes the artwork is by Yana Lenova who is a Slovak artist and translator actually met her because she translated The God Delusion into Slovak and she illustrated my previous book Flights of Fancy which is about flight”
Where to get it
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Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul
Discussed“Douglas Adams wrote a lovely book called the long dark teatime of the soul which had in which the Norse gods apart a vision”
Where to get it
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Prisoners of Faith
Prisoners of Faith is an investigative book by Lawrence Wright that explores the history and inner workings of Scientology.
Discussed“yeah I'm sure you read Lawrence Wright's book go ahead and read it but I mean I know the story the book is fantastic”
Where to get it
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Revelations and Translations: Book of Abraham and related manuscripts
Discussed“in addition to the Book of Mormon Joseph Smith purported to translate another book called The Book of Abraham which was in a different language”
Where to get it
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The Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a foundational religious text published by Joseph Smith in 1835 that details ancient prophets in the Americas and serves as the canon for the Latter Day Saint movement.
Discussed“in addition to the Book of Mormon Joseph Smith purported to translate another book called The Book of Abraham”
Where to get it
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The Selfish Gene
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins is a seminal science book that popularizes a gene-centric view of evolution and explores the biological origins of selfishness and altruism.
Discussed“In the concluding chapter of the first edition of The Selfish Gene, I cast around for another example of a replicator. I wasn't then aware of computer viruses; otherwise, I might have chosen the computer virus as my analogy.”
Where to get it
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We Who Wrestle with God
We Who Wrestle with God by Jordan B.
Discussed“um I mean for example I've I've um I I counted up in your book um we who wrestle with God the number of references to Cain”
Where to get it
Appearances
Other mentions (13: passing, ad reads, own books)
“I'm working on another book um not like you um Tales From Heckle um Ernest Heckle was um a German biologist and artist”
“so everything about a body can be regarded as I called it in in the selfish Gene I called it a survival machine”
“Everything about a body can be regarded as, in my terminology from 'The Selfish Gene', a survival machine.”
“and you've articulate that in your new book and and I'll grow God and in God Delusion is the early indoctrination”
“and we have a new book out outgrowing God”
“and we have a new book out outgrowing God when does it come out is it out now it is out now”
“the new book outgoing God is sort of aimed at a younger audience and I like to think that can be read at any age”
“in the case of I mean I discuss it in outgrowing God in addition to the Book of Mormon”
“but even Abraham Lincoln for example made a speech were quoted in outgrowing God in which he said of course no nobody would seriously think”
“downloading free of charge as pdfs several of my books including The God Delusion and we'll be outgrowing God as well”
“downloading free of charge as pdfs several of my books including The God Delusion and we'll be outgrowing God as well”
“yes it's in two halves the first half is debunking God it begins with what we were talking about earlier this year number of different gods”
“and that's what the second half of outgrowing God is about”