Thursday, December 8, 2011

A science book at Pulp's Art?

Not since Galileo has a scientist ticked off the church quite as much as Richard Dawkins author of such contentious books as " A Load of Godswallop!" and "God For Nothing!".
OK OK I'm kidding, he didn't write these books but he did pen "The God Delusion"  a timely and trenchant examination of the role of religion in the human experience and an exposure of the flawed  - in his view - thinking behind those championing opinions favoring creationism, the wisdom of the prophets and the existence of a benign creator. 
Since the release of "The God Delusion" all sorts of people have leapt to the attack, fellow scientists who think without the divine the universe couldn't be and theologians who of course argue against a literal interpretation of the holy texts, such as Dawkins uses to diminish their power, though one wonders what theologians think is being sold to the various monotheistic faithful on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at their places of worship, it doesn't strike me that it's nuance! 
Anyway, probably to reinforce his point Dawkins has written this accessible guide to how the universe works, how science has explained the mysterious which so perplexed our ancestors who thought to explain the inexplicable through religion, and it's illustrated by Dave McKean.
So, there it is finally no big mystery, Dave McKean is one of the great contemporary illustrators and this book is packed with his interesting images accompanying some enlightening text. 




THE MAGIC OF REALITY
HC 272pp Color, Balck + White
Free Press

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