“The Magic of Reality” by Richard Dawkins and David McKean – The Whole World Explained with Science

Richard Dawkins is quite a famous evolutionary biologist, advancing many interesting theories, some of which served to create the landscape of his profession. In The Magic of Reality, which he co-wrote with David McKean, Dawkins sets aside all of his complex thoughts and hypotheses in favor of something simpler, and dare I say, funner. 

He chose to put his knowledge to use in order to explain countless phenomenon that humans encounter on a daily basis. For instance, he provides an explanation as to why our continents look like jigsaw puzzles that would fit together, he attempts to answer the question as to who the first man or woman was, and even the real age of the entire universe.

Of course, you cannot expect all of your questions to be answered beyond doubt by Dawkins and McKean; if no one really knows who the first person on Earth was, I wouldn't expect Dawkins to either.

However, he does formulate many interesting ideas and theories on how and why some things could be occurring, and I especially enjoyed the fact that he doesn’t deviate from his bread and butter (science) when attempting to explain many of nature’s wonders, some of which remain a mystery to us. 

He doesn’t dawdle on small and unimportant details, nor does he stray from the topic or make for a dull read in any way; he is very direct, concise and simple in his manner of writing, allowing for practically any reader to enjoy his teachings.

The Magic of Reality by Richard Dawkins and David McKean (Book cover)
Truth be told, I can safely say that by reading this book I became a smarter person, and not only because of what Dawkins said. Apart from just giving answers, he also teaches us to see the world through the goggles of sciences, to try and explain the unexplainable in a logical manner, even if there doesn’t appear to be one. 

Of course, I haven’t really made any important discoveries (I’ll make sure to write about it when I do), but making sense out of people and events has become somewhat simpler.

If you are looking for bit of intelligent and educative entertainment, or if you are truly curious about the many bizarre and majestic occurrences in this world of ours, I highly recommend you check out The Magic of Reality.

Richard Dawkins (Author)

Richard Dawkins


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Richard Dawkins is an evolutionary biologist, English ethologist and author. He introduced many important and even revolutionary concepts into biology (such as the gene-centric view of evolution) and penned a number of books on the matter, including The Magic of Reality and The God Delusion.



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