Nov 11, 2022
Richard Dawkins visits Google to discuss his book "The Magic of
Reality: How We Know What’s Really True."
Magic takes many forms. Supernatural magic is what our ancestors
used in order to explain the world before they developed the
scientific method. The ancient Egyptians explained the night by
suggesting a goddess swallowed the sun. The Vikings believed a
rainbow was the gods’ bridge to earth. The Japanese used to explain
earthquakes by conjuring a gigantic catfish that carried the world
on its back, and that earthquakes occurred each time it flipped its
tail. These are magical, extraordinary stories. But there is
another kind of magic, and it lies in the exhilaration of
discovering the real answers to these questions. It is the magic of
reality—science.
Packed with clever thought experiments, dazzling illustrations and
jaw-dropping facts, "The Magic of Reality" explains a stunningly
wide range of natural phenomena. What is stuff made of? How old is
the universe? Why do the continents look like disconnected pieces
of a puzzle? What causes tsunamis? Why are there so many kinds of
plants and animals? Who was the first human to walk the earth? This
is a page-turning, graphic detective story that not only mines all
the sciences for its clues, but primes the reader to think like a
scientist as well.
Richard Dawkins, perhaps the world’s most famous evolutionary
biologist and one of science education’s most passionate advocates,
has spent his career explaining the wonders of science for adult
readers. Now he has teamed up with acclaimed artist Dave McKean and
used his unrivaled explanatory powers to share the magic of science
with readers of all ages. Dawkins and McKean have created an
illustrated guide to the secrets of our world—and the universe
beyond—that will entertain and inform for years to come.
Originally published in March of 2012.
Visit http://g.co/TalksAtGoogle/MagicOfReality
to watch the video.