About book A Devil's Chaplain: Reflections On Hope, Lies, Science, And Love (2004)
This book is a collection of Dawkins's essays, book reviews, forewards, eulogies, letters, etc. from the past 25 years. The 32 essays are organized thematically into different sections such as "Science and Sensibility," which is Dawkins's magnificant ode to science and reason, and "The Infected Mind," which forms the bulk of his polemic against the virus-like persistence of religion. Other chapters discuss such varied topics as 'alternative' medicine, genetic information content, the flaws of the trial by jury system, postmodernism, the different brands of Darwinism that various biologists ascribe to, cultural relativism, Moore's Law, cloning, and Africa as Dawkins's personal birthplace as well as the cradle of humanity. Despite the wide breadth of these topics, Dawkins does an excellent job of synthesizing them all together to form a coherent vision of his intellectual passions. Like any great scholar, Dawkins understands his material well enough to tailor it to whatever specific audience he happens to be writing for, in this case the general public. Without trivializing or oversimplifying, Dawkins is able to explain biological ideas of great complexity for someone with only a modicum of scientific background (like me!). More than that, he does so in a way that grips the reader's interest and attention. After reading this book, I felt that I had spent time in the presence of a truly great mind, a mind unafraid of tackling questions that others gloss over and of expressing his opinions straightforwardly and logically. On top of his great skill with prose, Dawkins is a gifted explainer – he finds exactly the right metaphors and exactly the right examples to illustrate a principle clearly, and as a result, I think anyone who reads this book will end up learning a lot about biology and the way that scientists think, even if they aren't scientifically inclined."Good and Bad Reasons for Believing," the final essay in this book, is an open letter that Dawkins wrote to his daughter when she was 10. It's a beautiful ending to the collection because it represents a genuine sharing of wisdom, a lesson not in what to think, but in how to think about the world. I highly recommend this book for anyone, religious or not, scientifically inclined or not.
I'm not partial to collections of an author's shorter, previous writings. Although they can give an overview of the subject's thoughts, too often they are hodgepodges of ideas better formulated in the author's major published works. Objectively, A Devil's Chaplain: Selected Essays does give the reader general insight into Dawkins' thinking from the groundbreaking The Selfish Gene (1976) until he began writing the greatly important The God Delusion (2006). Practically, most readers will want to pick and choose which items to read in this collection, then, if interested, go to the related major work for a more complete explication.Everything we know of Dawkins is represented here: science, Darwinian evolution, religion, a bit of Africa, book reviews—mostly on books which I suspect few readers will have read. There are also obituaries, a letter to his daughter, and email correspondence with the contradictory evolutionist Stephen Jay Gould. Fans of Dawkins surely will find something of interest.For me, the best essay is the angry newspaper editorial "Time to Stand Up", written shortly after the 9/11 attacks. I don't know if this tragedy was the trigger for him to eventually write The God Delusion, but I wouldn't be surprised: that 2001 editorial is a powerful call to change the way we uncritically accept religion.Here's a quote from A Devil's Chaplain that I love—they're not Dawkins' words, but from a teacher he respects—which seems to apply quite well to him, but only wishfully to me since I sit in my chair reading too much: "I agree with Nietzsche that 'The secret of a joyful life is to live dangerously.' A joyful life is an active life – it is not a dull state of so-called happiness. Full of the burning fire of enthusiasm, anarchic, revolutionary, energetic, demonic, Dionysian, filled to overflowing with the terrific urge to create – such is the life of the man who risks safety and happiness for the sake of growth and happiness."
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Cuando decidí leer el Capellán del diablo tenía la idea que sería un libro de ataque a las religiones, por el título y tomando encuentra que es de uno de los jinetes del ateísmo, pero me equivoqué totalmente es mucho mejor, me topé con un libro lleno de ciencia, explicando el maravilloso de la evolución, la vida abriéndose paso por miles de años, echando por el piso una teoría tan débil como el diseño inteligente, la vida actual de nuestras especies y ecosistemas son el conjunto de errores tras errores que se han acumulado y sobrevivido.No hay nada más estimulante que leer a un científico apasionado.
—Alicia
“What a book a devils chaplain might write on the clumsy, wasteful, blundering, low, and horrid cruel works of nature”, Writes Charles Darwin half jokingly to his friend when describing the process of natural selection and how imperfect the natural world is. This letter that would of normally be seen as obsolete inspired Mr. Dawkins to combine a collection of his essays and others essays to explain why we shouldn’t fear science and to describe why naturals selection should not be seen as “wasteful, blundering, low, and horrid cruel works of nature”. His essays range from an homage to headmaster Fredrick William Sanderson that describes his unorthodox teachings. To a chapter dedicated to the book Intellectual Imposters. Mr. Dawkins wit and enthusiasm for teaching and learning from others shines through is this remarkable book. New scientist describes the book as “A rare treat… each essay will grip you at once… [Dawkins is] a master of clear exposition of science and its liberating power” .The Sunday Times hails Dawkins as a “genius for snatching mind-boggling possibilities out of the air”. This is an excellent book to read over vacation due to it short length (248 pages) and captivating debatable topics that will make any science nerd second guess their opinion.
—Daniela
This book was fantastic! A collection of essays, from his love of science, to book reviews and personal battles with other famous scientists. Ending w/ the famous letter to his 10 year old daughter.I personally loved the section and essays on pseudoscience, religion and the back and forth between him and Stephen J Gould. I found each essay to be inspiring and never boring. At the end of each, you would check the clock to see if you had time to read one more.As with all of Dawkins books, I finished this one feeling I knew a whole lot more than I did when I opened it for the first time, and his references to other books has now put a lot of “to-read” books on my list.Anyone who loves science, and especially those who love the works of Richard Dawkins, this is a book you must read.
—Dan Arel
