‘ The Greatest Show on Earth’ makes evolution easy to understand

For all of the controversy surrounding his one book about religion, it bears mention Richard Dawkins had penned eight tomes about evolution. Still, most people only know him as "that atheist." His latest literary offering, "The Greatest Show on Earth," is most assuredly not about atheism. No one should be put off from reading this book for religious reasons.

But stacked up against his other books about evolution, how does this one compare? As someone who has read all of Dawkins' works, I have to say I was a bit skeptical about "The Greatest Show on Earth." The color inset pages (as a new release, the book is a hardcover) are a welcome addition to highlight the most dramatic examples Dawkins discusses. However, this book does not have the same sheer, eye-opening force of "The Selfish Gene," nor does it provoke quite the same awe as "The Ancestor's Tale."

However, while it may not be the best to someone who has read all of his works, it is a great candidate for the first Dawkins book to read. His skill has always been in explaining evolutionary concepts in plain language, but "The Greatest Show on Earth" is easily his most readable work out of the lot.

Dawkins' books have usually been directed toward an interested audience, teaching about specific topics within evolution (such as the famed genes-eye perspective explained in "The Selfish Gene.") For the same reason that books on physics don't start by proving that gravity exists, they were never about "proving" evolution, but explaining it. But, as the first chapter of "The Greatest Show on Earth" points out, more than 40 percent of Americans deny that humans evolved from other animals.

In response, Richard Dawkins wrote a book about evolution that literally anyone can pick up and understand. And there is no excuse for anyone not to read this book. It does an amazing job of teaching the reader evolutionary concepts far beyond the high school level, while remaining perfectly lucid.

And if you aren't quite sure about evolution, this is the book for you. Chapters 2 and 3 in particular are rapid, one-after-the-others cases where time and time again evolution can be measured on scale of decades. From domesticated foxes that end up looking like dogs, to divergent selection for maize oil content (from a start of 4 percent oil to 0 percent oil and 19 percent oil, all in a slim 80 generations), Dawkins shows the undeniable truth of evolution by doing nothing more than telling stories.

As a new $30 hardcover, this isn't exactly a cheap book. But for those who are interested in evolution, this is a well written (and lengthy – the book weighs in at 437 pages) collection of some of the greatest examples of evolution. And if you don't believe in evolution? Well, compared to tuition, $30 isn't so much to learn about a scientific theorem.

collinlysford@dailynebraskan.com