Customer Reviews
6+ stars - By: S. Maxwell, 13 Dec 2008 
This is one of the few books I feel that the star rating system fails. 5 stars is simply not enough!
So enjoyable & thought provoking. It has made me want to revisit the works of authors I already knew, but they'll have to wait until I have read those authors that are new to me!
I, like a previous reviewer, noted the lack of women writers represented, but when I looked at my bookshelves there was only Olivia Judson that stood out as fitting into the area of the books' remit.I wonder if the lack of femalesin the authors represented is only a reflection of the dearth of female "populising" science authors.
That little caveat aside, it is a wonderful book & an excellent addition to anyones bookshelves.
An Excellent Collection - By: Laurence "Burning Cold" C-C, 04 Oct 2008 This book contains a superb collection of excerpts from books & essays of some of the world's greatest scientists. The amount of ideas discussed is truly mind-expanding. A must have for anyone interestedin where the great search for knowledge called science is taking us.
Pelucid writings from brilliant minds - By: Charles Gidley Wheeler, 01 Jul 2008 As one who is convinced that Spinoza's monism provides the philosophical basis for all the sciences, reading The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing & seeing Spinoza's view (that God & Nature are one & the same thing, under the dual aspects of thought & matter) confirmed over & over again was enthralling.
While reading it I repeatedly inserted markers into articles that I wished to re-read. In fact, I shall probably read the whole book again & refer to it repeatedly. What particularly fascinated me was the revelation that a quantum of energy appears to us under two aspects: as a wave or as a particle, but never both at the same time. This discovery accords perfectly with Spinoza's dual aspect theory.
My selection of five-star articles is as follows: 'Life Itself', by Francis Crick;`One Self: a Meditation on the Unity of Consciousness' by Nicholas Humphrey; `The Language Instinct', by Steven Pinker; `Avoid Boring People' by James Watson; `Consciousness Explained' by Daniel Dennett; `The Fantastic Combinations of John Conway's new solitaire game "Life"' by Martin Gardner; `Computing Machinery & Intelligence' by Alan Turing; `The Goldilocks Enigma' by Paul Davies; `The Elegant Universe' by Bryan Green, & `Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid' by Douglas Hofstadter.
Having been brought upin an evangelical environment, & having had a taste of Roman Catholicism as well, I can only say that there is no contest between the brilliance, lucidity, humility & open-mindedness of the scientists quotedin this anthology & the tendentious, hubristic, convoluted, ill-founded speculations of theologians - few of whom will have the courage to read this book.
The introductions by Richard Dawkins are excellent. I can't recommend this book highly enough.
Perfect bedside reading - By: Big Jim, 27 Jun 2008 This mighty tome makes excellent bedside reading. You are unlikely to have the musclepower to take this commuting or to the beach (need to wait for the paperback edition for that) but propped upin bed with a cup of cocoa/glass of whisky (delete as appropriate) by your side, this is an excellent book for dipping into & as a previous reviewer says, will encourage you to seek out the books the excerpts come from. In this regard may I be so bold as to recommend any of the books by Richard Feynman. Dawkins himself supplies witty & erudite introductions to each essay so allin all there is absolutely nothing to criticisein this book - unless you hate science that is & even then this book might convince you otherwise.
A marvellous anthology of modern science writing. - By: Jazzrook, 07 Jun 2008 Richard Dawkins has compiled a fascinating & intellectually stimulating anthology of excellent writing from professional scientists over the past century. There are 79 scientists included(Dawkins modestly excludes himself) with concise but illuminating introductory comments from Dawkins for each of the 83 extracts or short pieces which cover a wide range of topics from genetics & the mind to evolution & quantum physics.
The various selections are grouped into four themes: 'What Scientists Study', Who Scientists Are', 'What Scientists Think' & What Scientists Delight In'.
Anyone who reads this marvellous anthology should gain an insight into how the scientific method can help us understand & explain 'life the universe & everything'.
