Saturday, March 15, 2008 | Reason : In the News | print version

The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing

by Richard Dawkins

See more about the book at:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Oxford-Book-Modern-Science-Writing/dp/0199216800/ref=pd_bbs_sr_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205553034&sr=8-5
RD Modern Science Writing

Synopsis
Selected and introduced by Richard Dawkins, The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing is a celebration of the finest writing by scientists for a wider audience - revealing that many of the best scientists have displayed as much imagination and skill with the pen as they have in the laboratory. This is a rich and vibrant collection that captures the poetry and excitement of communicating scientific understanding and scientific effort from 1900 to the present day. Professor Dawkins has included writing from a diverse range of scientists, some of whom need no introduction, and some of whose works have become modern classics, while others may be less familiar - but all convey the passion of great scientists writing about their science.

Description from OUP.com:

Boasting almost one hundred pieces, The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing is a breathtaking celebration of the finest writing by scientists--the best such collection in print--packed with scintillating essays on everything from "the discovery of Lucy" to "the terror and vastness of the universe."

Edited by best-selling author and renowned scientist Richard Dawkins, this sterling collection brings together exhilarating pieces by a who's who of scientists and science writers, including Stephen Pinker, Stephen Jay Gould, Martin Gardner, Albert Einstein, Julian Huxley, and many dozens more. Readers will find excerpts from bestsellers such as Douglas R. Hofstadter's Godel, Escher, Bach , Francis Crick's Life Itself , Loren Eiseley's The Immense Journey , Daniel Dennett's Darwin's Dangerous Idea , and Rachel Carson's The Sea Around Us . There are classic essays ranging from J.B.S. Haldane's "On Being the Right Size" and Garrett Hardin's "The Tragedy of the Commons" to Alan Turing's "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" and Albert Einstein's famed New York Times article on "Relativity." And readers will also discover lesser-known but engaging pieces such as Lewis Thomas's "Seven Wonders of Science," J. Robert Oppenheimer on "War and Physicists," and Freeman Dyson's memoir of studying under Hans Bethe.

A must-read volume for all science buffs, The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing is a rich and vibrant anthology that captures the poetry and excitement of scientific thought and discovery.

Features:
Peter Atkins
Per Bak
J.D. Bernal
Colin Blakemore
John Tyler Bonner
Sydney Brenner
Jacob Bronowski
Rachel Carson
Subramaniam Chandrasekhar
Francis Crick
Helena Cronin
Antonio R. Damasio
D'Arcy Thompson
Paul Davies
Daniel C. Dennett
David Deutsch
Jared Diamond
Theodosius Dobzhansky
Freeman Dyson
Sir Arthur Eddington
Maitland Edey
Albert Einstein
Loren Eiseley
Richard Feynman
R. A. Fisher
Kenneth Ford
Richard Fortey
George Gamow
Martin Gardner
S. J. Gould
Brian Greene
Richard Gregory
J. B. S. Haldane
W. D. Hamilton
Garrett Hardin
Alister Hardy
G. H. Hardy
Stephen Hawking
Douglas R. Hofstadter
Lancelot Hogben
Fred Hoyle
Nick Humphrey
Julian Huxley
James Jeans
Donald Johanson
Steve Jones
Jonathan Kingdon
David Lack
Richard Leakey
Primo Levi
Roger Lewin
John Maynard Smith
Ernst Mayr
Peter Medawar
J. Robert Oppenheimer
Roger Penrose
Max Perutz
Steve Pinker
Martin Rees
Mark Ridley
Oliver Sacks
Carl Sagan
Erwin Schrodinger
Claude Shannon
G. G. Simpson
George Gaylord Simpson
Lee Smolin
C. P. Snow
Russell Stannard
Ian Stewart
Lewis Thomas
Niko Tinbergen
Robert Trivers
Alan Turing
James D. Watson
Warren Weaver
Steven Weinberg
John Archibald Wheeler
G. C. Williams
Edward O. Wilson
Lewis Wolpert

Review from New Scientist:
"THIS brilliant collection includes pieces by some of the very best-known scientists - Albert Einstein, Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking, to name a few - with engaging introductions by Richard Dawkins. You'll also find contributions from the likes of Rachel Carson, C. P. Snow and Alan Turing. Gems include Richard Gregory's fantastically entertaining Mirrors in the Mind and Primo Levi's intimate biography of a carbon atom. If you could only ever read one science book, this should probably be it."

From issue 2645 of New Scientist magazine, 01 March 2008, page 53

This new book is currently available on Amazon.co.uk, but will be released on May 15th through Amazon.com (US). It is available for pre-order now.

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1. Comment #144255 by moizkhan on March 15, 2008 at 1:26 pm

Interesting stuff, is there a list of included writers/scientists?

Edit: Thanks for adding the list!

Other Comments by moizkhan

2. Comment #144258 by MillsianUtilitarian on March 15, 2008 at 1:33 pm

Ahh, kind of like The Portable Atheist except not pertaining particularly to gawd.

Other Comments by MillsianUtilitarian

3. Comment #144261 by Quine on March 15, 2008 at 1:51 pm

WOW!! Must have.

Other Comments by Quine

4. Comment #144265 by Dr Benway on March 15, 2008 at 2:04 pm

It's probably too late, but a suggestion for the audio edition if one is planned: make it clear whose words are being spoken.

You can't see punctuation when you're listening to a book. Quotes need to be offset by switching narrators, or by adding, "and I quote..." or some other signal.

I got The Portable Atheist. The same narrator reads the preface and the article. It would have been better if Hitchens read his own preface and someone else read the article, or if somehow the transition was emphasized.

I can't recommend the audio version of The Portable Atheist.

Other Comments by Dr Benway

5. Comment #144266 by MikeJ on March 15, 2008 at 2:05 pm

Excellent, I'll be ordering this immediately.

Other Comments by MikeJ

6. Comment #144268 by Sargeist on March 15, 2008 at 2:08 pm

If you go to the Amazon page for the book, you can read the page-and-a-bit introduction and see the list of titles and authors.

I saw this book in Waterstone's today, and it really does look great, even though I already have quite a few of the books from which extracts are taken.

Just need to work out when to nip out of work to buy it on Monday!

Other Comments by Sargeist

7. Comment #144272 by The Smart Patrol on March 15, 2008 at 2:17 pm

I bought this book about a week ago, after having seen it loudly and proudly propping up the popular science section of my local Waterstone's. It's a very substantial hardback, and as much of the writing is fairly dense and hard to penetrate (at least for plebs like me), I haven't really made much progress with it as of yet. It's one of those rare tomes that you're just glad to own, and which you can open on any page, safe in the knowledge that you're absolutely certain to be utterly enthralled by its many various contributers. Richard does the right thing and keeps his introductions succinct and to the point, not allowing himself to waffle on for any length of time and thus making the actual science writing the focus. However, what Richard has contributed is written in his typical free-flowing and highly educational style.

This book is an absolute must-have.

Other Comments by The Smart Patrol

8. Comment #144273 by thnp on March 15, 2008 at 2:20 pm

Looks great!

Just ordered it, but here in Norway expected delivery is 30 days!

Cheers
TH

Other Comments by thnp

9. Comment #144274 by Sargeist on March 15, 2008 at 2:21 pm

I'm ashamed to say that I only knew of this book when I saw the image of it appear in the right hand side of the web page. I don't know how long it has been there, but I only noticed it yesterday. Then nipped off to Amazon for a quick peek, and then looked for it in one of those "real shop" things in town today.

Being a bibliophile, I like nice thick books with lovely paper, and a nice typeface, often even before I consider what's actually printed in them!

Other Comments by Sargeist

10. Comment #144276 by weesam on March 15, 2008 at 2:37 pm

I hope the preview on Amazon IS NOT indicative of the typesetting in the actual printed book.

The Hyphenation is terrible and should only be used on naturally hyphenated words or when the column width is very narrow - like newspapers.

Should not be used in books. EVER.

Other Comments by weesam

11. Comment #144281 by Jiten on March 15, 2008 at 2:41 pm

Already have it and have started it!

Other Comments by Jiten

12. Comment #144290 by epeeist on March 15, 2008 at 2:52 pm

Comment #144276 by weesam on

I hope the preview on Amazon IS NOT indicative of the typesetting in the actual printed book.

The Hyphenation is terrible and should only be used on naturally hyphenated words or when the column width is very narrow - like newspapers.

Should not be used in books. EVER.

Where are you from weesam?

The hyphenation looks to be American in style, it really grates if you are British.

I wouldn't quite go as far as you in saying that hyphenation should never be used in books, but you shouldn't see it very often.

As you say, if this is the quality of the typesetting in the book then it is seriously bad.

Oh for the days of LaTeX when it was easy to produce beautiful typography even when penalty copy was involved.

Other Comments by epeeist

13. Comment #144292 by Damien Trotter on March 15, 2008 at 2:55 pm

What I would like to know is where the good professor gets all his energy from! Book tours, lectures, writing, compiling (the above), TV programs and radio, personal apearances, world travel.

Amazing!

DT

Other Comments by Damien Trotter

14. Comment #144294 by Covalent Bonder on March 15, 2008 at 2:55 pm

I'm off to the UK next week and this is definitely on my "Must Buy" list of books (yay! English language books in the NL are nearly double the cost because they're imports)!

Bedankt!

Other Comments by Covalent Bonder

15. Comment #144295 by The Smart Patrol on March 15, 2008 at 2:56 pm

I can confirm that, at least in the copy that I bought in Scotland, the text is fairly heavily hyphenated. I can see how this might be irritating for some readers, but I didn't notice it until it was brought up here. Now that I am aware of it, it might prove to be a problem!

Other Comments by The Smart Patrol

16. Comment #144299 by Sargeist on March 15, 2008 at 3:00 pm

I feel the same. I've been back to Amazon and looked again at the intro pdf. Hyphens all over the bloody place!

Still, the typeface is nice...

Other Comments by Sargeist

17. Comment #144302 by epeeist on March 15, 2008 at 3:10 pm

Comment #144295 by The Smart Patrol

I can confirm that, at least in the copy that I bought in Scotland, the text is fairly heavily hyphenated.

Produced in something like Word? No ligatures, no kerning, character width leading only and a sans-serif font for a book.

I wonder if The Smart Patrol is having difficulty reading it because of the poor layout as much as anything else. Given this is from the OUP I wonder why they allowed something that looks as bad as this?

Other Comments by epeeist

18. Comment #144305 by weesam on March 15, 2008 at 3:17 pm

Epeeist - I'm British, (and a designer/compositor/typesetter)!

Yes, the hyphenation looks very American. I just can't stand American typesetting. I would certainly never use hyphenation in a book with a column width and type size like that. Never (unless a word was particularly long, and had a natural break).

It grates to the point I won't buy this book. The typesetter needs to be taken outside and shot at dawn.

Sorry

Other Comments by weesam

19. Comment #144311 by weesam on March 15, 2008 at 3:24 pm

Ox-
ford?

Eng-
lish?

Si-
monyi?

no, no, no, no!

This is piss-poor (deliberate hyphen). Hyphenating proper nouns? The typeface is a disgrace! Is the rest of the book set in the same face?

Oxford University should be a beacon of excellence - this is unacceptable.

Other Comments by weesam

20. Comment #144314 by Sargeist on March 15, 2008 at 3:27 pm

Although I quite like the typeface [:P] I remember from browsing through the book this morning that Dawkins' introductory parts are in an entirely different font from the reproduced articles themselves.

Whether these fonts are different from the one used in the intro, I'm afraid I do not remember.

Other Comments by Sargeist

21. Comment #144320 by weesam on March 15, 2008 at 3:40 pm

What about the widow on the last line?

It seems that the draft never went near a professional.

The words in the book demand better treatment. Books - especially with content such as this one - should be objects of beauty.

Other Comments by weesam

22. Comment #144328 by jburdoo on March 15, 2008 at 3:54 pm

Nothing by Isaac Asimov? Scandalous!

Other Comments by jburdoo

23. Comment #144334 by The Smart Patrol on March 15, 2008 at 4:12 pm

Wasn't Asimov more of a science fiction writer, and not necessarily distinguished for his 'proper' science writing?

Other Comments by The Smart Patrol

24. Comment #144335 by Steve Zara on March 15, 2008 at 4:14 pm

Wasn't Asimov more of a science fiction writer, and not necessarily distinguished for his 'proper' science writing?

He was more a science fiction writer, but also a well-respected proper science writer, and writer of books and articles for the general public.

Other Comments by Steve Zara

25. Comment #144336 by robotaholic on March 15, 2008 at 4:23 pm

I love hyphenating- especially when it's inappropriate. It seems more conversational when read and better represents what I'm saying when I reread it. Cheers to more hyphenation! I'm glad the book has heavy hyphenation. Yes, very happy indeed!

Other Comments by robotaholic

26. Comment #144337 by The Smart Patrol on March 15, 2008 at 4:23 pm

I've just been listening to his warnings about global warming when he was an old man in the late 80s, and he certainly was an educator and a proponent of science. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO0sCs8jI4k

Richard must have had a hard task in terms of deciding who to leave out in this compendium.

Other Comments by The Smart Patrol

27. Comment #144341 by Sturmunddrang on March 15, 2008 at 4:40 pm

I ordered a copy even though it has to come from the UK. I was looking specifically for something like this!

Millsian,

You said:

"Ahh, kind of like The Portable Atheist except not pertaining particularly to gawd."

If you look at the description and the list of authors, I don't think it has much in common with the Portable Atheist, actually. It is more of a compilation of popularizers of science.

Other Comments by Sturmunddrang

28. Comment #144357 by Zaphod on March 15, 2008 at 5:44 pm

I bought this about 3 weeks ago. Why is it only posted now on the site? Is it just now out in the US?

Other Comments by Zaphod

29. Comment #144358 by Storeo on March 15, 2008 at 5:44 pm

Just ordered my copy, can't wait to get stuck in. Thanks Richard.

Other Comments by Storeo

30. Comment #144360 by AfraidToDie on March 15, 2008 at 5:53 pm

13. Comment #144292 by Damien Trotter - What I would like to know is where the good professor gets all his energy from! Book tours, lectures, writing, compiling (the above), TV programs and radio, personal apearances, world travel.

For some reason, he thinks he only has one life to live, and he's trying to make the most of it!!

Other Comments by AfraidToDie

31. Comment #144362 by Grantaire of JC on March 15, 2008 at 5:57 pm

The release date for the book in the U.S. is May 15th according to the Amazon site, but they are taking advanced orders. I look forward to reading everyone's opinion on the book until then.

Other Comments by Grantaire of JC

32. Comment #144366 by Enlightenme.. on March 15, 2008 at 6:13 pm

"You can't see punctuation when you're listening to a book."

My parents used to listen to a comedy skit by.. Victor Borge.. I think it was, called phonetic punctuation, I'll check you-tube
Edit; yep thought so;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF4qii8S3gw

Other Comments by Enlightenme..

33. Comment #144400 by Hunzer0 on March 16, 2008 at 1:38 am

Looks terrific.

I wonder if it will be shelved at The Discovery Institute? http://www.discovery.org/

Other Comments by Hunzer0

34. Comment #144413 by Dinah on March 16, 2008 at 2:56 am

Re Comment #144292 by Damien Trotter - "What I would like to know is where the good professor gets all his energy from! Book tours, lectures, writing, compiling (the above), TV programs and radio, personal appearances, world travel."

Good genes perhaps?

Other Comments by Dinah

35. Comment #144416 by epeeist on March 16, 2008 at 3:09 am

Comment #144320 by weesam

What about the widow on the last line?

It seems that the draft never went near a professional.

The words in the book demand better treatment. Books - especially with content such as this one - should be objects of beauty.

I missed the widow.

I would agree with you - very badly produced and has never been near someone who knows anything about typesetting. I am fairly sure it was simply put together in a word processing package.

I wouldn't claim to have your expertise - my main interest is usability engineering oriented towards work on a screen. However, one still has to care for layout and typography even at this level.

Other Comments by epeeist

36. Comment #144443 by Sargeist on March 16, 2008 at 5:00 am

There also appears to be a peculiar, stunted "from" problem in a couple of places.

Other Comments by Sargeist

37. Comment #144464 by sheepscarer on March 16, 2008 at 6:16 am

Surprised not to see Matt Ridley on the list - The Red Queen and Genome - absolute classics.

Other Comments by sheepscarer

38. Comment #144487 by digitalia on March 16, 2008 at 7:55 am

Dr. Benway:

I can't recommend the audio version of The Portable Atheist.

interesting - I love Hitch's voice! i want to get "god is not Great" audiobook, cause he reads it all, correct? but i listened to a section on iTunes Store and it has this fruity "ambient" music in the background. does that play ALL the way thru?

Does anyone else have Hitchen's "god is not Great" audio version?

Other Comments by digitalia

39. Comment #144496 by Johnny O on March 16, 2008 at 8:28 am

Does anyone else have Hitchen's "god is not Great" audio version?

I do and whilst I still enjoyed it, I got the impression Hitch was bored and wanted to do something else. At times it was like he was reading a list.

Other Comments by Johnny O

40. Comment #144497 by Johnny O on March 16, 2008 at 8:33 am

This book has been out a couple of weeks hasn't it? I got it at the beginning of March from my local Waterstones and was very surprised not to have heard about it first on the website.

I've been picking and choosing chapters so far and have loved it. It's the sort of book you can take in the bath, read any part of and be satisfied when you emerge, hours later from the tepid water.

Brilliant

Other Comments by Johnny O

41. Comment #144550 by emmet on March 16, 2008 at 10:25 am

The typesetter needs to be taken outside and shot at dawn.

I'm not in favour of waiting that long.

The enabling power of word-processors has, unfortunately, been the death of typography. I've seen many books that were obviously excreted with Microsoft Word.

Other Comments by emmet

42. Comment #144605 by Rational_G on March 16, 2008 at 12:08 pm

Wow. Great collection, nice themes. (saw table of contents on Amazon UK).

I'll be buying it.

Other Comments by Rational_G

43. Comment #144653 by Uhtred on March 16, 2008 at 2:14 pm

My daughter heads in from London to New Zealand within the next few days accompanied by a copy of Richard's new book for me.
I'm drooling like Homer Simpson to get my hands on it and begin reading.

Other Comments by Uhtred

44. Comment #144746 by MelM on March 16, 2008 at 5:14 pm

Looks interesting; I'll get it. But, I have some questions about the intended audience. Who could read it? What are the prerequisites?

Is this book readable by a high school student (US grades 9-12) in, for example, an advanced program, and therefore suitable for a school library or as a gift?

What university course could use it? Would it be of use in a course for humanities majors that attempts to bridge the much discussed gap between the humanities and the sciences? Suitable for philosophy majors? Suitable for science majors and for the science based professions? I think it should impart some real understanding and not just a load of undigested buzzwords. Of course, this requirement is equally valid for the high school level as well.

Other Comments by MelM

45. Comment #144857 by bichard on March 16, 2008 at 9:34 pm

Wonderful.

Thank you again Dr. Dawkins for another portal to new and important knowledge.

Other Comments by bichard

46. Comment #144885 by DamnedAtheist on March 17, 2008 at 12:58 am

Bought this together with the new Michio Kaku book as Amazon currently have an offer.
This will likely be my first introduction to many of the listed contributors as I am an uneducated oaf, hopefully this will soon be remedied.

Other Comments by DamnedAtheist

47. Comment #144890 by bamboospitfire on March 17, 2008 at 1:32 am

Ordered it last week. I fear that it will leapfrog the other unopened books on my shelf...

Other Comments by bamboospitfire

48. Comment #144894 by Sargeist on March 17, 2008 at 2:28 am

Hi Sheepscarer:

Matt Ridley actually has 2 articles in the book, and one of those is an excerpt from Genome (another great book).

Other Comments by Sargeist

49. Comment #144897 by Richard Morgan on March 17, 2008 at 2:43 am

DamnedAtheist