The Magic of Reality

[lucradis]

Can't speak about anyone else's personal relations to Christianity but I knOw that my inlaws are informed about all the relatively anti Christian literature out there. Only to the extent that they are told not to read it or let any kids read it, but they know of it. They know to avoid anything Dawkins related seeing as how he is in league with the devil. I would assume at this time with all the press dawkins has received most church going Christians have some idea of who he is so givin them a book with his name on it probably wouldn't be appreciated.

[devilsadvoc8]

I got this book for my kids (8&9). The eldest, my daughter, is not so interested in it but my son & I read a few pages every couple of nights. It is too advanced for an 8 year old. He is a really smart kid but he just doesn't have some of the foundation you still need to grasp the concepts in this book. If your kids are young, read it with them. Help them to understand it. We will read a page, discuss it, find an example in our lives and then continue.

[Percepticon]

I heard Dawkins say that he wrote it with 12 year-olds in mind, but it's appropriate for all ages (including adults!) and younger kids will do alright with an adults help.

I got myself a copy, and love it. I was impressed by Dawkins' transparency in saying that he doesn't know much about quarks...I think he concluded that paragraph, 'I know my limits.' I'm certain he must have purposely done that to show kids that it's OK not to know everything, and that we shouldn't pretend to know more than we do.

[Lilith Pride]

Sounds like a really good book. I'll have to look it up. So far my only Dawkins book was The greatest show on earth. Lovely book which I had no real problem suggesting to religious people. I'm aware that he's wrote more agressive books. I feel that any book covering cration accounts and other myths versus science would probably feel threatening to religious parents. No matter if their religion is in it or not.

[dagaz]

I loved the art in the book, as well as the tone he takes when explaining the mythical beliefs from all around the world. He treats them as you might treat an Indian arrowhead or a piece of ancient pottery. Very interesting artifacts, certainly worthy of examination, but certainly not worthy of veneration and sacrifice.

(13-11-2011 10:46 AM)free2011 Wrote:  Just read "The Magic of Reality" by Richard Dawkins and highly recommend it. It was written for children and adults which make it ideal for those of us that love science but don't have any formal education in it.

Each chapter covers a certain topic: who was the first person, what is the sun, when and how did everything begin, what is a rainbow, etc. At the beginning of each chapter Dawkins discusses the many mythical beliefs people have thought up to explain the event. Then he details the real explanation backed by scientific evidence.

Cleared up a lot for this Dad and got his son thinking about reality.

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"Greatest Show on Earth" was my first Dawkins book, too. At first I was annoyed because he ripped the first chapter from Russell's "Mysticism and Logic," but he probably didn't mean to... he wrote at the end of another book that he admires Russell very much, and his outlines for thinking are so useful that they've permeated his own.

Anyway, Dawkins's sparkling wit and his "can I help you?" style won me over completely. It was also the first book I read about evolution so I appreciated how carefully he explained things.

(17-02-2012 11:15 AM)Lilith Pride Wrote:  Sounds like a really good book. I'll have to look it up. So far my only Dawkins book was The greatest show on earth. Lovely book which I had no real problem suggesting to religious people. I'm aware that he's wrote more agressive books. I feel that any book covering cration accounts and other myths versus science would probably feel threatening to religious parents. No matter if their religion is in it or not.

[Clint Barnett]

It saddens me that I didn't buy it. I finally made it back to somewhat like civilization when we left Louisiana to visit NC last weekend. I went into barnes and noble. I almost cried when I saw so many books. I did find that book but decided to hold off because I was looking for medical books for school.

I may have to order it on amazon!