The Magic of Reality has arrived!

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Further to my earlier blogpost detailing an upcoming new book by Richard Dawkins, I’m happy to say that my copy has arrived. There’s also an iPad app of video & audio being made available but I checked today and it’s not on the AppStore yet. (edit: it is now up, click here for more)

It’s a large hardback of excellent physical quality. The binding is heavy, the paper is glossy and the printing is immaculate. It’d be a great gift. It’s clearly aimed at the younger audience (as promised) so is easy to read, with absolutely beautiful illustration by Dave McKean.

Some pics of my (UK) version:

As you can see, the quality is stunning, and the content (as ever with Dawkins) is first class.

The chapters of the book are:

What is reality? What is Magic?
Who was the first person?
Why are there so many different kinds of animals?
What are things made of?
Why do we have night and day, winter and summer?
What is the sun?
What is a rainbow?
When and how did everything begin?
Are we alone?
What is an earthquake?
Why do bad things happen?
What is a miracle?

As you can see, the content is diverse, but is both scientific and relevant to the modern era. I would have loved a book like this as a kid, and now I’m an adult I can still appreciate what is being written. It’s simple without being patronising. It’s informative without being too heavy. And, it’s factual without cutting too many corners to hit the target audience. Overall, it’s an excellent book to help anyone look at things in a more critical, skeptical way. Bravo.

If you’re interested, then ordering via the links below also helps support the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science

(I get no profit from these links. All commission goes to the RDFRS)

If you’d like any more detail on the content of the book, or its physical size/quality then let me know.

Dawkins discusses the book

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By Gifts to Encourage Critical Thinking (Survey) - Gift Guides & Ideas on October 5, 2011 at 8:10 am

[...] The Magic of Reality by Richard Dawkins – Read Tony Ryan’s review [...]
By Gifts to Encourage Critical Thinking - Gift Guides & Ideas on November 23, 2011 at 2:22 am

[...] The Magic of Reality by Richard Dawkins (Read Tony Ryan’s review) [...]

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