Richard Dawkins

English ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author

Clinton Richard Dawkins DSc, FRS, FRSL (born Nairobi, 26 March 1941) is an English [24] biologist, evolutionist, and writer.[25] He is an emeritus Fellow of New College, Oxford,[26] and was the University of Oxford's Simonyi Professor for Public Understanding of Science from 1995 until 2008.[27]

Richard Dawkins

Dawkins at Cooper Union, New York City in 2010
Born
Clinton Richard Dawkins

(1941-03-26) 26 March 1941 (age 83)
CitizenshipUnited Kingdom
EducationOundle School
Alma materUniversity of Oxford (MA, DPhil)
Known for
Spouses
(m. 1967; div. 1984)
  • Eve Barham (m. 1984; div. ?)
(m. 1992; sep. 2016)
ChildrenJuliet Emma
Awards
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of California, Berkeley
New College, Oxford
University of Oxford
New College of the Humanities
ThesisSelective pecking in the domestic chick (1967)
Doctoral advisorNikolaas Tinbergen
Doctoral students
InfluencesCharles Darwin, W. D. Hamilton, Nikolaas Tinbergen[4][5]
InfluencedAndrew F. Read,[6] Helena Cronin,[7] John Krebs, Baron Krebs,[8] David Haig,[9] Alan Grafen,[10] Daniel Dennett,[11] David Deutsch,[12] Steven Pinker,[13] Martin Daly,[14] Margo Wilson,[14] Randolph M. Nesse,[15] Kim Sterelny,[16] Michael Shermer,[17] Richard Harries, Baron Harries of Pentregarth,[18] A. C. Grayling,[19] Marek Kohn,[20] David P. Barash,[21] Matt Ridley,[22] Philip Pullman[23]
Websitericharddawkins.net
Signature

Dawkins is an atheist, a vice president of the British Humanist Association, and a supporter of the Brights movement.[28] He is well known for his criticism of creationism and intelligent design. In his 2006 book The God Delusion, Dawkins contends that a supernatural creator almost certainly does not exist and that religious faith is a delusion—"a fixed false belief".[29]: 5  As of January 2010, the English-language version had sold more than two million copies and had been translated into 31 languages.[30]

Dawkins' ideas on evolution were heavily influenced by W.D. Hamilton. The influence can be seen throughout Dawkins' book The Selfish Gene.

  • "The Selfish Gene" (1976)
  • "The Extended Phenotype" (1982)
  • "The Blind Watchmaker" (1986)
  • "River Out of Eden" (1995)
  • "Climbing Mount Improbable" (1996)
  • "Unweaving the Rainbow" (1998)
  • "A Devil's Chaplain" (2003)
  • "The Ancestor's Tale" (2004)
  • "The God Delusion" (2006)
  • "The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution" (2009)
  • "The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True" (2011)
  • An Appetite for Wonder: The Making of a Scientist (2013)

Documentaries

change
  • "Nice Guys Finish First" (1987)
  • "The Blind Watchmaker" (1987)
  • "Growing Up in the Universe" (1991)
  • "Break the Science Barrier" (1996)
  • "The Root of All Evil?" (2006)
  • "The Enemies of Reason" (2007)
  • "The Genius of Charles Darwin" (2008)
  • Sex, Death and the Meaning of Life (2012)
  • Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (2008)
  • Faith School Menace? (2010)
  • Beautiful Minds (April 2012)
  • The Unbelievers (2013)

Other websites

change
  • "Richard Dawkins - HuffPost". www.huffingtonpost.com.

References

change
  1. Taylor, James E. "The New Atheists". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
  2. "Richard Dawkins". London: Royal Society. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  3. Dawkins, Richard (1986). The Blind Watchmaker. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. p. xvii. ISBN 978-0-393-31570-7.
  4. Dawkins, Richard (2013). An Appetite for Wonder. New York, New York: Harper Collins. pp. 271–283, 287–294. ISBN 978-0-06-231580-9.
  5. Grafen 2006, p. 67.
  6. Grafen 2006, p. 3.
  7. Grafen 2006, p. 14.
  8. Grafen 2006, p. 27.
  9. Grafen 2006, p. 50.
  10. Grafen 2006, p. 66.
  11. Grafen 2006, p. 101.
  12. Grafen 2006, p. 125.
  13. Grafen 2006, p. 130.
  14. 14.0 14.1 Grafen 2006, p. 191.
  15. Grafen 2006, p. 203.
  16. Grafen 2006, p. 213.
  17. Grafen 2006, p. 227.
  18. Grafen 2006, p. 236.
  19. Grafen 2006, p. 243.
  20. Grafen 2006, p. 248.
  21. Grafen 2006, p. 255.
  22. Grafen 2006, p. 265.
  23. Grafen 2006, p. 270.
  24. Although born in Kenya, Dawkins considers himself English.
  25. Ridley, Mark (2007). Richard Dawkins: How a scientist changed the way we think: reflections by scientists, writers, and philosophers. Oxford University Press. p. 228. ISBN 978-0-19-921466-2., Extract of page 228
  26. "Emeritus, Honorary and Wykeham Fellows - New College". www.new.ox.ac.uk.
  27. "Previous holders of The Simonyi Professorship". The University of Oxford. Archived from the original on 17 August 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
  28. "Richard Dawkins on militant atheism". TED Conferences, LLC. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  29. Dawkins, Richard (2006). The God Delusion. Transworld Publishers. ISBN 0-593-05548-9.
  30. "The God Delusion – back on the Times extended list at #24". Richard Dawkins at RichardDawkins.net. 27 January 2010. Archived from the original on 17 August 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2010.