[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-47940-en":3,"doc-seo-47940-105":29,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":90},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":27,"read_time":28},47940,687197207057,"Sage","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0",2,"Literature","The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing","A curated anthology of modern science writing, selected and introduced by Richard Dawkins, bringing together influential scientific voices across disciplines. The contents span what scientists study, who scientists are, and what scientists think, featuring notable excerpts from astronomy, physics, genetics, evolution, neuroscience, computation, communication theory, and broader reflections on the culture of science. The book emphasizes science as language-rich thinking, pairing authors, works, and perspectives through structured sections and commentary.","The Oxford Book of MODERN SCIENCE WRITING  \nThis page intentionally left blank  \nThe Oxford Book of MODERN SCIENCE WRITING  \nRICHARD DAWKINS  \n1  \n3  \nGreat Clarendon Street, Oxford ox26dp Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in  \nArgentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York Introduction, selection and commentary  \n© Richard Dawkins 2008  \nThe moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker)  \nFirst published 2008  \nAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose the same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Data available Typeset by SPI Publisher Services, Pondicherry, India Printed in Great Britain  \non acid-free paper by  \nClays Ltd, St Ives plc  \nISBN 978–0–19–921680–2  \n1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2  \nFor Charles Simonyi, who loves science, loves language, and understands how to put them together  \nThis page intentionally left blank  \nCONTENTS  \nxi Featured Writers and Extracts xvii Introduction  \nPART I What Scientists Study  \n3 James Jeans from THE MYSTERIOUS UNIVERSE  \n4 Martin Rees from JUST SIX NUMBERS  \n11 Peter Atkins from CREATION REVISITED  \n16 Helena Cronin from THE ANT AND THE PEACOCK  \n18 R. A. Fisher from THE GENETICAL THEORY OF NATURAL SELECTION  \n22 Theodosius Dobzhansky from MANKIND EVOLVING  \n27 G. C. Williams from ADAPTATION AND NATURAL SELECTION  \n30 Francis Crick from LIFE ITSELF  \n35 Matt Ridley from GENOME  \n40 Sydney Brenner ‘THEORETICAL BIOLOGY IN THE THIRD MILLENNIUM’  \n48 Steve Jones from THE LANGUAGE OF THE GENES  \n53 J. B. S. Haldane from ‘ON BEING THE RIGHT SIZE’  \n59 Mark Ridley from THE EXPLANATION OF ORGANIC DIVERSITY  \n61 John Maynard Smith ‘THE IMPORTANCE OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM IN THE EVOLUTION OF ANIMAL FLIGHT’  \n66 Fred Hoyle from MAN IN THE UNIVERSE  \n69 D’Arcy Thompson from ON GROWTH AND FORM  \n78 G. G. Simpson from THE MEANING OF EVOLUTION  \n82 Richard Fortey from TRILOBITE!  \n86 Colin Blakemore from THE MIND MACHINE  \n89 Richard Gregory from MIRRORS IN MIND  \n96 Nicholas Humphrey ‘ONE SELF: A MEDITATION ON THE UNITY OF CONSCIOUSNESS’  \n103 Steven Pinker from THE LANGUAGE INSTINCT and HOW THE MIND WORKS  \nviii . CONTENTS  \n110 Jared Diamond from THE RISE AND FALL OF THE THIRD CHIMPANZEE  \n114 David Lack from THE LIFE OF THE ROBIN  \n115 Niko Tinbergen from CURIOUS NATURALISTS  \n123 Robert Trivers from SOCIAL EVOLUTION  \n127 Alister Hardy from THE OPEN SEA  \n130 Rachel Carson from THE SEA AROUND US  \n138 Loren Eiseley from ‘HOW FLOWERS CHANGED THE WORLD’  \n143 Edward O. Wilson from THE DIVERSITY OF LIFE  \nPART II  \nWho Scientists Are  \n151 Arthur Eddington from THE EXPANDING UNIVERSE  \n152 C. P. Snow from the Foreword to G. H. Hardy’s A MATHEMATICIAN’S APOLOGY  \n157 Freeman Dyson from DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE  \n161 J. Robert Oppenheimer from ‘WAR ","cbCaihiElvTDVxQJ","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaihiElvTDVxQJ","pdf",3652808,1,438,"English","en",105,"# Contents\n## Part I What Scientists Study\n## Part II Who Scientists Are\n## Part III What Scientists Think","[{\"question\":\"What is the overall structure of The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing?\",\"answer\":\"The book is organized into three parts: what scientists study, who scientists are, and what scientists think.\"},{\"question\":\"Which kinds of scientific topics are represented in the anthology?\",\"answer\":\"The table of contents covers topics such as evolution and genetics, neuroscience and consciousness, physics and astronomy, mathematical theory, and scientific culture.\"},{\"question\":\"Who is responsible for the selection, introduction, and commentary in this book?\",\"answer\":\"Richard Dawkins provides the introduction, selection, and commentary for the anthology.\"}]",1783566532,675,{"code":4,"msg":30,"data":31},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":32,"title":13,"keywords":33,"description":14,"schema_data":34,"social_meta":85,"head_meta":87,"extra_data":89,"updated_unix":27},"the-oxford-book-of-modern-science-writing","",{"@graph":35,"@context":84},[36,52,67],{"@type":37,"itemListElement":38},"BreadcrumbList",[39,43,46,49],{"item":40,"name":41,"@type":42,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":44,"name":45,"@type":42,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",{"item":47,"name":12,"@type":42,"position":48},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/",3,{"item":50,"name":13,"@type":42,"position":51},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-oxford-book-of-modern-science-writing/47940/",4,{"url":50,"name":13,"@type":53,"author":54,"headline":13,"publisher":56,"fileFormat":59,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":60,"datePublished":61,"encodingFormat":59,"isAccessibleForFree":62,"interactionStatistic":63},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":55},"Person",{"url":40,"name":57,"@type":58},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-13","2026-07-09",true,{"@type":64,"interactionType":65,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":66},"ViewAction",{"@type":68,"mainEntity":69},"FAQPage",[70,76,80],{"name":71,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":73},"What is the overall structure of The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing?","Question",{"text":74,"@type":75},"The book is organized into three parts: what scientists study, who scientists are, and what scientists think.","Answer",{"name":77,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":78},"Which kinds of scientific topics are represented in the anthology?",{"text":79,"@type":75},"The table of contents covers topics such as evolution and genetics, neuroscience and consciousness, physics and astronomy, mathematical theory, and scientific culture.",{"name":81,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":82},"Who is responsible for the selection, introduction, and commentary in this book?",{"text":83,"@type":75},"Richard Dawkins provides the introduction, selection, and commentary for the anthology.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":50,"og:type":86,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":57,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":88,"canonical":50},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":91},[92,96,99,103,108,113,118,123,128,131,135],{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":98},80,"literature",{"id":51,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":100,"show_sort_weight":101,"slug":102},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":104,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":105,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":107},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":109,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":110,"show_sort_weight":111,"slug":112},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":114,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":115,"show_sort_weight":116,"slug":117},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":119,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":121,"slug":122},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":127},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":130},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":132,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":133,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":134},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":136,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":137,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":138},19,"General","general"]