Charles Darwin’s masterpiece, On the Origin of Species , shook society to its core on publication in 1859. Darwin was only too aware of the storm his theory of evolution would provoke but he would surely have raised an incredulous eyebrow at the controversy still raging a century and a half later. Evolution is accepted as scientific fact by all reputable scientists and indeed theologians, yet millions of people continue to question its veracity. In The Greatest Show on Earth Richard Dawkins takes on creationists, including followers of ‘Intelligent Design’ and all those who question the fact of evolution through natural selection. Like a detective arriving on the scene of a crime, he sifts through fascinating layers of scientific facts and disciplines to build a cast-iron case: from the living examples of natural selection in birds and insects; the ‘time clocks’ of trees and radioactive dating that calibrate a timescale for evolution; the fossil record and the traces of our earliest ancestors; to confirmation from molecular biology and genetics. All of this, and much more, bears witness to the truth of evolution. The Greatest Show on Earth comes at a critical time: systematic opposition to the fact of evolution is now flourishing as never before, especially in America. In Britain and elsewhere in the world, teachers witness insidious attempts to undermine the status of science in their classrooms. Richard Dawkins provides unequivocal evidence that boldly and comprehensively rebuts such nonsense. At the same time he shares with us his palpable love of the natural world and the essential role that science plays in its interpretation. Written with elegance, wit and passion, it is hard-hitting, absorbing and totally convincing.

理查德•道金斯（Richard Dawkins），1941年3月26日生，英國皇傢科學院院士，牛津大學教授，著名科普作傢，生物學傢。2001年當選為英國皇傢學會院士。2005年英國《前景》雜誌會同美國《外交政策》雜誌網絡調查，評選齣在世的全球100名最有影響力的公共知識分子之一。他是英國最重要的科學作傢，幾乎每本書都是暢銷書，並經常在各大媒體引起轟動。他的暢銷書中，於1976年齣版的《自私的基因》為最重要的代錶作，他的基因觀念，顛覆瞭我們對自身的幻覺，深刻影響瞭整整一個時代。