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Richard Dawkins

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Flights of Fancy: Defying Gravity by Design and Evolution Kindle Edition

by Richard Dawkins (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.6 417 ratings

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Richard Dawkins on how nature and humans have learned to overcome the pull of gravity and take to the skies.

'A masterly investigation of all aspects of flight, human and animal... A beautifully produced book that will appeal across age groups' Alexander McCall Smith

'Dawkins has always been an extraordinarily muscular, persuasive thinker. What feels new here is that he writes with such charm and warmth' The Times

Have you ever dreamt you could fly? Or imagined what it would be like to glide and swoop through the sky like a bird? Do you let your mind soar to unknown, magical spaces? Richard Dawkins explores the wonder of flight: from the mythical Icarus, to the sadly extinct but spectacular bird Argentavis magnificens, from the Wright flyer and the 747, to the Tinkerbella fairyfly and the Peregrine falcon. But he also explores flights of the mind and escaping the everyday – through science, ideas and imagination. Fascinating and beautifully illustrated, this is a unique collaboration between one of the world's leading scientists and a talented artist.

Print length

282 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Apollo
Publication date

11 November 2021
File size

24698 KB
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Product description

Review

Richard Dawkins writes with admirable clarity and Jana Lenzova illustrates in much the same way... A masterly investigation of all aspects of flight, human and animal. This is a beautifully produced book that will appeal across age groups' -- Alexander McCall-Smith

'Dawkins writes with such an irresistible combination of mastery of the subject, delight in it, and vividness. A total pleasure' -- Michael Frayn

Dawkins's prose feels as if it were cut with a laser ... Dawkins has always been an extraordinarily muscular, persuasive thinker. What feels new here is that he writes with such charm and warmth. Genial Uncle Richard, for me, is the most likeable Dawkins yet' ― Sunday Times

'He has made Darwinism cooler than it has any right to be' ― Sunday Times

PRAISE FOR RICHARD DAWKINS:
'Written with all the clarity and elegance of which Dawkins is a master. It should have a place in every school library – especially in the library of every 'faith' school' Philip Pullman, on The God Delusion.
'One of the best non-fiction writers alive today' -- Steven Pinker --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

About the Author

Richard Dawkins is one of the world's most eminent writers and thinkers. He is the award-winning author of The Selfish Gene, The Blind Watchmaker, The God Delusion and a string of other bestselling science books, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Royal Society of Literature. Dawkins lives in Oxford.

Jana Lenzová born and raised in Bratislava, Slovakia, is an illustrator, translator and interpreter. After Jana had been commissioned to translate The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins into Slovak, she began contributing to his books as an illustrator. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08QBGS4VQ
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Apollo; 1st edition (11 November 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 24698 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 282 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #168,354 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #696 in Biology
- #945 in Engineering & Technology (Kindle Store)
- #1,031 in Children's Science, Nature & Technology (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
4.6 417 ratings

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Richard Dawkins

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Richard Dawkins taught zoology at the University of California at Berkeley and at Oxford University and is now the Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford, a position he has held since 1995. Among his previous books are The Ancestor's Tale, The Selfish Gene, The Blind Watchmaker, Climbing Mount Improbable, Unweaving the Rainbow, and A Devil's Chaplain. Dawkins lives in Oxford with his wife, the actress and artist Lalla Ward.

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sonali sengupta

Homology in evolution

Reviewed in India on 6 June 2022

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Dislike-the title should have been objective.

Like pictures, content, and insights into evolutionary adaptations.

One person found this helpful

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HEMU

Powerful

Reviewed in India on 5 January 2022

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Great literary style. Prof. Dawkins is surely the best science writer. Great for evolutionary enthusiasts like me. Surprisingly dedicated to elon

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Brooklyn Richie

TAKES YOU INTO THE WORLD FLIGHT

Reviewed in the United States on 26 November 2023

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Look for other books by this author too as he has a reputation for delivering interesting reads & subject matter. When I do a book review, I am careful not to tip-off or spill the beans on what to expect allowing YOU, the potential reader, to have a fuller experience. The subject, and origin of flight remains fascinating. Enjoy this journey into this world

Kim Walden

An exquisite gem of a book

Reviewed in Sweden on 4 June 2023

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Very interesting subject, written in the usual crystal clear style of Richard Dawkins, beatutifully illustrated by the artist Jana Lenzová.

Pine

A delight to read and possess.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 April 2023

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Richard Dawkins has a way of inducing wonder and delight in nature. His writings are enlightening and very simple for a lay person to understand.
He describes the natural world and how it evolved which is fascinating in itself.

One person found this helpful

j.j.videler

Dawkins slaat de plank mis

Reviewed in Germany on 12 April 2022

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awkins heeft kennelijk na wat hij geleerd heeft van de colleges van Pringle in de zestiger jaren nauwelijks meer iets over het onderwerp gelezen en zelfs wat hij toen leerde niet begrepen. Pringle werkte aan indirecte vliegspieren bij insecten die fibrillair zijn en de thorax in trilling brengen. De frequentie van die trilling ligt in de buurt van de eigenfrequentie van de thorax. Met die frequentie slaan de vleugels. Dawkins beweert dat het de eigenfrequentie van de vleugels zijn en slaat daarmee de plank volledig mis.

Er zijn nog veel meer missers. Zo beweert hij dat de bonte ijsvogel kan vliegen als een kolibrie, stilstaan op een plek in stilstaande lucht. Het schoudergewricht van vogels als bonte ijsvogels en torenvalken laat dat niet toe (Zie mijn verhandeling daarover in Avian Flight, 2006 en 'Bidden voor de kost' 1996)

In zijn eigen Oxford zit een uitstekende onderzoeksgroep op het gebied van vliegen (o.l.v. Adrian Thomas). Daar heeft hij kennelijk geen contact mee gezocht. Ook heeft hij geen weet van voorrand wervels (leading edge vortices, LEV's) waarmee vliegen van insecten tot vogels kan worden begrepen. Het boek geeft geen enkele referentie. Zelfs zijn uiteenzettingen over de evolutie van het vliegen zijn achterhaald. Hij herhaalt zichzelf regelmatig en irriteert de lezer die niet aan het dementeren is daarmee.

Het laatste hoofdstuk laat zien waar het om draait. Het gaat om de grote Dawkins die is uitgenodigd bij een conferentie met astronauten die op de maan gelopen hebben. Hij vergelijkt zijn wetenschappelijke prestaties daarmee.

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PembrokeSorbonne

Nice to see Dawkins writing on evolutionary biology again

Reviewed in the United States on 17 December 2023

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It is a welcoming development that Dawkins has returned to writing books about evolutionary biology which you can see is his strength. This book explains the evolutionary biology of living things that fly, with lovely illustrations. Similar to his early books on evolution, it is laced with many examples in nature and anecdotes using lucid and easy to follow narratives.

Evolutionary biology of flying living things is useful to explain how flight can be used as a feature to illustrate morphological adaptive development in natural selection. Dawkins first explains what flight is good for, which he suggests escape from predator, finding food, migration to feeding ground or better habitat. He also provided creatures with amazing navigation capability such as homing pigeons can find their destination even if you release them from alternate locations. Then he discusses why some creatures lose their wings. Wings are expensive to maintain. It is an adaptive advantage but can be abandoned if it is no longer needed. Species of birds that migrated to island living where predators are dimished can lose their wings to evolve to larger bodies like land animals for more effective reproduction. Queen ants would tear their wings off after arrival at destination for breeding and movement underground. Losing wings gives them better mobility. Worker ants don't generate wings though they can but no need for working underground. Dawkins then discusses various wing morphologies and evolutionary development. First, it is easier for lighter bodies to fly and large surface area on the body is needed to generate lift. Dawkins cited morphologies from bats and pterosaurus which use their fingers, limbs and membranes while birds use feathers. Wing morphologies are generated from the existent structure of the species gradually instead of sprouting wings from nowhere. Also discussed are creatures using unpowered flight such as gliders, namely, flying squirrels and colugos which uses a patagium (web of skin), and birds,such as seagulls and vultures that use thermals to glide long distance. In terms of powered flights, birds use a complicated combination of pushing wing down like a chopper and pushing forward like an airplane. Amazing examples of hummingbirds and dragonflies featuring hovering ability like a chopper by turning wings upside down when pushing down. Besides discussing animals flight, Dawkins suggests aerial planktons using air to disperse for distance. Seeding over distance is advantages to species continuous survival which the notion of gene replication in his theme is revisited again. Plants also use birds and insects for pollination, and amazingly to make them spreading them in the same species to maintain pollination fidelity. A most interesting chapter at the end titled "what is the use of half a wing" which suggests gradual evolution of wing morphology. An initial wing like structure maybe developed for various adaptive advantages such as for increasing running speed, temperature retention, or balance, before to full form for flight. So Dawkins is suggesting intermediate forms can have their adaptive purposes, and the idea of half a wing is warranted in the evolutionary process.

This is an overall fun and interesting short book to read. It is not as technical as his early works such as The Selfish Gene and The Extended Phenotype, but is still a welcoming return to see Dawkins presenting evolutionary biology again

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Flights of Fancy: Defying Gravity by Design and Evolution Kindle Edition

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