‘accident prone’, 226
Adam (and Eve), 35–7, 58, 59, 220
agriculture, 46
aliens: abduction by, 182–6; fictional, 181, 193–4; life on other planets, 14–15, 186–93; myths and legends, 180–1, 185–6; vision, 194–8
allergies, 233–4
amphibians, 50
ancestors, 38–43, 46–50, 52–3, 70
Andersen, Hans Christian, 19
Anguilla, 66–7, 68
ant lion, 227–8
apes, 48–9, 60, 72
aphelion, 115–16, 118, 120
Applewhite, Marshall, 181
Arctic tern, 107
Asclepius, 218
asteroids, 136–7
astrology, 219
Atlas, 163
atomic number, 92, 171
atoms: compounds, 79–80; crystals, 80–3, 88; elements, 79; inside the atom, 85–91; knowledge of, 15, 79; mass, 91–2, 93; models, 86–8; nucleus, 87–9, 91–3; radioactive isotopes, 44; splitting, 86
Australian aborigines, 100–2
Aztec religion, 124–6
Babel, Tower of, 56, 61–2
bacteria, 12–13, 65, 96, 140, 230–1, 235
bad things, 216–17, 220–3, 226–7
Barotse tribe, 124
bats, 157, 197
Beagle, HMS, 67
big bang model, 164–5, 177
birds, 50, 57, 107, 140, 197
Blackmore, Sue, 185
Bohr, Niels, 87
Boshongo myth, 162
Brahma, 163
breeding: between different species, 42, 59, 65, 68–9; gene pools, 73–5; horses and donkeys, 42, 59, 65; interbreeding, 47, 49, 71; Mendel’s experiments, 16–17; natural selection, 30–1; selective, 28–9
Brown, Derren, 20
Buckyballs and Buckytubes, 94–5
cancers, 234–5
carbon, 79, 80–1, 88, 92–3, 94–5
carbon-14, 46, 93
cards, shuffling and dealing, 25–6, 251–2
carnivores, 72, 139–40, 142
Cassini space probe, 116
chameleon, 217
chance, 23–6, 220–1, 223–5
chimpanzees, 18, 48, 51, 52–3, 72
Chinese myths, 162–3
chlorine ions, 82
chromosomes, 17, 51
Chumash people, 148–9
Clancy, Susan, 182
Clarke, Arthur C., 256
clocks and watches, 243–4
clouds, 141–2
coaches, 19, 23–4, 26, 31, 238–9, 253
coal, 141–2, 192
Coatlicue, 125–6
coin tossing, 222, 224–6
coincidence, 238, 241–3, 251
colours, 90, 151–8, 169–72, 176
comets, 115–17, 181
Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur, 246–7
conjurors, 20–1, 252
continental drift, 208, 210
continents, 205–9, 210, 212
convection currents, 211–12, 213
Crick, Francis, 17–18
cricket, 224–6
crystals, 80–3, 84, 88, 90
Darwin, Charles: on evolution, 27, 29–30; Galapagos visit, 67–8; on natural selection, 29–30, 74, 227, 229; tree picture, 60–1, 64
dates, 45–6, 93
day–night cycle, 100–2, 106–7
death, 217
Demeter, 102–3
Democritus, 79
Devil, 220, 247
dialects, 62, 64, 71
diamond, 80–1, 82, 88
dinosaurs, 12, 13, 14, 50, 137
disease, 217–20, 231–5
distance, measuring, 166–8
diversity, 57–8
DNA, 16–18, 50–3, 64–5, 67, 70, 73
Dogon tribe, 217
dogs, 18, 59, 156, 217, 233
dolphins, 72, 149, 197
Doppler, Christian, 175–6
Doppler shift, 173, 175–6, 188
dreams, 184, 241–3
Dreamtime, 100
duck-billed platypus, 49, 198
dust mites, 96
Earth: axis, 104–5, 111, 118–20; centre, 85, 212; convection currents, 212, 213; orbit, 103, 108–9, 115, 118–19, 134, 166–7, 191; sea-floor spreading, 210–12; spinning, 103–5; tectonic plates, 209–14, 223
earthquakes: causes, 208, 213–14, 223; diseases, 219; experiences of, 200–1; myths, 202–5
Eden, 36
Egyptian religion, 127
electrons, 87–9, 91–3, 171
elements, 78, 79, 92–3, 133–4, 170–2
ellipses, 113–15, 117
emotions, 18
energy, 138–43
Eta Carinae, 130, 133–4
Europa, 190, 191
evaporation, 141
evolution: auto-immune diseases, 235; Galapagos islands, 67–71; gene pools, 74–5; gradual, 26–7; languages, 57, 63–5, 66, 68, 71; natural selection, 30–1, 68, 70, 75, 227–9; pregnancies, 233; selective breeding, 28–9; tree picture, 61
eyes, 194–7
faces, seeing, 240
fairies, photographs of, 245–6
fairy godmother, 23–4
false memory syndrome, 183, 185
Fatima, miracle of, 247–9
Feynman, Richard, 243
fish, 40–1, 43, 48, 50, 66, 198
fossils, 13, 43–5, 60, 93
Franklin, Rosalind, 18
frogs, 23, 26, 27–31, 50, 52, 66
fungi, 140, 230
Galapagos islands, 67–71
galaxies, 13, 14, 165–8, 172–3, 176–7
gas giants, 190
gases, 79, 83, 85, 89
gene: flow, 64, 66, 73; pool, 73–5
genes, 16–17, 29–30, 51–3, 68, 71, 73–5
genus, 59–60
ghost stories, 240–1
Gilgamesh, 146–8, 149
Gliese 581, 191–2
gold, 79, 81, 82, 192
Goldilocks zone, 191–3
Gondwana, 206
gravity, 109, 111–12, 115–16, 129–32, 141, 192
Greek: medicine, 218–19; myths, 102, 127, 163
Griffiths, Frances, 245–6
Grimm, the Brothers, 19
Hades, 102–3
Haiti, earthquake, 200, 214
Hale–Bopp comet, 181
Halley’s Comet, 117
hallucinations, 184, 249, 250–1
health, 219
Heaven’s Gate cult, 181
Hebrew myths, see Jewish myths
Helios, 116, 127, 131
helium, 131, 132, 133
herbivores, 139–40, 142
heredity, 16
hibernation, 108
Himalayas, formation, 207, 213
Hippocrates, 218–19
Homo erectus, 42–3, 60
Homo sapiens, 42–3, 59–60
Hopi people, 57
Hubble, Edwin, 173
Hubble shift, 173
Hubble telescope, 14, 173
Huitzilopochtli, 125–6
Hume, David, 244–5, 246, 248, 250–2
humours, four, 219
hunter-gatherers, 46–7
hydrogen: atom, 92; element, 79; octane, 94; stars, 129, 131–2, 133
iguanas, 66–70
immune system, 231–5
Inca religion, 124, 126
incubus, 185–6
Indian myths, 163
insects, 57, 69, 157, 195
ions, 82
iron, 79, 81, 82, 85, 88, 133–4, 192
islands, 65–71
isotopes, 44–5, 93
Jackson, Michael, 240, 241
Japan: earthquake and tsunami, 200–1; earthquake myths, 204
Jericho, walls of, 202–3
Jesus, 239, 252, 253–4
Jewish myths: Adam and Eve, 35–6, 58, 220; creation, 58, 127; naming the animals, 59; Noah’s Ark, 147–8; Sodom and Gomorrah, 202; Tower of Babel, 56
Jupiter, 129, 135, 136, 188, 190
Kepler, Johannes, 113, 134
lakes, 66, 69, 71
languages, 56–7, 61–5, 66, 71, 74
‘Law of Averages’, 224–5
lead, 79, 81, 86, 88, 92, 134
lead-206, 45
Lear, Edward, 78
leaves, 138–9, 141, 143
lemurs, 49, 60
light: beams, 90; spectrum, 151–3, 154–9, 168–73; speed of, 14; wavelength, 156–8, 169, 171, 196–7; waves, 176
liquids, 83–4, 89
Lourdes, 218
Lowell, Percival, 191
luck, 223–6
lunar cycles, 121
magic: poetic, 19, 21; stage, 19, 20; supernatural, 19, 20, 25, 238
Magic Circle, 20
mammals, 49–50, 51–3, 60, 72, 107–8, 233
Maori myths, 204
Mars, 129, 136, 190
mass, 91–2
Maya religion, 124, 126
Mayr, Ernst, 57
memories, false, 183, 185
Mendel, Gregor, 16–17, 18
mercury, 79, 85
metals, 79
meteors, 136–7
methane, 85
Mexican Wave, 174
mice, 51, 52, 71
microscopes, 18, 86, 95, 96, 230
migration, 107–8
Milky Way, 14, 35, 148–9, 165–6, 172
miracles: definition, 244; examples, 244–5, 251–5; Fatima, 247–9; Jesus’s, 239, 252–4; playing cards, 25, 251–2; photographs of fairies, 245–6; rumours and traditions, 239–41; supernatural magic, 19, 238; technology and, 255–7; witch trials, 247
mirrors, 90
models, 15–18, 22, 86–8, 164, 177
molecules: atoms in, 80; Buckyballs and Buckytubes, 94–5; colours, 171; diamond crystal, 80, 88; fossils, 44; immune system, 233; miracles, 253; movement, 83–4; waves, 173–4
molybdenum, 79
monkeys, 48–9, 52, 60
moon, 121, 124, 128, 189, 192–3
multiverse, 165
myoglobin, 95
naphthalene, 94
natural selection, 30–1, 68, 70, 75, 193, 227–9
Navajo people, 57
neutron star, 193
neutrons, 91–3
New Guinea, 57, 205
New Zealand: earthquake myths, 204; earthquakes, 201
Newton, Sir Isaac, 109, 151–3, 154, 168–9
newts, 28–30, 31, 50
Nigerian myths, 124, 163
Noah’s Ark, 147–8
Norse myths, 37, 127, 149
North American myths, 57, 102
nucleus, nuclei, 87–9, 91–2, 171, 193
oases, 58, 66, 69, 71
octane, 94
orbits: comets, 115–16, 117; Earth’s orbit, 103, 108–9, 115, 118–19, 134, 166–7, 188, 191; ellipses, 113–14, 117; planets, 109–11, 117, 129, 130–1, 134–5, 187–9; satellites, 111; space station in, 106, 111–12
original sin, 36–7
ozone, 80
Pan Gu myths, 162–3
parallax method, 166–8
paranoia, 229–30
parasites, 140, 228, 230–2, 234
peat, 140–1
Penn and Teller, 20
perihelion, 116, 117, 118, 120
Persephone, 102–3
photons, 90, 121
pilgrimage, 218
Pink Panther, The, 226
planets: detecting, 187–9; distance from star, 191; extra-solar, 187, 189–90, 191; gravitational pull, 129, 192–3; life on other planets, 186–7, 193–8; mass, 192; orbits, 109–11, 117, 129, 130–1, 134–5, 187–9; size, 129, 192; temperature, 85, 191
plate tectonics, 205, 208–11, 223
Pluto, 115, 117, 118, 135
Pollyanna’s Law, 222, 229
Pompeii and Herculaneum, 214
potential energy, 142
predators, 228–9, 230
pregnancy, 232–3
Presley, Elvis, 239, 241
prisms, 151–3, 154, 168–9
protons, 91–3, 171
Proxima Centauri, 14, 128, 130
Pueblo people, 57
pyramids, 126–7
quarks, 93
Quetzalcoatl, 125
radar, 197–8
radio telescope, 13, 15, 158
radio waves, 13, 158, 196–7; modulated, 197
radioactive clocks, 45–6
rainbow: myths, 147–9; real magic, 150–1; spectrum, 152–3, 154–6, 156–9, 168
raindrops, 153–6
Randi, James ‘The Amazing’, 20
red: dwarf, 191; giant, 132; shift, 173, 176, 188
relative movement, 103–5
reptiles, 50
rivers, 141
rocks: age of, 44–5; hardness, 88–9; igneous, 43–4; opacity, 90; pointy, 223; sedimentary, 43–4, 82; types, 43–4
Rowling, J. K., 19
rumours, 239–41, 248
Rutherford, Ernest, 86, 87
Salem witch trials, 247
Salish tribe, 163
salt, 82–3
San Andreas Fault, 201–2, 214
San Francisco earthquake, 201
sand, 82
satellites, 111
Saturn, 85, 116, 136
scallops, 196
scavengers, 140
sea-floor spreading, 210–12
seasons, 102, 108–9, 118–21
selective breeding, 28
Shinto religion, 124
shooting stars, 136–7
Siberian myths, 204
simulation, computer, 16
sleep paralysis, 183–5
sodium: ions, 82; light, 170–2
Sodom and Gomorrah, 202
Sod’s Law, 221–2, 227, 228–9
solar wind, 117
solids, 84–5, 88–9, 90, 175
sonar, 197
sound: speed of, 14; wavelength, 156–7, 158, 175–6; waves, 173–6
space station, 106, 111–13
species, 42–3, 59–61, 64–72, 73–5
spectroscope, 168–9, 171, 178, 187, 188
spectrum, 151–3, 154–9, 168–73, 176
spiders: jumping, 195; webs, 227–8
standard candles, 167–8, 176
stardust, 133–4
starlight, 138, 168–71
stars: distances away, 12, 166–7; galaxies, 14, 165–6; gravitational pull, 129; life story of a star, 131–2; neutron, 193; planetary orbits, 134–5; shooting stars, 136–7; size, 129, 130, 131; supernovas, 133–4; temperature, 129–30
Star Trek, 181, 183
steady state model, 164
steam engines, 141, 142
subduction, 213
succubus, 185–6
sugar, 138–9, 142–3
Sumerian myths, 146–9
summer, 100, 102–3, 107–9, 118–21
sun: day and night, 106–7, 118–20; gravitational pull, 129; importance for life, 137–43; life story of a star, 131–2; myths, 100–3; planetary orbits, 109, 115, 117, 118–19, 134–5, 166; solar wind, 117; star, 128, 130, 131, 165; summer and winter, 103, 107, 118–21; worship, 124–7
supernovas, 133–4, 135
Tahltan people, 102
Tasmanian origin myths, 34–5
tectonic plates, 208–9, 209–11, 223
telescopes: curved mirror, 196; detecting reality, 18; Hubble, 173; observing stars, 132, 188; photographs, 158; radio, 13, 158; as time machines, 14–15; X-ray, 13, 158
Tezcatlipoca, 125
Thomson, J. J., 87
time: beginning of, 164–5; measuring, 44–6, 100
time machine, 14, 46–9, 256
Tiv tribe, 124
Tlaloc, 125
tossing a coin, 222, 224–6
tradition, 241
tsunami, 200–1, 223
universe: alien life forms, 180–1; big bang, 164–5, 177; distances, 166–7; expanding, 177; laws of, 252–3; observable, 164–5; origin myths, 162–4
uranium, 92, 134
uranium-23
8, 44–5, 46
Utnapashtim, 146–8
vaccination, 232
Venus, 116, 132
Vesuvius, eruption, 214
viruses, 227, 230, 234
Vishnu, 163
vision, 194–7
volcanoes, 43, 67, 69–70, 212, 214
watches, 243–4
water on other planets, 190–2
water wheels, 141–2, 143
Watson, James, 17–18
Wegener, Alfred, 208–9, 210
weightlessness, 111–12
West African legends, 124, 149, 204–5, 217
whales, 18, 58, 72, 157, 197
white dwarf, 133
Wilde, Oscar, 216
Wilkins, Maurice, 18
wind, 90, 173, 213, 229
winter, 100, 102–3, 107–9, 118–21
Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 105
Wright, Elsie, 245–6
X-rays, 18, 157, 158, 167, 196–7
Zulu creation myth, 163
About the Author and Illustrator
Richard Dawkins was first catapulted to fame with his iconic book The Selfish Gene, which he followed with a string of bestselling books, including the phenomenal The God Delusion. The Magic of Reality is his first book written for a younger, more general readership and it also became an immediate bestseller in its original, colour illustrated hardback edition. Dawkins is a fellow of the Royal Society and the Royal Society of Literature, and has won numerous awards. He was a professor at Oxford University until 2008 and he remains a fellow of New College. He has also written and presented several television documentaries, including The Genius of Charles Darwin in 2008 and Faith School Menace in 2010.
Dave McKean has illustrated and designed many award-winning books and graphic novels. He has created hundreds of album, comic and book covers, and has designed characters for two of the Harry Potter films. He has also directed two feature films, MirrorMask and Luna.
Also by Richard Dawkins
The Selfish Gene
The Extended Phenotype
The Blind Watchmaker
River Out of Eden
Climbing Mount Improbable
Unweaving the Rainbow
A Devil’s Chaplain
The Ancestor’s Tale
The God Delusion*
The Greatest Show on Earth*
* and published by Black Swan
TRANSWORLD PUBLISHERS
61–63 Uxbridge Road, London W5 5SA
A Random House Group Company
www.transworldbooks.co.uk
THE MAGIC OF REALITY
A BLACK SWAN BOOK: 9780552778053
Version 1.0 Epub ISBN 9781409011415
First Published in Great Britain
Black Swan edition published 2012
Copyright © Richard Dawkins 2011
Illustrations copyright © Dave McKean 2011
Richard Dawkins has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
The Magic of Reality Page 20