One of my heroes.
Every Christmas, the Royal Institution in London puts on a series of lectures aimed at young people, known, strangely enough, as the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. They’ve been going on every year since 1825 when Michael Faraday started them, only stopping briefly when World War II was happening.
I attended the lectures when I was about 14, and watched them on BBC Two every other year. One speaker in particular became a hero of mine. His five lectures debunked many of the arguments against evolution and filled in many of the gaps in my own knowledge on the subject. Since then I’ve read his books and articles and kept a lookout for TV and public appearances.
Richard Dawkins is an eminent evolutionary biologist and a fierce atheist. He is the Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University. Along with his new book, he also has a new website, which went straight onto my sidebar. And he’s coming to McGill on October 21st; colour me excited.
Thanks for the heads up on his visit! I’ve heard a lot about him, often from Douglas Adams, another staunch atheist. I’m pretty sure he said The Blind Watchmaker, by Dawkins, was his favourite book, but I’ve yet to read it since it’s only on two-hour loan at the McGill library.
[...] Well, things were made a bit better by the news that Richard Dawkins will be coming to speak at McGill in October. Considering that Robert J Sawyer is doing a few public readings in Montreal that same week, I think my head might explode. [...]
Tickets for the lecture available on the third floor of the McGill bookstore. And he will be signing books after the lecture.