The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins

Title: The Blind Watchmaker

Author: Richard Dawkins

Webpage: Richard Dawkins

Narrator: Lalla Ward and Richard Dawkins

Publisher: Audible Studios

Website: Audible Studios

ASIN: B005AJL86G

Genre: Science

Listening Length: 14h:40m

Synopsis: The watchmaker belongs to the 18th-century theologian William Paley, who argued that just as a watch is too complicated and functional to have sprung into existence by accident, so too must all living things, with their far greater complexity, be purposefully designed. Charles Darwin's discovery challenged this; and this is Richard Dawkins' riposte and explanation that natural selection - the unconscious, automatic, blind, yet essentially nonrandom process Darwin discovered - is the blind watchmaker in nature.

I enjoyed this very much, but then as as scientist that might be expected. I am not convinced that non-scientists would get much out of it, as it can be quite technical at times - but then it is a very technical subject. If I have one criticism it was the narration. There are two narrators Lalla Ward and Richard Dawkins, himself. Ordinarily this should not be an issue, but I found the points at which they took over from each other annoying and at times confusing, for on occasion they changed right in the middle of the presentation of an argument which made it disjointed.

What others thought at the time of writing Amazon.co.uk; 169 reviews, of which 88% were 3* or more, giving an average of 4.1* Amazon.com; 422 reviews, of which 81% were 3* or more, giving an average of 4.1* Goodreads.com; 27,417 ratings (850 reviews), with 95% of 3* or more, giving an average of 4.1*

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