Writing

A beaver's dam belongs in the picture of what its genes do. The Extended Phenotype follows that idea beyond the body; I found it harder than The Selfish Gene, but just as fascinating.

A rare specimen of damn strong science fiction, without the slightest bows toward adventure literature.

At school, I could never get the hang of geometric proofs. I simply couldn't memorize a complicated sequence of steps, each as baffling as the last.

Dawkins makes a convincing case for religion as a by-product of childhood trust. What interests me more is what belief gives the believer. True and good are different judgments.

The Selfish Gene changed me. I realised I didn't have to indulge the 'wishes' of my genes. I could have wishes of my own, and that felt enormously freeing.

In just two quotes: one from Bertrand Russell about Bishop Colenso and the Zulus, and one from Saint Augustine about the vice of curiosity.

I took my laptop to the kitchen while waiting for the kettle to boil. Ten years earlier, using a computer had felt almost sacred. Now here I was, blogging over wireless internet.

Native Australians kept captive dingos as companions, watchdogs, and even as living blankets, giving rise to the expression "five-dog night" to mean a very cold night.

Это сложно представить: где-то на скучных задворках одной из галактик кружилось наше Солнце, а рядом с ним маленький зелёно-голубой мирок, который мы называем Землёй.

A Hollywood star, a composer, and a wartime radio patent. Hedy Lamarr’s story is interesting enough without making her the inventor of every wireless connection.