Next week, Richard Dawkins will give a talk at 4 PM at the Michigan Theater based on his new book "The Magic of Reality"
The event is free and open to the public, and tickets are not needed or available. Doors open at 3:30 PM.
Details below and at http://evolutionandmedicine.
Public Lecture at the Michigan Theater
Free Admission - No tickets needed or available
The Magic of Reality: How We Know What is Really True
(based on his book by that title)
4:00 p.m. (doors open at 3:30)
Michigan Theater, 601 E. Liberty St., Ann Arbor
Abstract: Supernatural magic is what our ancestors invoked in order to explain the world before they developed the scientific method. The ancient Egyptians explained the night by suggesting that a goddess swallowed the sun. The Vikings believed a rainbow was the gods’ bridge to earth. Aside from these extraordinary tales, there is another kind of magic that lies in the exhilaration of discovering the real answers to these questions. It is the magic of reality—science.
Professor Dawkins is the author of The Selfish Gene and 11 other books that have reached such wide audiences that he is recognized as one of the world's most prominent and controversial intellectuals. His writings have won innumerable awards, including one from the Royal Society for Literature. In the lobby after the talk, he will sign copies of his new paperback, The Magic of Reality, a spectacularly engaging illustrated book for children and young adults about why science is so great, one that can be read with pleasure by any adult.
Sean Faircloth, Director of Strategy and Planning of the Richard Dawkins Foundation US, will offer introductory remarks on the impacts of religion on science and medicine. Randolph Nesse, from the University of Michigan Evolution and Human Adaptation Program, will introduce the speakers.
This talk is co-sponsored by the University of Michigan Evolution and Human Adaptation Program, the Museum of Natural History, the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and the School of Public Health Department of Epidemiology and MACEpid.
Full Information on this lecture and the rest of the series on Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health is available at http://EvolutionAndMedicine.
Professor Dawkins will also give another lecture during his visit. His topic, “Darwin’s Five Bridges,” is about exactly what Darwin discovered, and why evolution is important to scientists today. The scheduled venue is too small to invite those not associated with the sponsoring department, but we have arranged a special open URL so that anyone anywhere can watch the talk and the question period live at http://www.ummentalhealth.
