The Magic of Reality (23 page)

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-238, 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

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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.

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