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.
