I needed a change of air. For too long I had been immersed in the complexities of the 4th century. I needed a change of scene, an undemanding landscape. I had a few days to spare before the turning of the Equinox. I went in search of a book to read. A book on some subject not one of mine own. I found it in the front window of Borders in Oxford. The new, brand new, Dawkins. On display with a red sticker on each cover. Half Price. This week only. Resist I could not. The Greatest Show On Earth is there for the beholding.
In the gently undisturbed atmosphere of the Oxford Union Society’s Library – this is still the Long Vacation - I sat down to read. Disappointed? No, not a single jot or tittle! Dawkins writes with the consummate ease of one knowing his subject so well, the words flow effortlessly in crystal clear exposition. There is humour here too. ‘For reasons I won’t go into now, it is of the essence of sexual reproduction that you shouldn’t fertilize yourself.’ And tender beauty. ‘A meadow full of flowers is nature’s Times Square, nature’s Piccadilly Circus. A slow-motion neon sign, it changes from week to week as different flowers come into season, carefully prompted by cues from, for example, the changing length of days to synchronize with others of their own species. This floral extravaganza, splashed across the green canvas of a meadow .. .. ’ And there’s more of the same. From the hand of a scientist!
I learned so much from these 450 pages. At times it was slow reading and I won’t pretend it was realised without persistence. Doubtless there are passages which remain but partly absorbed but that doesn’t prevent me from recommending this publication to my friends, especially my Pagan friends. They will appreciate how and why the procession of the seasons is as it is, how life is as it is, how the world around us is constantly changing day by day, how we and our kin have come to be what we are.
© francis cameron
oxford, 19 september 2009
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