Richard Dawkins facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Richard Dawkins
FRS FRSL
|
|
|---|---|
Dawkins in 2022
|
|
| Born |
Clinton Richard Dawkins
26 March 1941 Nairobi, British Kenya
|
| Education | Oundle School Balliol College, Oxford (MA, DPhil) |
| Known for |
|
| Spouse(s) |
|
| Children | 1 |
| Awards |
|
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Evolutionary biology |
| Institutions |
|
| Thesis | Selective pecking in the domestic chick (1967) |
| Doctoral advisor | Nikolaas Tinbergen |
| Signature | |
 |
|
Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biologist, zoologist, and author. He is well-known for explaining science to the public. He was a professor at the University of Oxford from 1995 to 2008.
His book The Selfish Gene (1976) helped make the idea of genes being central to evolution popular. He also invented the word meme in this book. Dawkins has received many awards for his work in science and writing.
Dawkins is also known for disagreeing with creationism and intelligent design, which are ideas that life was created by a supernatural being. He is also openly atheist. In his 1986 book The Blind Watchmaker, he explained how evolution works without needing a designer. He said that processes like reproduction, mutation, and natural selection are like a "blind" watchmaker, meaning they are not guided by a conscious creator. In 2006, he wrote The God Delusion, arguing that a supernatural creator likely does not exist. He started the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science in 2006.
Contents
Who is Richard Dawkins?
Early Life and Family
Clinton Richard Dawkins was born on 26 March 1941 in Nairobi, which was then part of British Kenya. His parents were interested in science, and they encouraged his curiosity. When he was eight, his family moved back to England.
Dawkins grew up in a Christian family. However, as a teenager, he started to believe that the theory of evolution explained the complexity of life better than the idea of a god. He realized that Charles Darwin's ideas offered a strong explanation for how life developed.
Learning and Teaching
When he was eight, Dawkins went to school in Wiltshire, England. Later, he attended Oundle School from 1954 to 1959. He then studied zoology at Balliol College, Oxford, and graduated in 1962. His teacher there was Nobel Prize winner Nikolaas Tinbergen, who studied animal behavior. Dawkins continued his studies with Tinbergen, earning his PhD in 1966.
From 1967 to 1969, Dawkins taught zoology at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned to the University of Oxford in 1970 as a lecturer. In 1995, he became the Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford. This special role meant he was expected to help the public understand science better. He held this position until 2008.
Dawkins has given many talks and lectures, including the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures for Children in 1991, called Growing Up in the Universe. He has also worked as an editor for science magazines and encyclopedias.
What are Richard Dawkins's Main Ideas?
Understanding Evolution: The Gene's Role
Richard Dawkins is famous for explaining that the gene is the most important "unit" in evolution. This idea means that genes are what get passed down and survive over time. He explained this clearly in two of his books:
- The Selfish Gene (1976): In this book, he said that "all life evolves by the different survival of replicating entities." This means that genes are like tiny instructions that try to make copies of themselves.
- The Extended Phenotype (1982): Here, he explained that the effects of a gene are not just limited to an organism's body. They can also affect the environment around it, even other organisms. For example, a beaver's genes might influence the dam it builds, which changes its environment. Dawkins thought this was his most important idea in evolutionary biology.
Dawkins has always been careful about ideas that suggest evolution happens for the good of a group or species. He focuses on how genes compete and cooperate to survive.
The Idea of "Memes"
In The Selfish Gene, Dawkins created the word meme. He used it to describe how ideas, behaviors, or styles spread from person to person within a culture. Think of it like a "gene" for culture.
He suggested that just as genes copy themselves (though not perfectly), cultural ideas (memes) also get copied and spread. When memes are copied, they can change a little, combine with other ideas, or become more popular. This helps explain how culture can "evolve" over time, similar to how biological evolution works with genes.
The idea of memes became very popular and is now used widely, especially online.
Richard Dawkins's Public Work
The Richard Dawkins Foundation
In 2006, Dawkins started the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science (RDFRS). This group supports research into how people believe in religion and helps fund science education. It also promotes organizations that are not religious. In 2016, the foundation joined with the Center for Inquiry.
Views on Society and Science
Dawkins is a strong supporter of atheism and humanism. He believes that atheists should be open about their views. He hopes that if more non-believers identify themselves, it will help reduce negative opinions about atheism. He supported the Atheist Bus Campaign in the UK, which put advertisements on buses to raise awareness about atheism.
He has also spoken about the problem of human overpopulation. He is concerned about how quickly the world's population is growing.
Dawkins supports the Great Ape Project, which aims to give certain legal rights to all great apes (like chimpanzees and gorillas). He believes that society's moral rules often unfairly treat different species.
He often shares his thoughts on current events and politics in newspapers and blogs. He has spoken out against the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the idea of designer babies. He also supports changing the British monarchy to a republic.
In 2021, the American Humanist Association took back an award they had given him in 1996. They stated that some of his comments about transgender people were seen as demeaning. Dawkins said he did not mean to upset anyone and that he does not deny the existence of trans people, but he objects to certain language use.
Dawkins is also a critic of pseudoscience and alternative medicine. He argues that there is only medicine that works and medicine that doesn't. He believes that science helps us appreciate the world even more, rather than taking away its beauty. For example, understanding how a rainbow works makes it even more amazing.
Awards and Recognition
Richard Dawkins has received many honors and awards throughout his career. He has honorary doctorates from many universities around the world. In 2001, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), which is a very high honor for scientists in the UK.
Some of his awards include:
- Royal Society of Literature award (1987)
- Michael Faraday Award (1990)
- International Cosmos Prize (1997)
- Kistler Prize (2001)
- Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public Interest (2009)
- Deschner Award (2007)
In 2004, Prospect magazine named him the top public British intellectual. In 2013, he was voted the world's top thinker in another poll by Prospect.
Since 2003, the Atheist Alliance International has given out the Richard Dawkins Award each year. This award honors an atheist who has done a lot to raise public awareness of atheism.
In 2012, a new genus of freshwater fish from Sri Lanka was named Dawkinsia in his honor.
Personal Life
Richard Dawkins has been married four times and has one daughter. In 2016, he had a minor stroke but later reported that he had almost fully recovered.
Dawkins owns a first edition of On the Origin of Species, the famous book by Charles Darwin.
Media
Selected Books
- The Selfish Gene (1976)
- The Extended Phenotype (1982)
- The Blind Watchmaker (1986)
- River Out of Eden (1995)
- Climbing Mount Improbable (1996)
- Unweaving the Rainbow (1998)
- The Devil's Chaplain (2003)
- The Ancestor's Tale (2004)
- The God Delusion (2006)
- The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution (2009)
- The Magic of Reality (2011)
- An Appetite for Wonder (2013) – First part of his life story.
- Brief Candle in the Dark (2015) – Second part of his life story.
- Science in the Soul (2017)
- Outgrowing God (2019)
- Flights of Fancy (2021)
Documentary Films
- Nice Guys Finish First (1986)
- The Blind Watchmaker (1987)
- Growing Up in the Universe (1991)
- Break the Science Barrier (1996)
- The Atheism Tapes (2004)
- The Big Question (2005) – Part 3: "Why Are We Here?"
- The Root of All Evil? (2006)
- The Enemies of Reason (2007)
- The Genius of Charles Darwin (2008)
- Faith School Menace? (2010)
- Beautiful Minds (2012)
- ..., Death and the Meaning of Life (2012)
- The Unbelievers (2013)
Other Appearances
Dawkins has appeared on many TV shows and radio programs to discuss his ideas. He has also debated religious figures and given talks at universities.
- Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (2008) – He appeared as himself in this film.
- Doctor Who: "The Stolen Earth" (2008) – He played himself.
- Inside Nature's Giants (2009–12) – He was a guest expert.
- The Simpsons: "Black Eyed, Please" (2013) – He voiced a demon version of himself in a dream.
- Endless Forms Most Beautiful (2015) – He provided narration for two songs on this album by the band Nightwish.
- Intersect (2020) – He voiced a computer character.
Images for kids
-
Richard Dawkins's signature
-
A robot illustration
See also
In Spanish: Richard Dawkins para niños
