Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
The Greatest Show on Earth cover art

The Greatest Show on Earth

By: Richard Dawkins
Narrated by: Richard Dawkins,Lalla Ward
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Selfish Gene cover art
The Blind Watchmaker cover art
Flights of Fancy cover art
Books Do Furnish a Life cover art
Cosmos cover art
Endless Forms Most Beautiful cover art
Evolution: Bolinda Beginner Guides cover art
Guns, Germs and Steel cover art
Assholes: A Theory of Donald Trump cover art
Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism cover art
The Better Angels of Our Nature cover art
Undeniable cover art
The History of Life cover art
Bring Back the King cover art
I, Mammal cover art
The Case for a Creator cover art

Summary

Charles Darwin's masterpiece, On the Origin of Species, shook society to its core on publication in 1859. Darwin was only too aware of the storm his theory of evolution would provoke but he would surely have raised an incredulous eyebrow at the controversy still raging a century and a half later. Evolution is accepted as scientific fact by all reputable scientists and indeed theologians, yet millions of people continue to question its veracity.

In The Greatest Show on Earth, Richard Dawkins takes on creationists, including followers of 'Intelligent Design' and all those who question the fact of evolution through natural selection.

Like a detective arriving on the scene of a crime, he sifts through fascinating layers of scientific facts and disciplines to build a cast-iron case: from the living examples of natural selection in birds and insects; the 'time clocks' of trees and radioactive dating that calibrate a timescale for evolution; the fossil record and the traces of our earliest ancestors; to confirmation from molecular biology and genetics. All of this, and much more, bears witness to the truth of evolution.

The Greatest Show on Earth comes at a critical time: systematic opposition to the fact of evolution is now flourishing as never before, especially in America. In Britain and elsewhere in the world, teachers witness insidious attempts to undermine the status of science in their classrooms. Richard Dawkins provides unequivocal evidence that boldly and comprehensively rebuts such nonsense. At the same time he shares with us his palpable love of the natural world and the essential role that science plays in its interpretation. Written with elegance, wit and passion, it is hard-hitting, absorbing and totally convincing.

©2009 Richard Dawkins (P)2009 Random House Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"If Charles Darwin walked into a 21st-century bookstore and wanted to know how his theory had fared, this is the book he should pick up. Dawkins remains a superb translator of complex scientific concepts....he has a way of making the drollest details feel like a revelation." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about The Greatest Show on Earth

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    307
  • 4 Stars
    56
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    7
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    255
  • 4 Stars
    41
  • 3 Stars
    9
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    243
  • 4 Stars
    48
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    5

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Great Book, well read but no diagrams!

This is a detailed account of evolution, presenting the evidence to support the reality that evolution is a fact not a 'theory', and presented in Richard Dawkins' usual passionate style. In the foreword, a set of diagrams that should be downloaded to accompany the audio and referred to, is mentioned but these are nowhere to be found! The book would have been five stars but the audio is only three because such a detailed account depends on having diagrams to refer to. Therefore buy the printed book if you want the complete information.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Simple and elegantly written

Really enjoyed the listen - not the best for passing a commute if you are prone to get distracted (needs decent level of attention). Well written and a great book o give anyone who disputes the 'theorum' of evolution.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

EVOLUTION in a Nutshell

An unequivocally thorough and compelling explanation of Evolution - anyone who questions the logic and more importantly the Science of evolution after listening to this - isn’t listening.....

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant as always

Another good book by Mr Dawkins, a great and educational listen. Highly recommended, especially as a night time listen as I used it for.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Joy to listen to

Superb narration from Richard and Lalla.

Here is a book from an author that knows his stuff.

I found a second listening was needed to clear up some points I didn't quite understand first time around.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Comprehensive and accessible

As an enthusiast but ignorant student of evolution, Dawkins has been my constant companion in a journey towards increasing knowledge and confidence about the origins of our world. Terrific to listen to him and Lalla Ward narrate this book with consummate ease.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I wish everyone would read this

A great book that is very good at getting the point across. I just which everyone could be aware of its content and message.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

the greatest show on earth

Well worth listening to and it has some snippets of awe-inspiring delight, such as Belyaev's Silver fox experiments or Lenski's E. Coli research. Both of which have truly jaw-dropping conclusions. Remember to download the pdfs that accompany the audiobook.
My only problem is Dawkins irritating method of illustrating complex points with stories. This, in itself is a useful way of making a point, but its the way he does it. He gives you the parameters of the story, tells the story, and then tells you that the parameters he used to illustrate his point to begin with are not consistent with the point he was trying make in the first place. It made me giggle more than once, but don't let that take too much away from what is a very pleasurable listen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great book, terrible release

Someone in the production team thought it a good idea to make the chapters of the audiobook be about 1h 20m long and this is what they are. As a result, the chapters of the audiobook have nothing to do with the chapters of the book. If you want to go to, say, chapter 3, tough! You'll just have to scroll and seek across the chapters of the audiobook until maybe by chance you'll run into the narrators announcing the beginning of chapter 3, maybe somewhere at the end of audio chapter 1, maybe beginning or end of audio chapter 2, who knows?
Whoever made that decision in the production team should be fired.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

THANKS

Never really understood evolution,but this and other books Mr Dawkins has written has given me the real true meaning of life.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!