Unweaving the Rainbow, Richard Dawkins

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Did Newton "unweave the rainbow" by reducing it to its prismatic colors, as Keats contended, and so diminish beauty? Far from it, says the author, an acclaimed scientist. He says Newton's unweaving is the key to much of modern astronomy and to the poetry of modern cosmology, in this tribute to scientific exploration.

A dazzling, passionate polemic against anti-science movements of all kinds. Keats accused Newton of destroying the poetry of the rainbow by explaining the origin of its colours. In this illuminating and provocative book, Richard Dawkins argues that Keats could not have been more mistaken, and shows how an understanding of science enhances our wonder of the world. He argues that mysteries do not lose their poetry because they are solved: the solution is often more beautiful than the puzzle, uncovering even deeper mysteries. Dawkins takes up the most important and compelling topics in modern science, from astronomy and genetics to language and virtual reality, combining them in a landmark statement on the human appetite for wonder.