The Genius of Charles Darwin
The Genius of Charles Darwin | |
---|---|
Written by | Richard Dawkins |
Directed by | Russell Barnes, Dan Hillman |
Starring | Richard Dawkins |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producers | Russell Barnes, Dan Hillman, IWC Media |
Editor | Matt Platts-Mills |
Running time | 138 minutes |
Original release | |
Release | 4 August 18 August 2008 | –
The Genius of Charles Darwin is a three-part television documentary, written and presented by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins.
It was first shown in August 2008 on Channel 4.[1] It won Best TV Documentary Series 2008 at the British Broadcast Awards in January 2009.[2]
Part 1: Life, Darwin & Everything
In the first episode Richard Dawkins explains the basic mechanisms of natural selection, and tells the story of how Charles Darwin developed his theory.
He teaches a year 11 science class about
Dawkins also visits the place of his birth,
Part 2: The Fifth Ape
In the second episode Richard Dawkins deals with some of the
Dawkins starts out in
Dawkins discusses social Darwinism and eugenics, explaining how these are not versions of natural selection, and that "Darwin has been wrongly tainted".
He then meets with
Dawkins talks with Dutch
Part 3: God Strikes Back
In the third and final episode, Dawkins explains why Darwin's theory is one of history's most controversial ideas.[6]
Dawkins uses this episode to discuss the opposition that evolution has experienced since it was first discovered. He starts by approaching various anti-evolutionists, ranging from John Mackay from Creation Research,
Dawkins last interview is with the philosopher Daniel Dennett. They discuss whether Darwinism deprives people of consolation.
Dawkins also describes Darwin's personal loss of faith, based not only on the natural mechanisms he saw, but also on the cruelty in the world which seemed to deny a loving God, in particular the loss of his daughter Annie. While Dawkins does address the bleakness of the Darwinian view, he spends the last part of this episode describing how Darwin and he himself address it, ending by saying:
In the perspective of the universe, the vastness of the universe and of geological time, we are insignificant. Some people find the thought disturbing, even frightening. Like Darwin, I find the reality thrilling.
References
- ^ The Genius of Charles Darwin FameLab, channel4.com
- ^ Broadcast Awards 2009[permanent dead link] Broadcast Awards 2009, broadcastawards.co.uk
- ^ a b Series overview - Episode 1 channel4.com
- ^ Series overview - Episode 2 channel4.com
- ^ Mike Pflanz, Evangelicals urge museum to hide man's ancestors telegraph.co.uk
- ^ Series overview - Episode 3 channel4.com
External links
- The Genius of Charles Darwin at IMDb