Richard Dawkins

Richard Dawkins

Former Professor for Public Understanding of Science, Oxford University

Elderly individual with white hair and a white shirt sits outdoors surrounded by lush green foliage.

Richard Dawkins was the inaugural Charles Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University. In addition to more than 60 scientific papers, he has published eighteen books, including the best-selling The Selfish Gene, The God Delusion, and The Blind Watchmaker. He has presented eleven documentaries on British TV and played a part in many more.

A praying mantis, a marvel of evolution, is gracefully perched on a white orchid flower against a black background.
Some biologists believe natural selection produces animals that are just good enough. Dawkins disagrees.
2mins
The famed author and public intellectual has a bone to pick with the American legal system.
2mins
Author, speaker, and public intellectual Richard Dawkins is a first-class debater on subjects as grand and reaching as the very existence (or lack thereof) of a master creator. But he's got a simple yet highly effective technique to win people over to see his point of view. Find out what it is right here.
4mins
Does religion help us survive? No more than moths thrive in flame, says Richard Dawkins.
3mins
Will A.I. take us over, and one day look back on this time period as the dawn of their civilization? Richard Dawkins posits an interesting idea, or at the very least a premise to a good science-fiction novel.
4mins
All science begins with a leap of intuition, says Richard Dawkins, but we can only ever find objective truths by knowing when to let evidence take over from emotion.
5mins
Do animals feel pain? Well, yes. Obviously. They may even feel pain a lot stronger than humans do.
5mins
Elitism has come under fire since the recent wave of populist politics. But when we don't listen to experts, we end up listening to politicians' lies, says Richard Dawkins.
4mins
Humans already know how to manipulate animal genomes through selective breeding, but there has been no appetite to try on humans what is the norm for dogs. That's a good thing, says Dawkins.
4mins
Richard Dawkins responds to the Alt-Right, Trump's policies, and discusses the evil potential of ideology.
34mins
Big Think sits down with the former Oxford professor and author of The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion.
1mins
Richard Dawkins sees the career of a scientist as a colorful and incredibly creative enterprise—akin, in many ways, to the highest poetry and most imaginative art.
Aside from Darwin, the famed biologist is also an admirer of Carl Sagan, Alfred Russell Wallace, and Shakespeare.
The challenges of running multiple foundations as well as a looming sense of inefficiency troubles the legendary scientist’s sleep.
3mins
Though Richard Dawkins has earned fame for explicating the human past, what currently excites him most in science is the prospect of a future where accessing one’s genetic information is […]
1mins
While many in the scientific community are excited at the prospect of battling aging, Richard Dawkins considers the idea foolish and a little presumptuous asking, are we really prepared to […]
2mins
From poetry and ballet to mathematics and being clever, life is laden with frivolous pursuits that hold no bearing on our ability to survive. Yet, insists Richard Dawkins, if it […]
2mins
The famed evolutionary biologist describes a world freed from the values of classical religion, highlighting the fundamental changes that would come about in morality, education, and scientific progress.
If we want to enhance our public debates and earnestly confront the looming issues of our day, the famed biologist believes that the first step is getting rid of unqualified […]
4mins
While science is indelibly distinct from the field of ethics, Richard Dawkins believes that there are a number of ways in which its facts and reasoning could greatly benefit our […]