> This August is the 150th anniversary of Darwin presenting his theory of
> evolution through natural selection to the Linnean Society of London, and
> this year is the 200th anniversary of his birth. There's lots going on to
> commemorate this, including a 4 part TV programme by Richard Dawkins, called
> Dawkins On Darwin. It starts on the 4th of August on Channel 4, and will not
> doubt be availabe for download following its broadcast.

> The Times has a great interview with Dawkins about the programme, where he
> makes numerous interesting points. Here's two...

> The first is about secular spirituality:

> "... there is almost a spiritual side to Dawkins, a childlike wonder and joy
> in the marvels of the universe. He talks about being moved almost to tears
> when he took his two-year-old daughter Juliet (his only child, from his
> marriage to Eve Barham), wrapped in blankets, out into the back garden in
> 1986 to see Halley's Comet in the night sky. Dawkins could barely see the
> comet, but, aware that he would never see it again in his lifetime, he
> whispered to Juliet that she might just see it when it passed again, when
> she was 78. He chokes up a little talking about it again, and it reminds me
> of the Ted Hughes poem *Full Moon and Little Frieda*, when Hughes's toddler
> daughter is in the garden in the evening and suddenly shouts "Moon, Moon" in
> the silence. It's not quite pagan worship, but "it's a fine example of
> secular spirituality", says Dawkins."

> And the other is about natural selection itself, which he says is "the most
> important idea to occur to the human mind" and that "in many ways it's weird
> that it's still being debated", but he also notes "it is not debated by
> anyone who knows anything about it."

> Interesting read:

> http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_...

> Ian