Book description
In Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life Daniel C. Dennett argues that the theory of evolution can demystify the miracles of life without devaluing our most cherished beliefs.
From the moment it first appeared, Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection has been controversial: misrepresented, abused,…
Why read it?
3 authors picked Darwin's Dangerous Idea as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Easier to read than On the Origin of Species, this book connects Darwin’s overwhelmingly significant explanatory insight to the last fifty years of advance in our understanding of biology, psychology, social science, and the nature of the mind. Dennett is a brilliantly ingenious builder of images and metaphors that really enable you to grasp Darwin’s breakthrough, one at least as important as Newton’s and Einstein’s, but more relevant to understanding the meaning of life.
From Alex's list on for getting a grip on our reality.
This book is brilliant, engaging, riveting, provocative, and controversial. If you can handle all these then there should be nothing to stop you. Its power is its demonstration of how Darwin accomplished a scientific revolution, with his mind-blowing method of explaining the origins and evolution of highly complex systems, that are found in nature and elsewhere. Dennett explains the background and origins of Darwin’s ideas, and why they are so important and original. If you think that Darwinism is just about progression or change, then this book will show you why you are wrong. Dennett shows that Darwinism is about…
From Geoffrey's list on the seismic implications of Darwinism for social science.
Like Kant reading Hume, this book woke me up from my small-minded intellectual slumbers. Before this, I thought biology was basically just memorizing different parts of cells. Dennett opened my mind to the intricacies of evolutionary theory and did so with wit and elegance.
From Sam's list on the wonders of biology.
If you love Darwin's Dangerous Idea...
December on 5C4
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
Want books like Darwin's Dangerous Idea?
Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Darwin's Dangerous Idea.
Share your top 3 reads of 2025!
And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.
1,278
readers submitted
so far, will you?
📚 If you like Darwin's Dangerous Idea, you might also like...
The Bridge
The Bridge provides a compassionate and well researched window into the worlds of linear and circular thinking. A core pattern to the inner workings of these two thinking styles is revealed, and most importantly, insight into how to cross the distance between them. Some fascinating features emerged such as, circular…
And Then They Were Gone
Of the 918 Americans who died in the shocking murder-suicides of November 18, 1978, in the tiny South American country of Guyana, a third were under eighteen. More than half were in their twenties or younger.
The authors taught in a small high school in San Francisco where Reverend Jim…
