The Lemming Watch

Fascinating Reading

I'm about three-quarters through one of the most fascinating books I've read in a long, long time. It is The Ancestor's Tale by Richard Dawkins. In the book, published in 2004, Dawkins takes us on a backward evolutionary journey from present time to the beginning of life more than two billion (with a b) years ago. Along the way, Dawkins entrtains us with tales of various human ancestor entities we meet as evolution unfolds in reverse order.

Dawkins, one of the world's top scientists and a professor of evolutionary genetics at Oxford, is a most entertaining and informative writer. The author of nine books, including such best sellers as The Blind Watchmaker and The Selfish Gene, and of the controversial The God Delusion, can make the most esoteric scientific concepts easily understood. He writes with clarity and humor; and The Ancestor's Tale is one of his best.

Happy Annivesary

This evening we will go out to dinner to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the publication of Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged.

We'll dine at Cannon's overlooking the harbor and shoreline at Dana Point. The view is spectacular--a fitting tribute to the magnificence of the book. Although criticized unmercifully on publication, Atlas Shrugged is today, 50 years later, still a best seller and ranks #117 among all books sold at Amazon.