Detailed Summary

Packed with clever thought experiments, dazzling illustrations, and jaw-dropping facts, The Magic of Reality explains a stunningly wide range of natural phenomena. What is stuff made of? How old is the universe? Why do the continents look like disconnected pieces of a puzzle? What causes tsunamis? Why are there so many kinds of plants and animals? Who was the first man, or woman? This is a page-turning, graphic detective story that not only mines all the sciences for its clues but primes the reader to think like a scientist as well.

Filled with clever thought experiments and jaw-dropping facts, The Magic of Reality explains a stunningly wide range of natural phenomena: How old is the universe? Why do the continents look like disconnected pieces of a jigsaw puzzle? What causes tsunamis? Why are there so many kinds of plants and animals? Who was the first man, or woman?  In Magic, Dawkins does answer that questions, and does it in a way that I think will resonate with a whole new generation of young readers.

The Magic of Reality Key Points

The magic of reality can help you achieve your goals in life

We understand reality through science, and understanding science can yield enormous riches and lead to the deepest revelations. If you are not conversant in science, though, it helps to have a good book at your disposal, and there have been many written over the years. Bill Bryson’s ‘A Short History of Nearly Everything was a creditable effort, though it did not quite answer all the questions it set out to answer. In ‘The Magic of Reality Richard Dawkins has surpassed Bryson’s attempt, with a book aimed at children but that can be enjoyed by everyone.

“If every trace of any single religion were wiped out and nothing were passed on, it would never be created exactly that way again. There might be some other nonsense in its place, but not that exact nonsense. If all of science were wiped out, it would still be true and someone would find a way to figure it all out again.”

There is a special sort of magic that comes when one delves into the realm of science and finds out how the world works. But there is another sort of magic – the magic of taking something so familiar, so commonplace, and unraveling it for all its wonder to reveal. This week we take a journey into some of the most incredible things that we take for granted daily. With everything from the ancient origins of our calendars to the mathematics that can transform your life, you explore even more with this book: The Magic Of Reality.

Natural elements are created by stars, our sun included:

When you look at the periodic table of elements, most of us are familiar with the leftmost column of the periodic table (the lanthanides and actinides). Do you know about rows further to the right? But do you know how they are even created?

The answer is that they are created by stars, our sun included. When a star is born, it mostly consists of hydrogen and helium, the two simplest elements in the periodic table. Heavier elements like iron, our earth’s main component, are created when a star is dying. As the gigantic ball of gas that is a star fuses atoms under Its intense heat and pressure, the elements are formed inside of it. The forces of nature, especially gravity, create these different kinds of atoms. Atoms are everywhere, and if you could take all the atoms in every molecule in your body and put them in a huge pile, it would form a mountain taller than Mount Everest.

Black holes are formed as a result of supernovas. Explosions are created when a star dies. The remaining material collapses on itself as gravity takes control, creating incredibly dense objects with a gravitational pull so strong nothing can escape it in any direction. The force of gravity is so big that even light can’t escape. If you were to get close to one, you’d be torn apart before you saw it as your mass would be so great it would be pulled into it. To see one from even further away than the moon, however, doesn’t require any extraordinary means or technology. It requires patience and a really powerful telescope.

Take a step back and challenge your assumptions

We can’t say that we are always rational, though. You see, throughout history, people have attributed supernatural causes to earthquakes and eclipses. Even electricity was once believed to be something that you couldn’t see but could feel in the form of an evil presence. The thing is, we’re all prone to irrational thinking at times, so it’s important that we all ask questions and how our minds work to ensure we keep an open mind for the sake of being able to answer them.

The tendency to associate physical phenomena with the supernatural led people to believe that there must be some sort of god behind them. A lot of these phenomena had a god behind them. How else could you explain the fact that an immaculate virgin gave birth to the founder of the biggest religion in the world? When you think about it, the extraordinary is always followed by a mundane explanation.

When presented with something that seems unexplainable, follow these three simple steps:

1. Consider the possibility that you are witnessing something supernatural.
2. Realize that seeing something supernatural means that you are witnessing something beyond your understanding.
3. Accept that you will never know what it is.

If there seems to be no scientific explanation for something, see it as a challenge to find one! Electronic things used to be described as “elusive,” “vaporous” or “shadowy.” We didn’t understand electricity at first, so we couldn’t see it or touch it. Scientists noticed that when you rubbed a piece of amber against animal fur, it would attract tiny pieces of paper and become electrified. They soon realized this was because of static electricity – a form of electricity that occurs when certain kinds of materials rub against other kinds of materials. Static electricity can be very powerful, but it is still an effect of natural forces.

The Magic Of Reality Quotes

“Bad things, like good things don’t happen any more often than they ought to by chance. the universe has no mind, no feelings, and no personality, so it doesn’t do things to either hurt or please you. bad things happen because things happen.” Richard Dawkins

“The truth is more magical – in the best and most exciting sense of the word – than any myth or made-up mystery or miracle. Science has its magic: the magic of reality.” Richard Dawkins

The Magic Of Reality Review

The Magic Of Reality is a hands-on, engaging and educational book that teaches kids how the Earth works in a way that’s fun and easy for them to understand. The book goes into detail about how the world was formed and how life began; the types of rocks and their uses; the different types of forests and habitats; the actual size and shape of the Earth and its relation to the Sun; the different climates around the world and why they are as they are; and many more topics. Recommended.

To whom I would recommend The Magic Of Reality Summary?

• Anyone who is a social activist.
• Any political science student wants to know more about avoiding political agendas.
• Anyone wants to fight against a dangerous government.