Flights of Fancy: Defying Gravity by Design and Evolution

by Richard Dawkins

Publisher:

Apollo

, 2021

Overview

Richard Dawkins on how nature and humans have learned to overcome the pull of gravity and take to the skies.

‘A masterly investigation of all aspects of flight, human and animal... A beautifully produced book that will appeal across age groups’ Alexander McCall Smith

‘Dawkins has always been an extraordinarily muscular, persuasive thinker. What feels new here is that he writes with such charm and warmth’ The Times

Have you ever dreamt you could fly? Or imagined what it would be like to glide and swoop through the sky like a bird? Do you let your mind soar to unknown, magical spaces? Richard Dawkins explores the wonder of flight: from the mythical Icarus, to the sadly extinct but spectacular bird Argentavis magnificens, from the Wright flyer and the 747, to the Tinkerbella fairyfly and the Peregrine falcon. But he also explores flights of the mind and escaping the everyday – through science, ideas and imagination. Fascinating and beautifully illustrated, this is a unique collaboration between one of the world’s leading scientists and a talented artist.

Key Features

Richard Dawkins is one of the world’s most eminent writers and thinkers; has 2.9 million followers on Twitter; and sold millions of copies of his previous books worldwide.
Lucid and accessible – the perfect gift for inquiring minds, particularly ages 11-16.
For 11+ readers.
MARKET: The Lost Words; David Attenborough.

Praise for Flights of Fancy

Richard Dawkins writes with admirable clarity and Jana Lenzova illustrates in much the same way... A masterly investigation of all aspects of flight, human and animal. This is a beautifully produced book that will appeal across age groups’

Dawkins writes with such an irresistible combination of mastery of the subject, delight in it, and vividness. A total pleasure

Dawkins’s prose feels as if it were cut with a laser ... Dawkins has always been an extraordinarily muscular, persuasive thinker. What feels new here is that he writes with such charm and warmth. Genial Uncle Richard, for me, is the most likeable Dawkins yet

He has made Darwinism cooler than it has any right to be

PRAISE FOR RICHARD DAWKINS:

‘Written with all the clarity and elegance of which Dawkins is a master. It should have a place in every school library – especially in the library of every ‘faith’ school’ Philip Pullman, on The God Delusion.

’One of the best non-fiction writers alive today’

Product Details

• Title: Flights of Fancy: Defying Gravity by Design and Evolution
• Author: Richard Dawkins
• Publisher: Apollo
• Print Publication Date: 2021
• Logos Release Date: 2024
• Pages: 304
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Ebook
• ISBNs: 9781838937874, 1838937870
• Resource ID: LLS:9781838937874
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2025-04-22T10:02:38Z

About Richard Dawkins

Richard Dawkins taught zoology at the University of California, Berkeley, and at Oxford University. He was the Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford until 2008, a position he founded in 1995. Among Dawkins’s books are The Ancestor’s Tale, The Selfish Gene, The Blind Watchmaker, Climbing Mount Improbable, Unweaving the Rainbow, and A Devil’s Chaplain. He lives in Oxford with his wife, actress and artist Lalla Ward.