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Jun 09, 2015 | ISBN 9780804168984 Buy
Jun 09, 2015 | ISBN 9780804168991 Buy
Jun 09, 2015 | 688 Minutes Buy
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Jun 09, 2015 | ISBN 9780804168984
Jun 09, 2015 | ISBN 9780804168991
Jun 09, 2015 | ISBN 9780804193672
688 Minutes
When Charles Darwin writes the wrong book and reverses the progress of science, Unseen University’s wizards must once again save Roundworld (Earth, that is) from an apocalyptic end. Ever since a wizardly experiment inadvertently brought about the creation of Roundworld, the wizard scholars of Unseen University have done their best to put things on the right course. In Darwin’s Watch they may face their greatest challenge yet: A man called Darwin has written a bestselling book called The Theology of the Species, and his theory of scientific design has been witlessly embraced by Victorian society. As a result, scientific progress has slowed to a crawl, and the wizards must find a way to change history back to the way it should have been. DARWIN’S WATCH EXPLORES THE REVERBERATIONS of major scientific advances on our planet and our culture, the dangers of obscurantism, and the theory of evolution as you have never seen it before. This brilliant addition to Pratchett’s beloved Discworld series illustrates with great wit and wisdom how the laws of our universe truly are stranger than fiction.
The wizards discover to their cost that it’s no easy task to change history.Roundworld is in trouble again, and this time it looks fatal. Having created it in the first place, the wizards of Unseen University feel vaguely responsible for its safety. They know the creatures that lived there escaped the impending Big Freeze by inventing the space elevator — they even intervened to rid the planet of a plague of elves, who attempted to divert humanity onto a different time track. But now it’s all gone wrong — Victorian England has stagnated and the pace of progress would embarrass a limping snail. Unless something drastic is done, there won’t be time for anyone to invent space flight, and the human race will be turned into ice-pops.Why, though, did history come adrift? Was it Sir Arthur Nightingale’s dismal book about natural selection? Or was it the devastating response by an obscure country vicar called Charles Darwin whose bestselling Theology of Species made it impossible to refute the divine design of living creatures?Can the God of Evolution come to humanity’s aid and ensure Darwin writes a very different book? And who stopped him writing it in the first place?
TERRY PRATCHETT is the acclaimed creator of the globally bestselling Discworld series, the first of which, The Color of Magic, was… More about Terry Pratchett
Ian Stewart is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick and won the Royal Society’s 1995 Michael Faraday Medal… More about Ian Stewart
Jack Cohen is a biologist and science writer and long-time collaborator of Ian Stewart’s.
“An irreverent but genuinely profound romp through the history and philosophy of science, cunningly disguised as a collection of funny stories about wizards and mobile luggage.” —Frontiers “[Pratchett alters] history with such brilliant effortlessness . . . it all gels into a cohesive and exciting whole — which demands to be both read and enjoyed. For anyone looking for something fresh or even more off the beaten path than Pratchett’s own ‘Discworld’ universe, one would be hard pressed to find a better pick than this.” —ScienceFiction.com
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