An Appetite for Wonder

Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins tells the story of his early life in the first volume of his memoir, from a childhood in colonial Africa with parents who were keen naturalists, through boarding school in England, to his studies in the University of Oxford's Zoology Department. The volume covers his youth and early career up until he wrote The Selfish Gene, and traces the influences that drew him to science, including relatives who were accomplished scientists. Brief Candle in the Dark, the second volume, tells the rest of his life. Reviews were mixed, ranging from warm to sharply critical.

Neil deGrasse Tyson counts Dawkins among his intellectual heroes and wanted to read the story of how he came to be.