Includes bibliographical references (p. [439]-454) and index.

Ch. 1. Only a theory? -- Ch. 2. Dogs, cows and cabbages -- Ch. 3. The primrose path to macro-evolution -- Ch. 4. Silence and slow time -- Ch. 5. Before our very eyes -- Ch. 6. Missing link? What do you mean, 'missing'? -- Ch. 7. Missing persons? Missing no longer -- Ch. 8. You did it yourself in nine months -- Ch. 9. The ark of the continents -- Ch. 10. The tree of cousinship -- Ch. 11. History written all over us -- Ch. 12. Arms races and 'evolutionary theodicy' -- Ch. 13. There is grandeur in this view of life -- Appendix. The history-deniers.

"In 1859 Charles Darwin's masterpiece, On the Origin of Species, shook society to its core. Darwin was only too aware of the storm his theory of evolution would provoke. But he surely would have raised an incredulous eyebrow at the controversy still raging a century and a half later. Evolution is accepted as scientific fact by all reputable scientists and indeed theologians, yet millions of people continue to question its veracity." "The Greatest Show on Earth is a counter-attack on advocates of "Intelligent Design," explaining the evidence for evolution while exposing the absurdities of the creationist "argument." Richard Dawkins sifts through rich layers of scientific evidence: from living examples of natural selection to clues in the fossil record; from natural clocks that mark the epochs wherein evolution ran its course to the intricacies of developing embryos; from plate tectonics to molecular genetics. Combining these elements and many more, he makes the airtight case that " we find ourselves perched on one tiny twig in the midst of a blossoming and flourishing tree of life and it is no accident, but the direct consequence of evolution by non-random selection.""--BOOK JACKET.