Sorely needed.
How anyone can watch these DVDs and call Professor Dawkins arrogant is beyond me. The religious fanatics he interviews ... now there's arrogance for you, not to mention a kind of wilful ignorance which is terrifying to any rational human being.

The tireless work of Richard Dawkins to underline the value of evidence-based reality over groundless fantasy is of course sorely needed in times like these when gullibility and absence of reason are being increasingly held up as virtues. In these programs, the beauty of the natural world and, as a consequence, science, is inspirational, and the courage and determination on display here are a tribute to the human spirit.

Complaints? Well, some of the interviews feel a bit truncated (some of them are being made available in uncut form on various sites), and The Genius of Charles Darwin could have benefited from one more episode to round out the information on the theory of evolution, but these are minor quibbles. These shows raise awareness and curiosity in the rational viewer, and whet the appetite for learning more about natural science, and so I believe they fulfil their purpose admirably.

Inspired with a touch of arrogance
Richard Dawkins is a champion of reason. There can be no doubt about that. This series explores that and the folly of religion in real depth taking us to some very scary places to meet some very scary people. But these scary people are all 'children of God' and these scary places are places of worship.
In 'The Root of all Evil?' Prof Dawkins challenges the hypocrosy, contradiction and potential evils of fundamentalist religion and you want to cheer him on at every stage of confrontation he has. It is a truly thought provoking, unmissable expose of all the things we thought we knew about Christianity and God. If you have any religious leaning you may not like what you hear. If you are teetering on the edge, this will pull you back to a life of reason and sanity, and if you are an atheist, this will cement your chosen path.
But... and here is why I only gave it 4 stars...when you watch 'The Enemies of Reason' you might feel a twinge of annoyance at Prof Dawkins complete refusal to accept that there are some things we don't understand and just have to accept. Alternative therapy is his bug bear. He will not, under any circumstances agree that it has a place in modern society, and sadly comes down 1 star in my estimations when he shows a touch of arrogance bordering on contempt for anyone working in this field.
He makes very valid points and points that I wholeheartedly agree with, however has to accept that some homeopathic remedies work for some and not for others, and that just because there hasn't been clinical trials on say 'Rutagrav' (for joints) that it is rubbish. Well it works for me. I don't know why but it does, and aspirin has never, ever cured my headache. (Neither for that matter has a cough medicine ever cured my cough.)
I think what Prof Dawkins should realise is that people who turn to alternative medicine, have in most cases tried clinical medicine and failed. Alternative is the only place left for them.
To finish on a positive (those in the Forces will have heard of the poo sandwhich!)he rightly does pour scorn on the absurd alternative therapies of guardian angels, aura photographs, light christal therapies etc. The piece on spiritulism and talking to the dead is worth the price of the DVD alone, just to see the 'medium' squirming.
Get it, watch it, open your mind, change your outlook on life and recommend it to others.

Science and reason can only make sense
I can understand why some people struggle with what Richard Dawkins has had to say over the years. Lets face it the truth often hurts. It hurts even more when it demolishes a faithfully held unsubstantiated dogma.

All power to the fundamental principles of science and the resulting truth and facts that emerge from that scientific process.

Sadly I feel Richard is swimming against the tide of the most basic of human emotions which is to be all too excited by "impending disaster" and to clutch at comforting straws when fear takes over.

I can see exactly what he was getting at towards the end of the third part "The Genius of Charles Darwin". Who needs mumbo-jumbo when you start to grasp the sheer wondrous beauty of the the real universe and our real planet and it's real history

Well done Richard. Sorry about the objectionable zealots you quoted in your program.

Reason
Dawkins has often been accused of being arrogant. In these DVDs he shows that he's just the opposite. He is calm and courteous when confronting people who are promoters of unproven claims yet he is firm and unflinching in the face of nonsense. His commentary is not only rational but also poetic. More of these programmes instead of the commercial rubbish being dished out would make the world a better place. Highly recommended.

Great preogrammes, shame about the DVDs
Since all the preceding reviews are dated before the DVD set was released, I can only assume they're reviews of the TV broadcasts rather than of actual DVDs bought from Amazon. My copy of this boxed set suffers from a fault, which I can only assume is common to all copies: the highlighting on the navigation menus fails to appear when the discs are played in a DVD player, making it impossible to select chapters, programmes or sub-menus; the discs can only be watched straight through from beginning to end, unless one indulges in an excessive and frustrating amount of guesswork and click-counting when attempting to select menu items.

Perhaps this is some kind of brain-teaser to ensure that only those deemed worthy by dint of their puzzle-solving ability are allowed to hear the hallowed Word? Or conversely, perhaps the authoring house has inadvertently employed an undercover creationist, bent on anti-Dawkinsian mischief... :-P

For some reason, though, the menus work as intended on my Apple Mac; I have yet to test them on a PC, and indeed should not have to.

In short, excellent programmes let down fatally by (apparently) sloppy DVD authoring. I shall be asking for a refund pending publication of better-authored discs. A great pity, as I can echo all the positive comments made above regarding the programmes themselves, and would dearly love a working copy of these disck for my collection. Dawkins, as usual, is rivetting and erudite.

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