Book and Movie Reports by Ed

Movie report: Gattaca Someday, Uma Thurman will appear in a movie where she doesn’t smirk. This isn’t that movie, but I had my hopes. For the first third of it, she is stern and suspicious of the main character, Vincent. She has good reason to be suspicious. The world of Gattaca, as with most good science fiction, is like our world, but with a twist. In this world, parents have the option of scanning their almost-conceived children for genetic defects, and correcting any problems, plus doing a genetic makeover to produce designer babies. This is sold to parents much as special day-care and pre-school is sold to parents today: don’t you want the best for your child, to give them the best start in life? Who can say no? Vincent (Ethan Hawke) is a child made the old-fashioned way, in the back seat of a car, without genetic upgrades. He has a heart condition that will limit his life, and he needs glasses. His younger brother, however, gets the full genetic treatment and is the family’

Book report: The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins Boy, do I miss Carl Sagan. In the good old days, if I wanted to read scathing indictments of religion, closely reasoned arguments against the existence of God, and a boost to atheism generally, all I had to do was reach out and read Sagan’s latest book. I was guaranteed to find fascinating insights, clever analysis, and impressive reasoning, all in his elegant and memorable style. Plus, the bonus of Sagan himself as a courtly and genial host. Now, all we have is Richard Dawkins and, believe me, it just ain’t the same. In reading The God Delusion, I find myself in a peculiar position. I am unquestionably Dawkins’s target audience. I’m reasonably intelligent, educated, and have a background in science and math. I tend to be analytical, critical, and skeptical about every other topic under the sun. I even believe in evolution. However, I do happen to know that God exists, for reasons that would not impress any other person, but that ar