Although outspoken as an atheist and debunker of faith, this is usually kept separate in his books: they are among the most
readable and
authoritative introductions to biology there are. They describe the facts and reasons of evolution, and mark his speculation out as such: he is always open to new ideas and revisions, and clearly states which parts of
evolutionary science are central tenets and which are
empirical. When
The Selfish Gene came out in 1976 it was at the forefront of a new way of thinking in biology, the dreaded and misunderstood
sociobiology: but what he explained there is now standard, mainstream orthodoxy among
biologists: which makes him a better introduction than
Stephen Jay Gould, who increasingly strays from the mainstream.
In one of the later chapters of Climbing Mount Improbable Dawkins tells the story of the herbivore that was bred to enjoy being killed and eaten, and which could tell people so clearly. The Hitchhiker's Guide is the first work listed in the index.
I could swear the Electric Monk occurs somewhere in Dawkins too but can't place it for now. It's the sort of thing that would appeal to him professionally. (Thanks, kaatunut) Yes, here it is in the endnotes to chapter 11 of The Selfish Gene, referring to the faith meme and how it can make the people it possesses blind to evidence.
Dawkins and Adams have been out to lunch together with Elaine Morgan, proponent of the Aquatic Ape Theory.
His wife is Lalla Ward, one of the two actors who played the Timelady Romana in Doctor Who. He was married first to the biologist Marion Stamp Dawkins, and had a second marriage which ended so acrimoniously he can't talk of it, but by whom he has a daughter Juliet.
His full name is Clinton Richard Dawkins, and he was born in Mombasa, in Kenya, in 1941. He is now Polanyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford.