Richard Dawkins is an accomplished scientist and a fellow at Oxford. His accomplishments include his activity as a vocal atheist, considered within the New Atheist movement through which he hopes to weaken the effects of religious belief on the culture, a belief which he believes to be a destructive force on the minds of people.
This effort led to his book The God Delusion which assails theism, particularly conservative creationism, the belief that God created the world as it currently exists, without resorting to evolution. Although the main purpose of the book is to argue against that specific belief, it also argues against theism itself. Dawkins makes use of the argument about Darwinism and evolution to criticize theism.
The book has been enormously effective, selling millions of copies in over thirty languages. It communicates frustration with religious belief that resonated with many people, producing a class of people who regard themselves openly as atheists because of Dawkins arguments and his vocal criticism of religious belief.
The book, along with related projects by Dawkins, has proven to be polarizing, leading fellow atheists to vocally support the endeavor, like Hitchens, while others disagree on the accuracy of his logic, or like Higgs, agree substantially, but disagree with the strategy of vocal atheism.
