Fun with Amazon rankings

Posted 13 January 2008 by PvM

Current Rank	7-Day Average	30-Day Average	90-Day Average	Lifetime Average	Best Rank	Worst Rank
31,981	28,459	21,442	21,442	21,442	4,539

Current Rank	7-Day Average	30-Day Average	90-Day Average	Lifetime Average	Best Rank	Worst Rank
112	235	1,229	6,869	13,117	166	79,226

Guess which one is which?

Top: Design of Life - Dembski and Wells
Bottom: God Delusion - Dawkins

And the funniest one

Current Rank	7-Day Average	30-Day Average	90-Day Average	Lifetime Average	Best Rank	Worst Rank
22,778	13,796	12,699	14,195	14,392	178	235,162

From So Simple a Beginning: Darwin’s Four Great Books (Voyage of the Beagle, The Origin of Species, The Descent of Man, The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals) by Charles Darwin

23 Comments

Michael J · 14 January 2008

The fact that Dawkin's book is still improving in rank after being available for awhile is interesting. What is the start date for Darwin's books?

PvM · 14 January 2008

Somewhere around 2005 when this one was published

Popper's Ghost · 14 January 2008

The fact that Dawkin’s book is still improving in rank after being available for awhile is interesting.

Its current rank is even better than its best rank ... that's a miracle!

Nigel D · 14 January 2008

Its current rank is even better than its best rank … that’s a miracle!
— Poppers Ghost

You're right. The FSM must have been interfering in its ranking! :-)

fusilier · 14 January 2008

Is this like bowling, where a high score is good, or like golf, where a low score is good?

fusilier
James 2:24

Ravilyn Sanders · 14 January 2008

The y axis range is very large. Is there a version of the plots with y axis in logarithmic scale?

I would like to believe these sales numbers show that ID is running out of steam. If that is really true , it won't be long before the campaign
managers pick it up in the polls and surveys. The Republicans would ratchet down the rhetoric and Dems would hawk their science support credentials. Things like the 12 Florida county resolution, Texas ed agency shenanigans of ousting Comers etc are just due to the phase lag
between shifts popular opinion and the recognition of the shift by the politicans.

But I could be reading too much in the info. May be most rubes taken in by ID are not much of readers or book buyers. Even when they buy books, they are likely to go to a local bookstore instead of Amazon.

Still, many many journalists must be buying and reading the books by Dawkins, Dennett and such authors and the journalists would eventually see how patently unfair it is to give equal time to evolution and creationism for "balance" and NPOV.

fusilier,
Ranks are usually like golf scores. Rank 1 means best selling book. Dawkins' rank of 112 means there are just 111 books that sell better than TGD.

D P Robin · 14 January 2008

fusilier: Is this like bowling, where a high score is good, or like golf, where a low score is good? fusilier James 2:24

A quick look at the chart should tell you that. Since "From So Simple a Beginning: Darwin’s Four Great Books" lists the best rating as 178 and the worst as 235,162, the answer is obvious. As important as that, of course, is the trend. Better to start high and trend low than the reverse, as that shows increasing interest for the title (Of course, best is to start low and stay there, but Hey, we're not talking about Harry Potter, after all!!!). Also, the longer the title stays with a low rank, the better--shows the title has enduring interest. Should you need clarification on other points, feel free to mention it. DPR Luther thought James should be booted from the canon

heddle · 14 January 2008

D P Robin

Luther thought James should be booted from the canon

A misconception. Luther had a preface where he called it an epistle of straw compared to the canonical gospels. He later retracted that statement from the preface of his translated bibles. Also, there is documented evidence of his preaching from James.

D P Robin · 14 January 2008

heddle: D P Robin
Luther thought James should be booted from the canon
A misconception. Luther had a preface where he called it an epistle of straw compared to the canonical gospels. He later retracted that statement from the preface of his translated bibles. Also, there is documented evidence of his preaching from James.

My mistake, but I think it would not be too much to say that Luther was no great fan of that epistle. Still nice to know his views evolved. DPR

HDX · 14 January 2008

He's leaving out a few more quotes from Luther The epistle of James gives us much trouble, for the Papists embrace it alone and leave out all the rest...Accordingly, if they will not admit my interpretations, then I shall make rubble also of it. I almost feel like throwing Jimmy into the stove, as the priest in Kalenberg did. (Luther's Works 34, 317) We should throw the epistle of James out of this school [i.e. Wittenburg], for it doesn't amount to much. It contains not a syllable about Christ. Not once does it mention Christ, except at the beginning. I maintain that some Jew wrote it who probably heard about Christian people but never encountered any. Since he heard that Christians place great weight on faith in Christ, he thought, 'Wait a moment! I'll oppose them and urge works alone.' This he did. (Luther's Works 54, 424) (copied from http://cantuar.blogspot.com/2006/02/chasing-down-luther-quotes-about-james.html)

D P Robin:
heddle: D P Robin
Luther thought James should be booted from the canon
A misconception. Luther had a preface where he called it an epistle of straw compared to the canonical gospels. He later retracted that statement from the preface of his translated bibles. Also, there is documented evidence of his preaching from James.
My mistake, but I think it would not be too much to say that Luther was no great fan of that epistle. Still nice to know his views evolved. DPR

Pete Dunkelberg · 14 January 2008

So, a lot of people got Dawkins for Christmas. Will sales be great on 2008?

Frank J · 14 January 2008

To be fair you need to subtract the copy of Dawkins' book that the DI bought in order to mine quotes.

Stacy S. · 14 January 2008

Dawkins for Christmas??

boom · 14 January 2008

What a marvelous thought - that IDers purchased science books just to quote-mine them. Do they buy them to burn them, too?

fusilier · 15 January 2008

Ravylin Sanders, DPR, and heddle:

Thank you.

DPR and heddle:

Why yes, I am a Papist, peri-Vatican II, to be exact. My Beloved and Darling Wife is the Lutheran, LCMS. I chose my sig because Maccabees seems be too subtle for most fundies, and nobody understands Tobit. Certainly I don't.

fusilier
James 2:24

J Poole · 15 January 2008

I don't find it at all strange that some atheists celebrate Christmas. We even set up a manger by the tree. It's a charming tradition that we have observed since childhood.

Divalent · 15 January 2008

The start of the God Delusion run up corresponds to the release of the UK paperback version back in Oct. (You can also pre-order the US pb version now). Probably shows there are a lot of cheap skeptics out there :)

Ravilyn Sanders · 16 January 2008

Divalent: Probably shows there are a lot of cheap skeptics out there :)

The anti-science group seems to be well organized at local levels and they seem to take a particular dislike for RDawkins. May be they quietly work to keep TGD out of the public libraries. And these cheapskates who would have read them for free in the library are forced to buy it in the market. Thus the sales rank went up. Talk about unintended consequences.

Dolly Sheriff · 16 January 2008

While we are quoting scripture, these amazon ratings seem to confirm Matthew 7 : 13-14:

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Kind regards

Dolly

GuyeFaux · 16 January 2008

While we are quoting scripture, these amazon ratings seem to confirm Matthew 7 : 13-14:

The implication seems to be that those people who purchased Design of Life have found the small gate and narrow road that leads to "life". Firstly, you didn't get the memo: ID has nothing to do with religion, no sir. Secondly, didn't you know that ID was bad science and possibly worse theology since it obviates faith?

David Buller · 16 January 2008

Dolly Sheriff: While we are quoting scripture, these amazon ratings seem to confirm Matthew 7 : 13-14: "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Kind regards Dolly

A couple of comments. As a Christian, I recognize that you must simply accept what Scripture is really talking about and not try to read into it what you want it to say. Matthew 7 was referring to Christianity, not science. Are we to ignore all popular scientific discoveries? (In a similar vein we shouldn't be reading science into Genesis either; it's not a scientific account of creation to be compared or contrasted with evolution.) GuyeFuax is right; ID is very bad for theology. The Biblical stresses God's actions within "normal providence," i.e., the normal natural world -- in this case evolution. Not in scientifically fanciful "gaps."

John Kwok · 23 January 2008

I think it is absolutely hysterical how Dembski and his fellow intellectually-challenged pals over at Uncommon Descent have bragged about how much an Amazon.com "bestseller" "Design of Life" is. Sounds like a potential "Saturday Night Live" skit, presided over by Dana Carvey's "The Church Lady". Doesn't it?

Cheers,

John

Dolly Sheriff · 25 January 2008

David Butler, go back and read "The God Delusion" again. If this isn't the wide gate that leads to destruction, I dont know what is! And this book, by no stretch of the imagination can be called science.