Charles Darwin published his work On the Origin of Species in 1859. By 1870, Darwin's theory of evolution was widely accepted as fact (van Wyhe, n.d.). This was not an easy task, Darwin was able to provide plenty of evidence during his voyage aboard the HMS Beagle, Darwin managed to implant an idea. This idea took root and developed into a profound science. The diffusion of ideas is at the very heart of civilization. Some ideas survive and thrive, while others wither and die on the vine. It was Richard Dawkins who pioneered the science behind the spread of ideas, and it is to him that those who rely on the spread of their ideas, like Jonathan Kozol, defer. Richard Dawkins is one of those men who will be talked about for many years to come. A Google search for this man yields countless results, with numerous posts created regarding Dawkins in the last thirty days. Of course, this is to be expected from a man with a Twitter account, who can recount his problems with hand luggage at the airport in an instant (Mangan, 2013). Dawkins was born in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1941. After receiving his doctorate from Berkeley in 1967, Dawkins was appointed assistant professor of zoology there. Dawkins' tenure at Berkeley was brief, however, as he eventually returned to his alma mater Oxford in 1970 as a fellow of New College (Richard Dawkins Biography, n.d.). Many academics attempt to move from academia to mainstream culture and fail; Dawkins succeeded in this regard. In 1976, Dawkins published his first book, The Selfish Gene, which was reprinted in later editions. Dawkins has since published numerous books and regularly lectures around the world. According to Dawkins, one of his greatest influences was Charles D...... middle of paper...... I Shall Not Die, although often proven to be a failure, is tried and tried again. With teachers thus chained to a specific curriculum, their students can only suffer. Kozol notes that No Child Left Behind's mandates and recommended scripts have led some teachers to use timers in their lessons. Kozol considers No Child Left Behind to be nothing more than an all-out war on education (Mediamouse.org, 2007). The term survival of the fittest applies not only to species, but also to ideas. Good ideas have the ability to spread and infiltrate the minds of many, a characteristic that some poorly conceived ideas can themselves use. Richard Dawkins has identified a new replicator in the world, the meme, a culture replicator. It is on this replicator that men like Jonathan Kozol rely. Because without the spread of ideas, Kozol's thoughts on educational reform would only be known to himself..