Full Breakdown
From Faith to Humanism: Alice Roberts’ Intellectual Journey
8/22/2026, 6:13:19 AM
Early Reading and the Turn Toward Science
Alice Roberts recalls that her first books were the colourful “Village with Three Corners” series and Arnold Lobel’s *Frog and Toad* stories, which she later shared with her own children. As a teenager she was drawn to the works of Alan Garner, Susan Cooper and Rosemary Sutcliff, but the pivotal influence came from Richard Dawkins’s *The Selfish Gene*. The gene-centred view of evolution sparked a deep fascination with biology and, according to Roberts, set the stage for her later shift away from the Anglican faith she was raised in.
The Books That Redefined Belief
Roberts says that reading Dawkins’s *The Blind Watchmaker* convinced her that biological diversity could be explained entirely by natural processes, leaving no need for a divine creator. This led her to identify as a humanist, a term she only later learned to label herself. She also cites Stephen Jay Gould’s essays as a continuing source of inspiration. In adulthood, Roberts returned to classic science with Charles Darwin’s *On the Origin of Species*, praising its detailed narrative from familiar observations to novel concepts.
Writing as a New Medium
While working as a university academic, Roberts felt the need to complement her television series—such as *Don’t Die Young* on BBC Two—with material for a general audience. She therefore wrote her first book as a handout for the series, marking the start of her career as a writer of both nonfiction and fiction.
Current Projects and Ongoing Reading
Roberts now balances scholarly work on Roman religious festivals with popular reading. She has recently finished Val McDermid’s *Queen Macbeth* and Karen Hao’s *Empire of AI*, and she is listening to Otto English’s *Notorious* audiobook. Together with her teenage son she enjoys Liu Cixin’s *The Three-Body Problem*. She also helped compile *The Little Book of Humanism*, describing it as a collection of everyday humanist wisdom.
Why the Narrative Matters
Roberts’s story illustrates how a sequence of influential books can reshape personal worldview, moving from religious upbringing to a publicly articulated humanist stance. Her transition underscores the role of accessible scientific literature in fostering secular perspectives and highlights the broader cultural impact of authors like Dawkins and Gould on contemporary public intellectuals.
