Unweaving the Rainbow This pleasure was not in spite of, but rather because he does not assume as cause the inexplicable actions of a deity but rather the understandable laws of nature. His starting point is John Keats' well-known, light-hearted accusation that Isaac Newton destroyed the poetry of the rainbow by 'reducing it to the prismatic colours.' Dawkins's agenda is to show the reader that science does not destroy, but rather discovers poetry in the patterns of nature. It is of little concern whether or not science can prove that the ultimate fate of the cosmos lacks purpose: we live our lives regardless
Rainbow or several narrow, faintly coloured bands can be seen bordering the violet edge of a rainbow; i.e., inside the primary bow or, much more rarely, outside the secondary. These extra bands are called "supernumerary rainbows" or "supernumerary bands"; together with the rainbow itself the phenomenon is also known as a "stacker rainbow". The supernumerary bows are slightly detached from the main bow, become successively fainter along with their distance from it, and have pastel colours (consisting mainly of pink, purple and green hues) rather than the usual spectrum pattern. The effect becomes apparent when water droplets are involved that have