Hooray! You have added the first book to your bookshelf. Check it out now!
[−]
  • Search Digit-count Valid ISBN Invalid ISBN Valid Barcode Invalid Barcode
Blog this item

The Selfish Gene

(Popular Science)

By Richard Dawkins

(171)

| Paperback | 9780192860927

Like The Selfish Gene?
Join aNobii to see if your friends read it, and discover similar books!

Sign up for free

Book Description

Richard Dawkins' brilliant reformulation of the theory of natural selection has the rare distinction of having provoked as much excitement and interest outside the scientific community as within it. His theories have helped change the whole nature of the study of social biology, and have
forced Continue

Richard Dawkins' brilliant reformulation of the theory of natural selection has the rare distinction of having provoked as much excitement and interest outside the scientific community as within it. His theories have helped change the whole nature of the study of social biology, and have
forced thousands of readers to rethink their beliefs about life.
In his internationally bestselling, now classic volume, The Selfish Gene, Dawkins explains how the selfish gene can also be a subtle gene. The world of the selfish gene revolves around savage competition, ruthless exploitation, and deceit, and yet, Dawkins argues, acts of apparent altruism do
exist in nature. Bees, for example, will commit suicide when they sting to protect the hive, and birds will risk their lives to warn the flock of an approaching hawk.
This revised edition of Dawkins' fascinating book contains two new chapters. One, entitled "Nice Guys Finish First," demonstrates how cooperation can evolve even in a basically selfish world. The other new chapter, entitled "The Long Reach of the Gene," which reflects the arguments presented
in Dawkins' The Extended Phenotype, clarifies the startling view that genes may reach outside the bodies in which they dwell and manipulate other individuals and even the world at large. Containing a wealth of remarkable new insights into the biological world, the second edition once again drives
home the fact that truth is stranger than fiction.

Critics

  • A good book and the Good Book

    These days, Richard Dawkins is so much a popular spokesman for enlightenment values, a voluble and unembarrassable critic of religious belief that it might be as well to remember what it was that gave him his public eminence in the first place. It’s ... (read full critics)

    spectator published on Fri, 17 Sep 2010

  • A good book and the Good Book

    These days, Richard Dawkins is so much a popular spokesman for enlightenment values, a voluble and unembarrassable critic of religious belief that it might be as well to remember what it was that gave him his public eminence in the first place. It’s ... (read full critics)

    spectator published on Mon, 13 Sep 2010

8 Reviews

Login or Sign Up to write a review

  • 2 people find this helpful

    Interesting even when wrong

    A thought provoking book, very well written, it does a great job of presenting some basic but interesting ideas in biology, genetics and game theory to the non-specialist. Let me put this straight: this is not a book about finding a gene that is responsible for selfishness or "inhumanity" (that's al ... (continue)

    A thought provoking book, very well written, it does a great job of presenting some basic but interesting ideas in biology, genetics and game theory to the non-specialist. Let me put this straight: this is not a book about finding a gene that is responsible for selfishness or "inhumanity" (that's already been done, just take Bush DNA in stock, and remember to take away the idiocy gene;) it is not a book about moral philosophy, it is not a book against religion and it won't make you feel better if you are an egoistic as*#*le. It is just a lively written exposition of the workings of evolution and the subtle interactions that living creatures have among themselves. The focus of the book is on shifting the idea of evolution from species evolution and individual animal evolution to gene evolution. To be true, at the elementary level the game of survival, mutation and evolution is played by the genes and not the organisms, and this is a very important and interesting idea to behold. Sometimes Dawkins gets a bit carried away by his "communicative genius" calling animal bodies "lumbering robots built by the genes" but at least he manages to catch the reader attention vey effectively. I personally don't understand his sectarian hostility towars group selection. To me, species, group, individual, kin and gene selection are all valid, they just tend to be the dominant force in different time/space domains. The only downside of the book is the smell of the petty disputes of the "specialists" in the field, which seemed to be quarreling more on words and way of seeing things than on real, sound, genuine ideas. This is the unmistakable sign of a stagnant field. I think that what makes some religious people snarl at this book is not its main idea (evolution is played at he gene level, and genes that are around today must have done well in diffusing at the expenses of others) but the very natural explanation it gives of selfishness and altruism (they help a single gene or a pool of similar or identical genes to survive and spread), something that religious people see as too "God-related" to be subject to biological explanations... Overall a a great book that will spark your interest in biology, genetics, ethology, sociobiology and even apparently unrelated fields like game theory.

    Is this helpful?

    The Teach said on Nov 3, 2009 | 1 feedback

  • 1 person find this helpful

    A Seminal And Challenging Text On The Nature Of Evolution

    How does one review one of the most influential books of the last century in the field of evolutionary biology? That it is a superb text on evolution is unquestioned. Anyone who reads this book will be enlightened as to the finer details of how evolution works and what it is. There is hardly a finer ... (continue)

    How does one review one of the most influential books of the last century in the field of evolutionary biology? That it is a superb text on evolution is unquestioned. Anyone who reads this book will be enlightened as to the finer details of how evolution works and what it is. There is hardly a finer book to teach one about evolution. If there is a single text you choose to learn about modern biology and the mechanisms of life, then look no further.

    So, allow me to point to one or two features of The Selfish Gene that especially impressed me. Much has been said about the "selfish" genes described by Dawkins. It caused a proper stir. It still does. Surely Dawkins was diminishing the value of people and life by emphasizing "selfish" genes? People were outraged at being chased from their special little place in the universe, much like the reaction in Darwin's own day. They apparently did not realize that selfish genes do not have to result in selfish people. This insight was a profound one for me and well worth the cover price.

    At the close of the book, Dawkins touches on the idea of Universal Darwinism. Evolution proceeds by replicators. The replicator (DNA in our case) is the most fundamental and powerful concept in the universe: after all it resulted in life. But Dawkins notes that DNA is no longer alone - there is another replicator on the block: the meme. Universal Darwinism proceeds via evolution but the replicator need not be a DNA molecule. Anything that replicates with variation - even ideas that transmit themselves from mind to mind like a meme - and has a competitive struggle for replication must inevitably result in evolution of some sort. Hence memes can explain the evolution of culture, and perhaps much, much more. Dawkins goes even further and asks whether there can be other sorts of replicators, too. What undreamed of wonders they might sculpt in our universe! I have a notion that this idea of Dawkins - almost an afterthought near the end of the book and itself a meme - could be his greatest contribution of all, a truly profound insight into the condition of the universe. We shall see.

    Is this helpful?

    Ramnagel said on Apr 28, 2009 | Add your feedback

  • Don't know why .... It is the second books from the same author that I have to abandon ... I did try hard to read on. But the topic did not touch me.

    Is this helpful?

    Waleswong said on Nov 5, 2010 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

  • Very interesting book and changed the way I thought about living things and biology. I wish I had read this earlier.

    Is this helpful?

    JAYSONHOOGY said on Feb 14, 2010 | Add your feedback

  • This is a really informative and thoughtful book on genes and evolution. The abundant examples that Dawkins gave are fascinating, and his proposed ideas are certainly food for thought, but I don't like his way of presenting them, which can sometimes be self-aggrandizing, as though he alone was clev ... (continue)

    This is a really informative and thoughtful book on genes and evolution. The abundant examples that Dawkins gave are fascinating, and his proposed ideas are certainly food for thought, but I don't like his way of presenting them, which can sometimes be self-aggrandizing, as though he alone was clever enough to perceive the truth.

    Is this helpful?

    Holmes said on Jan 1, 2010 | Add your feedback

Book Details

Improve data of this book

Margin notes of this book

Prices Change currency & sellers

ISBN Edition List Sale Seller
9780192860927 Paperback $16.95 -- The Book Depository
Other editions →
+ 2 copies tradable: →
Added to Shelf Added to Wish List

Inline Translation Mode

Left click to navigate, right click to translate.

inline translation guide

or close

Inline translation is not ready for this page yet.

Inline translation mode.

Share this page with your friends.

The viewport has not loaded.