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.
...Continuavery very interesting view on the evolution, from the point of view of the small Dna fragments that survive if they manage to be transmitted to the next generations. A classic of science literature, deserving all its fame. Also the introduction of the concept of meme as cultural self-replicating object is interesting, even if probably not treated in a rigorous enough way
...ContinuaDon'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.
Credo nel '76 abbia aperto gli occhi a molti. Se volete farvi aprire gli occhi leggetelo anche voi! Cambiera' il modo in cui vedete gli animali, le piante e l'uomo stesso, insomma tutte le "survival machines" come le chiama Dawkins:
"They are in you and in me; they created us, body and mind...they have come a long way, those replicators. Now they go by the name of genes, and we are their survival machines [...]"
...Continua
