Interesting ideas presented in this book from 30 years ago. Some of the ideas still seem very progressive and thought provoking. Rather than consider we are who we are because of our genes, and that our genes goal is to survive, Dawkins suggests that we do have the capability to use this information to act against the "survival" instinct and be conciously working on being altruistic, in turn, having others join us in that mission. Dawkins tries to bring this down to layman's terms, but some of the chapters are quite intense with vocabulary and explanation. If read a a class, many opportunities for discussion would be in order.

Richard Dawkins is probably best known these days for his writings about atheism and religion. No matter what you think of his take on that particular topic -- and I have rather complicated mixed feelings about it, myself -- it's a bit of a shame that this has come to overshadow his career as a writer of books on evolution so much. Because the man really does have a marvelous talent for explaining even the most complicated aspects of evolutionary biology in clear and comprehensible terms through the use of apt analogies and the careful construction of simple examples. This gene's-eye view of evolution, which pays particular attention to issues of self-interest and altruism, is certainly no exception. It's by no means the last word on the subject -- Dawkins doesn't for a second pretend that it is -- and since it was written in 1976, some of the details are doubtless a little dated now. (Dawkins' attempt to use a computer-based metaphor at one point is amusingly quaint now, if nothing else.) But there are good reasons why this has remained in print for three decades plus.

The version I have, by the way, is a 2004 reprint of the 1989 edition, which included two new chapters and a large number of excellent new endnotes correcting, clarifying, and expanding on the original text. Apparently there was also a new 30th anniversary edition in 2006, but other than a new introduction, I'm not sure what, if anything, was done to update it then. ( )

http://pixxiefishbooks.blogspot.com/2...

Why does Richard Dawkins get such a bad name? His name is constantly being bandied about, and now that I've finally read something of his, it's a bit unfair, I think. This is an exceptional book, and really cleared up a lot for me regarding genetic theories and evolution.

I think the thrust of the misunderstanding of Dawkins, at least in regard to this book, is that people misinterpret (whether purposely or not) what he means by a 'selfish gene'. He doesn't believe that any one particular gene, sitting inside my body right now, is so selfish that it will do whatever it can to perpetuate itself. We would have gone extinct long ago were that the case. Obviously there is a reason that life on earth is so varied. Rather, and I am sure I am oversimplifying it here to such a degree that Dawkins would probably no longer agree with me, genes act selfish on the class level. It is classes or groups of genes that are selfish, not individual ones. And because they are selfish, they try to find the best ways to perpetuate themselves, but at the macro- not micro-level, if that makes any sense.

It's a bit daunting at first, but once you get going, his style is clear, simple, and immensely readable. It's a complex subject, but he's not afraid to take time with it and give good, concrete examples of each point. Somewhat amusingly, since this particular edition is a 1989 update of the 1976 original, he has added extensive footnotes that counterpoint arguments that have been made against his theories. He also - and this is one of the marks of a good scholar - is quick to note where his theories have since been proven incorrect, and often takes a page or two or more to elaborate a different or a concurrent theory to replace the old, incorrect one. This is probably one of the more enjoyable books that I've read so far this year.

Brilliant science that reshapes the moral idea of the human being. ( )