The Extended Phenotype: The Long Reach of the Gene (1982)

The Extended Phenotype is required reading for all those who, having read The Selfish Gene, found themself wanting a more detailed (or rather, more technical) explanation of the 'gene-eye-view' Darwinian model. As the author states from the outset, this is a work geared more toward the professional biologist or biology student than the lay public, however if you have an interest in the subject and are prepared to expend a not inconsiderable amount of cognitive effort, you should finish the book with a far greater understanding of the theory than before you started. Personally, I found the book more of a struggle than I had anticipated, and I doubt I have retained more than half of the contents; however, Dawkins' masterful use of language and beautiful prose style made it an altogether enjoyable struggle, if that's not too much of a contradiction.

At the risk of sounding patronising, I would like to offer any fellow layman thinking of reading this book the following advice: find yourself a copy of the 2008 OUP edition featuring a glossary as well as an afterword by Daniel Dennet. Read the afterword first (it is a very well-written overview of the book's contents) and familiarise yourself with the terms in the glossary before even starting the book. If you do this (I wish I had done) I think you will get far more out of the book than you otherwise might have done.

I couldn't really finish this book. I have read most of Dawkins' other stuff and am a huge fan of every other one. I really looked forward to this as the premise really intrigued me. However, it is an extremely difficult read. I feel pretty clued up on the subject of Dawkins' books, as much as the next layman anyway, but this is definitely aimed more towards science/biology academics/students.
Dawkins acknowledges this and provides a glossary at the back of the book but constantly referring to this, sometimes three times per page, made the book unreadable for me.
The rating I've given for this book does not reflect on it's undoubted brilliance if you are brainy enough to follow it. I'm sure for the academic/biology student it will be just fine!

Overall 3/5 - Not for the layman! ( )

This was the book that made me understand how genes work.
And what meant more to me: that evolution could explain anything I hate in my existence. At school the tree of evolution was taught, but nobody told me the difference between facts and apologetics; therefore I wasted lots of time to combat the latter.
Knowledge has been expanded since its first print, but the pattern is still valid.
And for a non-native speaker of English it is a textbook for language, too. ( )

Dawkin's follow up to the excellent (and for me, five-star rated) The Selfish Gene expands upon the idea of germ-line replicators and their consequential phenotypic effects. This book is less approachable than Selfish Gene for the lay person, but for those willing to put in the time and effort, the discussions of genetics and phenotypes are priceless and informative. Like all of Dawkins' books, his argument style is fantastic, explanatory, and often expansive enough to fully encompass a particularly controversial point.

The only reason I give for handing Extended Phenotype a four and one-half star rating (rather than a full five) is that Dawkins clearly expects a graduate-level biology education and prior exposure to lots of genetic research and argument for the reader to understand all of his specific counter-arguments and at times, his terminology. That said, this is a facinating extension of the selfish gene concept, one which should open the eyes of anyone who has the mental curiousity to read it. ( )

http://bactra.org/reviews/extended-phenotype/ ( )