eShop USA > Books > The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary Edition--with a new Introduction by the Author
The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary Edition--with a new Introduction by the Author
List Price: $15.95Our Price: $10.85 You Save: $5.10 (32%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 576.5
EAN: 9780199291151
Edition: 3
ISBN: 0199291152
Label: Oxford University Press, USA
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 384
Publication Date: May 25, 2006
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Studio: Oxford University Press, USA
Related Items: Featured Listmania!
Editorial Review:
Inheriting the mantle of revolutionary biologist from Darwin, Watson, and Crick, Richard Dawkins forced an enormous change in the way we see ourselves and the world with the publication of The Selfish Gene. Suppose, instead of thinking about organisms using genes to reproduce themselves, as we had since Mendel's work was rediscovered, we turn it around and imagine that "our" genes build and maintain us in order to make more genes. That simple reversal seems to answer many puzzlers which had stumped scientists for years, and we haven't thought of evolution in the same way since.
Why are there miles and miles of "unused" DNA within each of our bodies? Why should a bee give up its own chance to reproduce to help raise her sisters and brothers? With a prophet's clarity, Dawkins told us the answers from the perspective of molecules competing for limited space and resources to produce more of their own kind. Drawing fascinating examples from every field of biology, he paved the way for a serious re-evaluation of evolution. He also introduced the concept of self-reproducing ideas, or memes, which (seemingly) use humans exclusively for their propagation. If we are puppets, he says, at least we can try to understand our strings. --Rob Lightner
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 30th anniversary edition of Dawkins' fascinating book retains all original material, including the two enlightening chapters added in the second edition. In a new Introduction the author presents his thoughts thirty years after the publication of his first and most famous book, while the inclusion of the two-page original Foreword by brilliant American scientist Robert Trivers shows the enthusiastic reaction of the scientific community at that time. This edition is a celebration of a remarkable exposition of evolutionary thought, a work that has been widely hailed for its stylistic brilliance and deep scientific insights, and that continues to stimulate whole new areas of research today.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - We have a genetic predisposition to act self interestedly? Who woulda thunk it?
Perhaps when this book first dropped 30 years ago as the blueprint for evolution it was considered radical. Today it's taken as a given that the primary motivating force for behavior has a genetic basis. This shift in attitude may be a direct result of the widespread influence of The Selfish Gene, but I wouldn't know. I wasn't around then. But this is a fine work to help everyone understand the core essence of human nature, and how we can use our superior capacity for reason to create a society of ... Read More
Rating:  - Shockingly Good
Very well written book. Anyone with no background in Biology will be able to understand this book without any trouble. Richard Dawkins also provides good evidences and detailed explanations throughout the book. If you are a religious person, beware that this book might shock you in several ways.
Rating: - The Selfish Gene
A mind blowing book. I read it 30 years ago and just re-read the slightly enhanced newer edition. Chapter 2, which introduces the idea that genes, not organisms, are the focus of evolution always gives me a feeling of awe, the closest I can come to a religious experience -- but, of course, Dawkins would not approve of that.
Some of the chapters could be heavy going to a casual reader, demanding quite a bit of thought to follow the arguments. Along the way there are some nice descriptions ... Read More
Rating: - Some people never get it.
After reading this book a while back, I really did not get the impression from it that many people got. Some became depressed because of it?! It just does not make any sense.
This book does not tell us that we are no more than automatons, or that we are no more than our genes, or that we live a purposeless life, doomed to live out whatever was programmed into us by our genetic code. Sure, there are some spectacular statements that Dawkins makes for effect, but if one reads the entire book, ... Read More
Rating:  - Blind theorizing
Dawkins writes that "the argument of this book is that we, and all other animals, are machines created by our genes" (p.xxi) and that "We are survival machines - robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes" (p.xxi). Yet, according to him, this book "is not science fiction; it is science" (p.xxi)!
Dawkins contrives to overlook the twin discoveries that:
1. the observable traits of organisms are mostly conditioned by the interactions of many genes; ... Read More
Related Categories:
| |
 |
