The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary Edition--with a new Introduction by the Author | 
| Author: Richard Dawkins
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  276 reviews
Sales Rank: 924
Media: Paperback
Edition: 3
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 0.9
ISBN: 0199291152
Dewey Decimal Number: 576.5
EAN: 9780199291151
ASIN: 0199291152
Publication Date: May 25, 2006
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Condition: *New Book From Independent Bookstore With Many Best Of Awards During Past 25 Years. We recommend EXPEDITED Shipping option selection for 2 to 6 business day delivery time ; as STANDARD media mail i
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Amazon.com
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
Product 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 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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 271 more reviews...
 Great quality, on time, great purchase! May 8, 2008
Book is of great quality and I received it on time. Have yet to read through the book itself, but it looks like everything else was perfect. Thanks!
If a book can and should change your life, this is that book May 3, 2008
I bought this book for my wife, who as a Zoology major had once been told by a Professor that this book was essential reading. While the book lay on the shelf, waiting for her attention, I felt sympathetic and decided to give it a read. This book, quite simply, changed my life like no other piece of literature, music or art (barring perhaps the Beatles) did.
If you have not been exposed to the beauty of biology, or if you are wondering somewhere at the back of your mind why some species are the way they are and do the things they do, this book will blow your mind. It will make you fit pieces together and dare I say, make you think about religion and God differently. The God Delusion is getting a lot of attention lately, but really, reading the selfish gene puts all the dots on the map of your brain. All you have to do is connect them and you will have the answers to your questions.
Read this book as soon as you can. You owe it to yourself.
It could be the most important text you've ever laid eyes on... April 13, 2008
The Selfish Gene completely recast my view of the biological world and rightly so. Natural selection on the gene level synthesizes everything we know about biology with more logic and form than other competing evolutionary viewpoints (specie selection, group selection). Dawkins will bedazzle you with systematic application of "selfish gene theory" to actual phenomenon observed in the biological realm. Then, he offers up the explanation provided by opposing theories. But these opposing viewpoints feel so subjective, silly, and stupid in the light of gene selection. You may never be able to take another group-selection biologist serious after The Selfish Gene.
Anyway, the core idea behind this book says that the replicator molecule the central point and cause of all biological phenomenon. He makes a great case for that. And assuming that's true, there are plenty of philosophical assertions to be made about life's constituentss. You may even derive a meaning of life out of this text although it's not what those who are spiritual and theistic have claimed it to be. Truly, it robs them of credulity. But don't lament over that. Richard Dawkins shows us that evolution can be far more rich and complex than anything ever produced by theology.
 The Selfish Gene - Convoluted and dense March 26, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins. This is a treatise on natural selection at the gene or gene set level. I got it because I read his later book "Genome: autobiography of a species" and thought it fabulous - a better introduction to molecular biology /genetics /genomics than any text book available. This book was less. It was a fine academic work and, with some faults, rigorous and philosophically sound - but convoluted and dense. I think he established he knew the field in this book but did not become an Author until later. Unless you are a genetics groupie (and who isn't) skip this and buy and read Genome.
Enriching March 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Life on earth is a great puzzle which many people are trying to understand and solve. Theology has its own ideas and science has its own. Even if you don't agree 100% with everything in this book, I would recommend reading it to enlarge, provoke, think, contemplate on this great puzzle. May be, while reading it, you will arrive at the ultimate answer yourself and enlighten the rest of humanity.
Any intelligent undertaking at trying to solve this puzzle deserves respect, and this book is one of the best undertakings I have read so far.
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