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The Blind Watchmaker (Paperback)

by Richard Dawkins (Author) "We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe ..." (more)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (84 customer reviews)
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The Blind Watchmaker + The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary edition + The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution
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Product details

  • Paperback: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin; New ed edition (6 April 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0141026162
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141026169
  • Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (84 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 2,994 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #6 in  Books > Science & Nature > Biological Sciences > Evolution
    #23 in  Books > Science & Nature > Biological Sciences > Human Biology
    #23 in  Books > Science & Nature > Biological Sciences > Education > Higher Education

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Richard Dawkins is not a shy man. Edward Larson's research shows that most scientists today are not formally religious, but Dawkins is an in-your-face atheist:

I want to persuade the reader, not just that the Darwinian world-view happens to be true, but that it is the only known theory that could, in principle, solve the mystery of our existence.

The title of this 1986 work, Dawkins's second book, refers to the Rev. William Paley's 1802 work, Natural Theology, which argued that just as finding a watch would lead you to conclude that a watchmaker must exist, the complexity of living organisms proves that a Creator exists.

Not so, says Dawkins: "All appearances to the contrary, the only watchmaker in nature is the blind forces of physics, albeit deployed in a very special way...it is the blind watchmaker".

Dawkins is a hard-core scientist: he doesn't just tell you what is so, he shows you how to find out for yourself. For this book, he wrote Biomorph, one of the first artificial life programs. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.



Product Description

Acclaimed as the most influential work on evolution written in the last hundred years, The Blind Watchmaker offers an inspiring and accessible introduction to one of the most important scientific discoveries of all time. A brilliant and controversial book which demonstrates that evolution by natural selection - the unconscious, automatic, blind yet essentially non-random process discovered by Darwin - is the only answer to the biggest question of all: why do we exist?
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Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

84 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (84 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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87 of 89 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A brain-opener, but entertaining, 20 Aug 2007
By L. Scholey "Zebedee" (Ireland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I read this, as many others may have done because I was interested by 'The God Delusion' and wanted to delve a little deeper into Dawkins impressive thought processes. While 'The God Delusion' is much in the limeight and undoubtedly opening up discussion on the issues involved, this book is of an entirely different calibre.

I found 'The God Delusion' well argued but too inclined to go off on tangents. I also thought it was too busy dissecting other arguments to put across its own argument in a clear and coherent fashion.

This book is entirely different in that its cogency and clarity are unfailing throughout. It is much less self-conscious (or media conscious?) and more satisfying and thought provoking as a result. Perhaps it is because I knew less of the subject matter before coming to it, but I found it entertaining, readable and accessible to the lay reader at all times, and yet never condescending or over-simplified in content.

Here is a rare writer who is not only quite obviously an exceptional thinker in his own field but has the communicative skill to make that field understandable, entertaining and fascinating to the general reader.

Forget 'The God Delusion' and read this, as it is to me infinitely better written and more absorbing. I now look forward to reading more of Dawkins work, and understand the intellectual and critical acclaim he has received.
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79 of 84 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A complete answer to Darwin's critics, 23 April 2000
This review is from: The Blind Watchmaker (Paperback)
The very best whodunnits stand or fall by last page. On that page the author explains not only who dunnit, but how and why. When you read the how you should not be left thinking that your own idea was just as good. Once explained, it should be completely obvious. The intelligent reader should be left slapping his or her forehead and exclaiming "how did I miss that?".

Dawkins's explanation of evolution is just as complete. His entire book has the beauty of an explanation that slots together perfectly. Dawkins shows that natural selection not only explains every aspect of life but renders other explanations unnecessary. Any additions to the theory add more questions than answers. I particularly reveled in Dawkins's explanation of the evolutionary reasons why some people find evolution hard to accept...

At no point does Dawkins, or Darwin, suggest that evolution is explained by blind chance.

Dawkins conclusively shows that in every case life has evolved by natural selection. The examples produced by the most supersitious critics of Darwin, such as the eye and the human brain, are picked up and explained totally by Dawkins. Every organ that exists in nature is one that is capable of evolving by simple steps, every one of which bestows clear advantages. At every stage from a cluster of light sensitive cells to a fully functioning eye we have an easily understood process. By contrast, organs or limbs which could not have evolved, such as wheels, at least on land animals, do not exist. We are left with two possible explanations: evolution by natural selection or intelligent design by a designer who has deliberately chosen to disguise his work as evolution by natural selection.

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49 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Life changing, 8 Jul 2007
Richard Dawkins's brilliant explanation of the theories of Charles Darwin is must-reading for anyone interested in the origin and diversity of life.

I picked this up after reading that Douglas Adams (author of "The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy") credited this book with confirming his atheism and filling out his understanding of Darwinism. There certainly is not much left for a deity to do by the time Dawkins finishes explaining the story of life as we know it.

There are a number of mind-blowing concepts discussed in the book, such as Dawkins's discussion of probability. Dawkins writes that our perception of probablity is necessarily limited by the fact that we only live for a few decades. If we lived for say, half a million years, we would probably avoid crossing streets (if you crossed the street every day for half a million years, you would consider getting struck by a conveyance as a likely outcome.)

I have to agree with some reviewers that the prose was a bit tough to get through in places, but I still had to give this book five stars for its overall impact. I will never look at the world the same again.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The complete argument for evolution
If you are interested in the complete argument for Evolution this is for you. Be ready to read a few pages at a time since the discussion is very deep. Read more
Published 26 days ago by B. Hudson

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, readable overview of how evolution works
In this, the second of Dawkins' popularisations of evolutionary biology, he primarily addresses the so-called "Argument from Design". Read more
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5.0 out of 5 stars The biggest eye opening experience
I read this book over a year ago and again after that. I was so taken aback by the implication of the book as well as the lucid and clear writing style that I have to go back to... Read more
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2.0 out of 5 stars Tediously repetitive. Dawkins can do much better
I was surprised when I realised that I hadn't actually read this. I wish I still hadn't. It is tediously repetitive - for example, at the beginning of chapter 10 he says " This... Read more
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5.0 out of 5 stars The Secret of Life
In this rightly called classic book, Richard Dawkins unveils nothing less than the
Secret of life, the principle that encompasses all forms of living things, human, animal,... Read more
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5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent textbook of atheism
This covers many of the themes in Dawkins' later books,such as "The God Delusion",but in a much less polemical manner,and it's all the more enjoyable for that. Read more
Published 9 months ago by PygmyTwylyte

3.0 out of 5 stars Badly written and unbalanced
For me, this book was preaching to the converted - I have a good understanding of evolution and can't see how any reasonable scientist could argue with the position spelled out by... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Overseas Reviewer

5.0 out of 5 stars The Classic Explanation of Evolution
Back in the 18th or 19th Century, a man named William Paley came up with a very clever argument to prove the existance of god: Say you find a watch lying on the beach. Read more
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4.0 out of 5 stars Recommended to all Creationists
In The God Delusion, Dawkins notes that The Blind Watchmaker (and possibly The Selfish Gene) hadn't been written to attack religion, but had succeeded in converting many people... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Benjamin A'Lee

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