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The most helpful favourable review
The most helpful critical review
74 of 81 people found the following review helpful:
Richard Dawkins is a great teacher
As far as evolutionary biology's concerned I'm very interested, but nevertheless a layman. Richard Dawkins has however the rare ability to explain any scientifically difficult subject to practically everybody. His style is easy to read, very understandable, sometimes funny, and he uses very good examples to explain. Anybody having difficulties to understand evolution (and...
Published on 14 Oct 2006 by M. de Boer
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16 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
Compelling but at times problematic
A book for biologists, nature lovers and geneticists first and foremost. Non-Biologists can also find it accessible, but may get a little side tracked at times. Much of this book builds unsurprisingly on the theories of Darwin. There are chapters on Immortal coils, Gene Machines, Memes, Game theory and The Long Reach of The Gene. Aside from Memes, much of the book also...
Published on 31 Aug 2007 by TS
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74 of 81 people found the following review helpful:
Richard Dawkins is a great teacher, 14 Oct 2006
As far as evolutionary biology's concerned I'm very interested, but nevertheless a layman. Richard Dawkins has however the rare ability to explain any scientifically difficult subject to practically everybody. His style is easy to read, very understandable, sometimes funny, and he uses very good examples to explain. Anybody having difficulties to understand evolution (and there are many out there) should read Dawkins' The Selfish Gene. A very good book: convincing, informative, readable book.
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93 of 102 people found the following review helpful:
Fascinating, and an utterly compelling read, 28 Jun 2006
While you might expect Dawkins' classic to be terrifically interesting (and you'd be right), you'd probably expect it to be a bit of a slog. In this respect you'd be completely mistaken - it flows beautifully, and is seriously difficult to put down. And the whole way through you have the wonderful sense that you're being educated as well as entertained.
The book starts right from first principles, describing a plausible theory for the origin of life, and explaining how more and more complex molecules could have formed in the 'primaeval soup'. Eventually a molecule arose that could replicate itself, and life has never looked back. Dawkins goes on to define a gene, which turns out to be quite an important step (I thought I knew what the word meant already, but I was wrong), and relates how genes have indirect control over what he calls 'gene machines', i.e. living things. Subsequent chapters then detail various survival strategies, 'altruism' and how it can be explained genetically, tensions between sexes and generations, and a new replicator, the 'meme'.
One of the most fascinating aspects of the book is the way that Dawkins draws on game theory to assess mathematically the most sensible way for a gene machine to act. In particular, the sections on 'the Prisoner's Dilemma' (a specific game theory scenario which crops up all over the place in nature) are, to me at least, a radical new way of thinking of many problems in (human) life, and how we should approach them. It could have ramifications for politics, social policy, economics, and the environment, to name only a few. Like all the difficult concepts in this book, Dawkins explains this simply and thoroughly, and the reader never feels patronised. And if you ever feel a bit stuck, a captivating, and often extremely bizarre, illustration is selected from the animal kingdom to clarify the point. Dawkins is also refreshingly willing to state that certain aspects of this theory are +the truth+, a brave claim in our muddled, PC society.
I would therefore thoroughly recommend this book to the general reader. It's stuffed with hugely stimulating concepts (Dawkins' own 'meme', or replicating idea, is a paricularly rich one), and wonderful snapshots of the animal kingdom. Be warned though, it may take over your life for a while - personally I feel tempted to jack everything in and go and take a bilogy degree!
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81 of 90 people found the following review helpful:
an inspirational piece of work, 21 Oct 2006
This is a landmark piece of writing without any doubt. This was in fact the book that sparked a whole genre. Until the success of 'The Selfish Gene' popular science writing was spectacularly under-read. After this popular science sections became noticeable in every self-respecting bookshop.
The book itself tackles what in essence could be a very difficult subject (the level at which natural selection acts) but it articulates it so well. Many since have tried to contribute to the debate but none have the prose skills of Dawkins nor the ability to put over a difficult subject with the reader seeing it as outstandingly obvious and common sense. Dawkins also initiates the idea of the meme as a unit of cultural evolution here for the first time. In the long run this may turn out to be Dawkins biggest original contribution to science and it has spawned many books on the subject since.
I have a particular fondness for this book. It was having read this and 'The Blind Watchmaker' which sent me back to full-time education at the age of 29 to read Genetics and subsequently develop a career in science myself. Truly an inspirational piece of work - one of the outstanding books of the Twentieth Century.
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45 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
Absolutely Brilliant, 2 Feb 2006
This is a very well written, logical, and important book. Perfectly, understandable to those who have little or no familiarity with biology, yet captivating to those who do. I picked up this book for no other reason than its appealing title. Dawkins does not tie the reader up in jargon or fuzzy logic that makes other scientific books inaccessible to all but the experts. It remains one of my favourite books.I rarely write book reviews, but I was so impressed with the content (it literally is a gripping read all the way through). I’m only sorry they didn’t make us read this while I was at school.
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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
Selfish Gene Revisited, 31 Oct 2003
This is one of the great classics of science writing, and re-reading it again recently I was deeply impressed by its freshness, the quality of Dawkins logic, the engaging style, and the trenchant, confident approach to this aspect of genetics.This is a book to be read by any person, young or old, who wishes to learn more about biology. But it is also an important book of general interest which people with no particular scientific background should read. It is essential for a rounded, modern education.
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30 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
Brilliant Book, 7 Oct 2006
I was 14 when I read the book and to be honest was expecting a bit of a slog, having to re-read all the scientific bits again and again, but I was pleasently surprised. I couldn't put the book down. Dawkins writes wonderfully fluently and explains things wonderfully, I couldnt have asked for more. But what I found most interesting was that where other book leave questions unanswered, Dawkins goes one step further and left me with new questions (much deeper questions) forming in my head. This is, in my opinion, the best of Dawkins book and a must read whether you be theist, agnostic or atheist.
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47 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
Not for the closed-minded, 20 April 2001
I always find it best when a critic first outlines the platform upon which they stand. I'll do just that by saying I'm a 2nd year Zoology student, an avid follower and believer of evolutionary theory and an agnostic.Do these facts colour my views on "The Selfish Gene"? Yes, no one is completely objective, not even the fiercest of scientists (anyone who tells you they are doesn't understand that the observer is as much a part of the system as the observed). In my opinion, "The Selfish Gene" represents scientific writing (not just of the popular variety) at its finest. Richard Dawkins' fluid prose and vivid analogies illuminate the most complex of concepts. This is the perfect introductory text to evolutionary thought and I recommend it to lay and professional audiences alike. As a matter of note, unlike many of the reviewers on Amazon, I reserve 5 stars for the truly exceptional works - those that represent milestones in their genre and medium. I class this book as one. Dawkin's hard-line on evolution is not universally held in the field (many of his contempories label him an "Ultra-Darwinian") but the conviction with which he outlines his interpretation of Darwin's theory is intoxicating. Please understand (precious few do) that though many in the scientific community do not completely mirror Dawkins in their perception of evolution, they still believe in it. Too many when viewing the ranks of biologists mistake debate for dissension. There have been many people who have posed rather flimsy arguments against the claims this book makes. I implore that the prospective reader not be dismayed at any creationist criticisms that are slung against evolution; the same arguments have been repeated year after year for the last 140 since Darwin produced the masterly "The Origin of Species". They have all been effectively countered in the past and hold no water. Their constant recurrance has to do with the ignorance and stubborness of those who wield them; unlike the scientific camp which listens and constantly molds its views based on the validity of new evidence and arguments, that camp steadfastly sticks to their sandy ground. Richard Dawkins, like the great Stephen Jay Gould, teaches us that there is "a beauty in this view of life" (Darwin, 1959). Spirituality and science are not at odds, irrationality in the face of evidence is the foe, not religion. To those eager for more, I recommend "The Blind Watchmaker" by Richard Dawkins. This offers an equally well-written (unlike "The Extended Phenotype") and slightly more in-depth, if not as groundbreaking, account of evolution. Also, "Darwin's Dangerous Idea" by Daniel C. Dennett, outlines the social and philosophical impact of the theory of natural selection. Though this tome is daunting in its size, you will struggle to find a better tribute to the idea that changed man's view of himself and his position in the universe.
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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
Must the answer to life be a good bus read?, 4 Jun 2004
I have to smile. A fellow reader has given up on "The Selfish Gene" for two reasons. Firstly, Dawkins is too arrogant. Secondly, it is too difficult to read on a bus and you have to skip to the appendices sometimes. Well, there are plenty of good reviews here, so rather than add one more, can we just consider these two obstacles for a moment?Yes, arrogant could describe the tone. Still, what's in a tone? Telephone directories are pretty insipid (and ungrammatical) but I still use them now and then. I think my fellow reader is put off because he is suspicious of anyone who presents an argument with this force and passion. My advice - if that bothers you, concentrate on the message rather than the voice. Call me biased, or converted, but Dawkins is entitled to push hard, because.... like it or not, he's probably spot on. Difficult to read? Well, not for me, but everyone is different. And personally, I find anything more demanding than Peanuts pretty hard going on public transport. So - read it at home - on the sofa instead of a week's worth of EastEnders, or locked in your bathroom if your dad is a Creationist. And who said books have to be linear experiences? Joan Collins? Skip around. Read ALL the appendices first, twice. I promise I won't tell anyone. So what if it is "difficult to read"? Since when did everything worthwhile have to be Big-Mac easy? Maybe in some cases what you get out is proportional to what you put in... Ask the shades of Edmund Hillary or Winston Churchill. If you're a lottery winner then this is all patently false, but then you probably wouldn't be bothering with Dawkins or buses. I'm guilty of feebleness too. Doctor Zhivago is a wonderful novel, but I'm told you only get the full measure of it if you read it in Pasternak's original Russian. Well, I'm ashamed to say I would love to experience it for myself, but I've never made the effort to learn the language. It's a closed book to me. But for all its quality that is just a top bit of fiction. "The Selfish Gene" is - whether you find it easy to accept or not - a lucid account of the almost certainly real, astonishly beautiful process by which the universe managed to produce you, me and an author called Boris who wrote about love and revolution. And it's already in English! So please give it another go.
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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
Popular science writing at its very best, 7 Jan 2002
By A Customer
I have read this book several times over the last few years and now I am considering purchasing it for my teenage neice. This is a popular science writting at its very best. The Selfish Gene is not a long book, but every page is a gem. Dawkins explains how natural selection and the laws of genitics combine to form a powerful and yet comprehensible understanding of why things are the way they are. For anybody who accepts that Science is the best route to an understanding of the universe, this book is an absolute must.
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37 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
Start here - this is "Go"!, 12 Jun 2005
Given the amount of dreck published about this book over the past two decades, it seemed a worthwhile exercise to reread and comment on it for a new generation of readers. As with Darwin's Origin of Species, more people have commented on this work than have read or understood it. Dawkins is a superb writer, able to convey his ideas with clarity and wit. As he has stated elsewhere, however, those very ideas still challenge those whose minds are locked by preconceptions. Dawkins must be, and is, a staunch advocate in presenting to us what genes are all about. He does so in order that we better understand ourselves.He begins by anticipating the outcry of those who must see humans set apart from the rest of life. "Why Are People" examines several behavioral aspects of animals and people. Altruism receives particular attention because the term "selfish" applied to life returns us to the concept of nature "red in tooth and claw" which he wishes to avoid. Genes are not conscious entities who make decisions about their existence or future. Genes are simply replicators, using whatever resources are available to make more of themselves. With luck, the environment in which they do this allows them to survive and continue replicating. If not, the gene, and whatever characteristic it represents, goes extinct. Enough bad matches and a whole species follows the gene into extinction. In the beginning our very earliest ancestors weren't likely to even have been organisms, but simply chemicals. From this, Dawkins traces the development of the DNA molecule and the organisms that came to carry it in their cells. These organisms, "survival machines" in Dawkins' expression, carry the genes, supplying them with the raw material to continue replicating. It's a discomfiting idea to many to be brought face to face with the idea that they are but "gene machines", but Dawkins shows us in crisp prose that this is simply how life works. Because animals, particularly human animals, seem to exhibit "purpose", there is ongoing objection to the idea that actions can be gene driven. Dawkins explains that genes have had more than three billion years to develop survival techniques that give the appearance of "purposiveness." The apparent display of purpose is covered through much of the book in his discussion of "game theory". Game theory applied to life has moved well beyond simple win or lose situations. Game situations now involve highly complex interactions in which the players don't win or lose, but survive where possible. Players don't reach a terminal finish through their activities, but reach a modus vivendi. Parents, particularly mothers, sacrifice to bear and raise offspring. Plants, deprived of an optimum niche, adapt to occupy another, less desirable one. Finally, in what might prove to be the most telling innovation in this book, Dawkins introduces a new descriptor of social behaviour: the meme. The revolution in thinking about why humanity performs some wholly illogical actions has only begun. Ideas, habits, faiths, characteristics that humans like to think separate us from the other animals, arise and replicate just like their biological counterparts. They form, replicate, find a suitable environment and continue replicating. Susan Blackmore's THE MEME MACHINE, is a must companion to this volume with its full and penetrating examination of this aspect of life. Dawkins' critics are loud and vociferous. It would be pointless to assess motivation in their continued diatribes against this book. Darwin was forced to weather the same type of criticisms for just the same reason: their ideas jerk the pedestal of divine origins from humanity. Even trained scientists find it difficult to shed the concept that because humans have achieved so much, their origins must transcend pure biology. Dawkins' critics nearly all descend to the pejorative, labelling him and his adherents, "Ultra-Darwinists". Few phrases are as meaningless as this one. How one can be "beyond Darwin" eludes definition. This book is a fine starting point in understanding how life, particularly our form of life, operates. It should be standard classroom fare, both in biology and philosophy classes. If you didn't encounter it there, buy it here. Read it carefully and closely. You will be rewarded with excellent writing, stimulating ideas and you may gain deep insight into what you are. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canads]
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