Location: Home > Scientific, Technical & Mediacl > Genetics > The Selfish Gene

The Selfish Gene

Author: Richard Dawkins
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Category: Book

List Price: ~~Ł8.99~~
Buy New: Ł3.58
You Save: Ł5.41 (60%)

New (46) Used (7) from Ł3.58

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

68 reviews
Sales Rank: 311

Media: Paperback
Edition: 3Rev Ed
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.1 x 1

ISBN: 0199291152
Dewey Decimal Number: 576.5
EAN: 9780199291151
ASIN: 0199291152

Publication Date: March 16, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New. Shipped from UK Mainland. Delivery is usually 2 - 3 working days from order by Royal Mail, International Delivery is by Airmail.

Customer Reviews:

Showing reviews 6-10 of 68

« PREV

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

... 14 NEXT »

Just read it December 18, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

The reading of this book should be mandatory for any minimally educated person. Just read it. It will be an epiphany.

2 out of 5 stars

The evolutionary fundamentalist November 30, 2007
4 out of 38 found this review helpful

Although Richard Dawkins writes extremely well, it seems to me that his arguments (and reasoning) in this book are as much a product of wishful thinking as any religious fundamentalist, except that where the religious fundy's faith is in God without proof, Mr Dawkins 'faith' lies with his version of evolution without proof, and, like all fundamentalists, he believes the matter to be proven. The jury is still out on the evolution versus creation, and as the 'missing link' has not yet been found, and according to many scholars, probably never will be, the wiser course surely is to remain 'a don't know'.

His book, The God Delusion, gave food for thought; this book, however, merely bludgeons the reader into submission.

5 out of 5 stars

Creationists of the World Take Fright November 10, 2007
9 out of 11 found this review helpful

This is a book that anyone interested in where we come from should read. Dawkins is an evolutionary biologist and promotes rationalism over fantasy. His theory is a development of Darwin's concept of natural selection. It deserves to be read by everyone as a vital contribution to the development of this area of science.

Sadly, despite many years of argument, there remain people in this world who are convinced that the world is about 6-7,000 years old, who believe that man is god-made rather than god man-made. You see these people on here regularly, "reviewing books" by promoting their own faith-based ideaologies rather than attempting to be independently critical. These reviews try to push an agenda, so i suggest you ignore them as pieces of literary analysis. There is oa review on here, written by someone who retains a faith-based ideology (and judging from other reviews, a particular stance on the Palestine/Israel conflict) whose opinion is clearly biased by his being in thrall to his own faith, whatever that might be. You owe it to yourself to ignore these people, who approach all such work from a bigoted perspective, and take a look for yourself.

This book is one of the most important contributions to scientific thought produced in the twentieth century. As such, it ought to be required reading for everyone, irrespective of religious ideology. Go read. If you object to lining the pocket of someone you consider to be evil personified, go read it in a library. If you possess an open mind, go buy it.

4 out of 5 stars

How to be Selfish and Altruistic at the same time September 24, 2007
3 out of 5 found this review helpful

Within this compact little book (for a biology book that is) lies the thoughts and theories of what has become one of the most change inducing ideas in genetics. Dawkins has a real gift for explaining what can be an extreamly complex area of biology - it is not for nothing that he is Emeritus Professor for the Popular Understanding of Science. The examples used throughout the book are interested and help illuminate the subject being discussed.
Some of the terminolgy could be confusing (as remarked on in earlier reviews) however Dawkins is at pains to explain exactly what he means by "selfish", "meme" and so forth. All through the book he drops back into what he refers to as "genetic speech" to make sure that the reader understands that genes do not have free will and are thus incapable of being "selfish" in the same way as a human can be.
I particularly found the explaination of animal altruism (sucide hiney bees, non reproductive drone ants and mutual grooming for example) very well written and interesting. The reference to game theory on this topic was very well done although maybe a touch overdone - five itterations of the same example is to much and had me tempted to skip ahead.

However it is a very dense book and in my opinion should be read in small sections to avoid the feeling that your brain is overheating! I also found the use of two of three bookmarks useful - one to make your place in the main text and one to mark your place in Dawkins' copious endnotes.

All in all a very well written book with a slight feeling that Dawkins may have been going out of his was to refute Group Selectionism - however what else can you expect from a scientist (almost to a man a very argumentative breed!)

3 out of 5 stars

Compelling but at times problematic August 31, 2007
6 out of 10 found this review helpful

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 builds on the work of Robert Trivers. Problematic in areas because as Dawkins himself half-acknowledges at one point, it does become a bit contradictory in areas. I refer particularly to the eusocial insects and their altruism which defies Dawkin's theory of selfishness within the individual. He may argue that it pays to be altruistic whilst being secretly selfish but then this builds into group theory and a large premise of his book, The selfish gene (or genes) loses its case when you assess the social insects. His theory stands well for most mammals and birds but it cannot apply to the gregarious and altruistic social insects. He acknowledges a problem in his theory at a particular point but doesn't address it largely I guess because he couldn't come up with an explanation.

There are other times when Dawkins is very compelling and illustrates his points nicely. The Selfish Gene is not necessarily easy or comfortable reading but still very interesting and if you want to learn about evolution, then this is a good starting point.

A major gripe I had with this book was the font size. Too small! The text itself is just about manageable but far from comfortable and the endnotes were so small and uncomfortable to read.