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The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary Edition--with a new Introduction by the Author

Oxford University Press, USA

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Average customer rating: 4.5 stars

It's a metaphor, people

Dawkins started writing "The Selfish Gene" in 1972. With the ever accelerating advances in science, one would think such a book would be horribly outdated by now, but I found this to not be the case at all.

I'm halfway through my undergrad studying Biology and Chemistry, so I'm not an expert in the field (yet), but I'm not the "layman" reader that Dawkins had in mind when writing this either. I found it to be quite interesting and educational. I wasn't exactly burning through every page, but Dawkins captivated my attention more than not. Chapter 12 alone makes the book worth reading.

Regardless of your background in science, "The Selfish Gene" is worth the read.

Not worth your time

I was assigned to read this book for an intro level biology class as an ungrad. I majored in anthropology so I figured I would at least slightly like the book...wrong. Dawkins essentially repeats the same argument over and over for the majority of the book. A wise professor once told me that any good reader will eventually throw a book across a room someday, and that was this book for me.

Very Informational!

This book is a great read for biologists as well as people curious about biology. It is written in a way where anyone can understand the logic and makes you think about what the author is saying. I would recommend this book to people interested in natural selection and the natural world.

Essential reading - - and fun besides

After 30 years, these groundbreaking insights in evolution stand out as a major landmark. I don't know if this is now required reading in colleges, but it probably should be. A graduate in the sciences who hadn't fully grokked these ideas is a poorly educated graduate indeed.

I also enjoyed the introduction to game theory.

The anniversary addition features an opening section in which Dawkins slices up a few of his detractors with classic British wit. Like the main content of the book, it's tons o' fun to read.

Evolutionary Behaviorism Masquerading as Genetic Theory

In a book entitled "The Selfish Gene" purporting to prove the theory of blind genetic control over animal behavior, the first thing the reader expects is a discussion of genetic mechanisms and the biochemical interaction between said genes and behavior. To this point, I find it odd that only in the first chapter, and only over several paragraphs at that, does Dawkins discuss the A,C,G,T mainframe and protein synthesis.

From what I can tell, Dawkins suffers from the basest of Philosophical mistakes - he uses a certain pre-supposition to advance a theory without ever PROVING the pre-supposition at hand. In this case, Dawkins argues that the Gene's desire to replicate is the answer behind evolution...unfortunately he fails to realize THIS IS WHAT HE MUST PROVE! Rather than laying out the direct scientific links between individual genes and their related behaviors, Dawkins speaks only of the later behaviors never once proving that Genes had anything to do with them.

In a nut-shell, had this book been entitled "The Evolution of Behavior" I could have accepted it - unfortunately, as it stands, this book attempts to prove a Genetic theory it never once even considers.

Don't be fooled - to prove the existence of a certain behavior and later attribute it to genetic coding is no different than to prove the existance of the same behavior and later attribute it to the will of God. In each case a point is made, but the underlying supposition is never proven.