Richard Dawkins

With a new epilogue to the 40th anniversary edition.

The Selfish Gene

An ethologist shows man to be a gene machine whose world is one of savage competition and deceit.

30th Anniversary Edition

Really should finish this book but need time to process information 

Emily

Ku apresiasi usahanya menjelaskan gen dan evolusi, tapi udah kudet, argumennya kadang aneh, suka terlalu terjebak dlm analogi, dan sbg komunikator sains he's honestly not so good at writing??? Just pick other books y'all. Tis a skip

This book offers a solid introduction to neo-Darwinism and has helped me better understand the world around me.

Jieun Lee

Laura Mauler

Only two complaints with this book. First, the author had a habit of introducing an idea and then saying that it wasn't really relevant to the book, and would drop it. It was weird to hit these dead ends, and made for disjointed reading. Second, the author used "man" in the supposedly universal sense, which doesn't actually exist (All men are mortal; Sarah is a man; therefore Sarah is mortal). Since this book was first written in the 1970s, when apparently logic did not exist (bellbottoms!), I'll let this slide. We are all a product of our times, and back in the author's day this was a reasonable way to write. Aside from these two issues, I loved the book.

An ethologist shows man to be a gene machine whose world is one of savage competition and deceit

Sai sundar  Raghavan

Not all books have the ability to flip your world view upside down. This one does. Richard Dawkins, exercising his power of hindsight in this second edition, laments his choice of the 'selfish' metaphor, but 40 years on, it still works.

This book is not just about giving one fish - Dawkins walks through many of his hypotheses, elaborately and more often than not marries his statements with sheer mathematical certianity(as is darwinian evolution). The mental models one extracts from this book, should be extra polatable to questions about most life forms.

Some of the examples he cherry picks are not only astounding to read about, but he squeezes them in at the correct times, right from his examples of asexual reproduction in bees, to his 'extended phenotype' example about caterpillars and ants. Enthralling, and what's more - these are all real.

I am really glad I picked this one up, cannot recommend highly enough.

AJSingh

Alex Ker

Best non-fiction book I’ve read this year or maybe in the last five. Completely changed my mental framework on evolution, our bodies as vehicles and survival machines to pass on genes, and of course, memes—the newest replicator whose transmission moulds our culture.

Aditi

Should be required reading at schools. It certainly gave me an idea about why Dr. Dawkins came to be considered a thought leader, which isn't often visible now. Every sentence is purposeful and brimful of information.

Ahmed Salem

The book is very enlightening 

It is defiantly a non-audio-friendly book. There where many situations that requires some kind of illustration to understand the sophisticated process of how DNA is working for example (Those who had a proper biology classes will not need this).

Aditi Verma

Karim Nas

Ivaylo Durmonski

The only reason genes exist is to figure out a way to move forward in life. They are programing bodies, manipulating behavior, and embedding certain desires in brains to ensure that human “machines” will help them move forward in time.

Selfish, right?

Apparently.

But while genes are called selfish numerous times in the book, the point the author is trying to communicate with the reader is against the controversial title – collaboration and altruism is key to evolution and survival.

As someone who is not at all familiar with evolutionary biology, or Darwin’s theory of natural selection, I would say that this book is a great way to understand the basics of natural selection and how genes work.

Richard Dawkins successfully, in a very interesting and engaging way, by adding numerous examples and metaphors, translates complicated biological terms and bizarre-sounding arguments to the reader.

The key takeaway?

On a molecular level, to survive, genes must focus on being beneficial to the whole structure (the body) to move forward. I believe the same is true in human life. To have a pleasant stay while here on Earth, and to thrive, you need to act as resourceful problem-solver who doesn’t only care for himself, but for others around you, too.

Read the full summary:
https://durmonski.com/book-summaries/...

The Selfish Gene

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