Message from Dean - May 8th 2007

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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 576.5
EAN: 9780199291151
Edition: 3rd Revised edition
ISBN: 0199291152
Label: OUP Oxford
Manufacturer: OUP Oxford
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 384
Publication Date: March 16, 2006
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Studio: OUP Oxford

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Alternate Versions: Click to Display

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Rating: - Absolutely Ingenious.
This is Professor Dawkins' finest piece of work. Not only does he provide his own knowledge and ingenious thinking, but he also ties together the works of Darwin, Hamilton, Fisher, Trivers, and many other great revolutionary Evolutionary Biologists. As a Geneticist, I have studied many of the phenomena that Dawkins discusses, and it is amazing that science has uncovered many of them as late as 30 years after the first publication of this great book.

It is not just Genetics which has had components perfectly explained by this text, but also many other branches of Evolutionary Biology, such as Ethology and Molecular Evolution. A wonderful read, explained so simply and eloquently by arguably the world's greatest Popular Science writer; a book that Carl Sagan himself would have been proud of writing.

Dobzhansky once famously and correctly stated that 'Nothing in Biology makes sense except in the light of Evolution' ; I would go one step further, and state that 'Nothing ... Read More

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Rating: - I think Dawkins is wrong in his central argument. Here's why:
The first thing I want to say is how much respect I have for Richard Dawkins as a scientist, as a teacher, as a writer of fascinating prose, and as a person. He is a brilliant and courageous man who works hard to bring his knowledge and insights to all of us. For the record I have read six of his books and reviewed four of them. They are:

The God Delusion (2006)
The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution (2004)
A Devil's Chaplain: Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science, and Love (2003)
The Extended Phenotype: The Long Reach of the Gene (1982; 1999)

The second thing I want to say is that The Selfish Gene is one of the landmark science books of the 20th century, and so I am pleased to see this 30th Anniversary Edition (from 2006) with a new introduction by Dawkins and some new footnotes.

Rather than review the book as a whole, however, as has been done many times, in this review I want to concentrate on the central issue of ... Read More

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Rating: - Turns life inside out
The author writes about living things as if the gene is the animal and the animal is simply a seed for the gene. He basically turns life inside out. It's a powerful mind tool to get a different perspective on life but don't get too carried away with the idea. The whole theory of evolution is valuable in understanding the world but like a lot of science it starts to become too difficult to use. So in conclusion I don't believe that the author has discovered the secret of life, he just has another way of looking at things that you may find useful. It should be one of the books you have read.

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Rating: - jean genie
Dawkins is excellent while he sticks to biology
however he may have lost the plot in the last chapter
as he has in thinking promoting science involves attacking
religion
If an evangalist is someone who does not leave people to work
it out for themselves but pushes his point of view Dawkins is one
Nutty Baptists and Dawkins looked similar on channel 4 for example
ie they both spin world events too far to promote a point of view

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Rating: - Imaginative guessing
I have attempted to read Dawkins's books on a few occasions but seldom get beyond the first 100 pages. I simply find his style of writing boring and his theories pure imaginative guesswork; I cannot take this author's ideas onboard yet biology fascinates me and especially that of epigenetics which seems to disprove all that this author advocates. I suspect that there is a snobbery value to those who support him. Irrespective of his academic standing I cannot avoid regarding the author as an impostor as I constantly want to wage war with his views. Admittedly, he comes across publicly as a very plausible academic but, this does not sway me.

PS (14/12/08) How interesting that a candid opinion should upset so many; one wonders why?

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