The selfish gene by richard dawkins amazing book must read

The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins Amazing Book, Must ReadInheriting the mantle of revolutionary biologist from Darwin, Watson, andCrick, Richard Dawkins forced an enormous change in the way we seeourselves and the world with the publication of The Selfish Gene.Suppose, instead of thinking about organisms using genes to reproducethemselves, as we had since Mendels work was rediscovered, we turn itaround and imagine that our genes build and maintain us in order to makemore genes. That simple reversal seems to answer many puzzlers whichhad stumped scientists for years, and we havent thought of evo lution inthe same way since. Why are there miles and miles of unused DNAwithin each of our bodies? Why should a bee give up its own chance toreproduce to help raise her sisters and brothers? With a prophets clarity,Dawkins told us the answers from the perspective of molecules competingfor limited space and resources to produce more of their own kind.Drawing fascinating examples from every field of biology, he paved theway for a serious re-evaluation of evolution. He also introduced theconcept of self-reproducing ideas, or memes, which (seemingly) usehumans exclusively for their propagation. If we are puppets, he says, atleast we can try to understand our strings. --Rob LightnerAlmost anyone is impressed by lifes immense variety. Back in the 19thcentury only a few educated people ventured how this diverseness cameabout. It was not even deemed necessary. Life had probably been thesame at least after the Great Flood. God had mysterious reasons fordesigning the world as it was. Amateur naturalist and keen observerCharles Darwin was to offer an alternative explanation. His ideasoverturned all views about the subject, but evidence to support them wasscanty.Mendels studies on heredity, the discovery of molecular genetics, and aconstantly growing body of paleontological findings have nurtured neo-Darwinian school of thought: lifes diversity in Earth is the result of billionsof years of hereditary evolution through natural selec tion.Thirty years after its first edition, The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins isstill exciting and inspiring reading. It raises an intriguing question: what

does natural selection pick out? And it gives a riveting answer: naturalselection chooses those genes that outdo their pairs (alleles) regardinglongevity, fecundity and copying fidelity, to achieve this, genes collaboratewith other genes in making and sustaining vehicles likely to survive andreproduce, thus passing copies of the gene to their progeny. Genes aredifferent from vehicles in that they are able to make exact copies ofthemselves. Diversity among analogous genes (portions of DNA bigenough to have a definite genetic function but small enough to avoidsplitting and recombination), and the resulting diverseness in theirphenotypic effect is a precondition for natural selection to promoteevolution.The catch phrase selfish gene, underlines the fact that if one takes thegenes point of view nothing really matters that does not maximize th enumber of faithful copies of each particular gene that are produced andpassed to the vehicles offspring.The book is an all-times classic, still totally up-to-date. It is in no need ofany restorative work whatsoever. The 30th anniversary edition adds n onew material to the 1989 second edition, apart from a new introduction bythe author. Chapters 12 and 13 and end notes where an opportuneaddition to the first edition after a 12-year exposure to praise and criticismand Dawkins 1982 book The Extended Phenotype. If you have not readThe Selfish Gene you will surely find it instructive and pleasing; if youalready did, it will be thought-provoking to do it again. The anniversaryedition is in any case a good add-on to your library. For More 5 Star Customer Reviews and Lowest Price: The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins - 5 Star Customer Reviews and Lowest Price!

The selfish gene by richard dawkins amazing book must read

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