The Extended Selfish Gene
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:22nd Sep '16
Should be back in stock very soon
The Selfish Gene is a classic exposition of evolutionary thought. In it Professor Dawkins articulates a gene's eye view of evolution - a view giving centre stage to these persistent units of information, and in which organisms can be seen as vehicles for the replication of genes. The book provoked widespread and heated debate, which in part led Dawkins to write The Extended Phenotype, in which he gave a deeper clarification of the central concept of the gene as the unit of selection, as well as contributing his own development of this insight. For the first time, The Extended Selfish Gene brings these two books together, by including two key chapters from The Extended Phenotype. These chapters provide Dawkins's detailed and powerful response to two issues raised by critics of The Selfish Gene: the accusations of genetic determinism (the idea that our behaviour is entirely determined by our genes), and of "adaptationism " (that all traits are indiscriminately perceived to be adaptations resulting from natural selection). While written in particular for the biology community, Dawkins's clarity of expression allows these chapters to be accessible to all who are seriously engaged with the gene's eye view and its implications. The imaginative, powerful, and stylistically brilliant Selfish Gene not only brought the insights of Neo-Darwinism to a wide audience, but galvanized the biology community, generating much debate and stimulating whole new areas of research. Forty years later, its insights remain as significant as on the day it was published. Along with the two extra chapters, The Extended Selfish Gene includes a new epilogue to The Selfish Gene from the author which highlights the relevance of the gene's eye view to evolutionary biology today.
From the moment of its publication 40 years ago, it has been a sparkling best-seller and a scientific game-changer. * Matt Ridley, Nature *
Review from previous edition The sort of popular science writing that makes the reader feel like a genius. * New York Times *
This book should be read, can be read, by almost everyone. It describes with great skill a new face of the theory of evolution. W.D. Hamilton, Science
Learned, witty and very well written...Exhilaratingly good. Peter Medawar in The Spectator
The exciting theories and their wide implications are explaned with clarity, wit and enthusiasm. Peter Parker, Sunday Times
Dawkins demonstrates that complex, theoretical or mathematical ideas can be expressed rigorously, in plain English. The book remains an excellent way for those who have not been trained in evolution to understand modern arguments. Trends in Ecology and Evolution
A splendid example of how difficult scientific ideas can be explained by someone who understands them and is willing to take the trouble. The New Yorker
the reader will come away with a clear understanding of kin selection, evolutionary stable strategies, and similar staples of the literature on evolutionary theories of animal behaviour. This is a considerable achievement.' Times Higher Education Supplement
Buy this book, read it and recommend it to your students...There is still nothing else quite like it. Not only are the new chapters and endnotes worthy additions to the original, but the 1976 text comes up as fresh as a primrose and, in its way, nearly as perfect. * Animal Behaviour *
What is so refreshing about Dawkins is that he has confidence in the scientific method, in the testing of beliefs to destruction, no matter how cherished they may be. * Benjamin Woolley, The Listener *
'Scientists give every appearance of being addicts, and science is their vice. That is one reason why progress in science is so rapid. I for one have benefited a great deal from Dawkins's addiction.' David L. Hull, Nature
'It's a classic that's still relevant today.' * Daily Express *
Dawkins's first book, The Selfish Gene, was a smash hit... Best of all, Dawkins laid out this biology - some of it truly subtle - in stunningly lucid prose. (It is, in my view, the best work of popular science ever written.) * H. Allen Orr, New York Review of Books *
The Selfish Gene is a classic. * Robin McKie, The Observer *
A genuine cultural landmark of our time. * The Independent *
Review from previous edition The sort of popular science writing that makes the reader feel like a genius. * New York Times *
A splendid edition with a new introduction as well as (importantly) the introductions to the previous editions. * Jonathan Cowie, Concatenation *
ISBN: 9780198788782
Dimensions: 221mm x 148mm x 50mm
Weight: 730g
592 pages
4th Revised edition