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The Selfish Gene.

Front Cover
1284 Reviews
Oxford University Press, 1989 - Literary Criticism - 352 pages
Richard Dawkins' brilliant reformulation of the theory of natural selection has the rare distinction of having provoked as much excitement and interest outside the scientific community as within it. His theories have helped change the whole nature of the study of social biology, and have forced thousands of readers to rethink their beliefs about life.
In his internationally bestselling, now classic volume, The Selfish Gene, Dawkins explains how the selfish gene can also be a subtle gene. The world of the selfish gene revolves around savage competition, ruthless exploitation, and deceit, and yet, Dawkins argues, acts of apparent altruism do exist in nature. Bees, for example, will commit suicide when they sting to protect the hive, and birds will risk their lives to warn the flock of an approaching hawk.
This revised edition of Dawkins' fascinating book contains two new chapters. One, entitled "Nice Guys Finish First," demonstrates how cooperation can evolve even in a basically selfish world. The other new chapter, entitled "The Long Reach of the Gene," which reflects the arguments presented in Dawkins' The Extended Phenotype, clarifies the startling view that genes may reach outside the bodies in which they dwell and manipulate other individuals and even the world at large. Containing a wealth of remarkable new insights into the biological world, the second edition once again drives home the fact that truth is stranger than fiction.
  

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Astounding in it's simplicity and very evocative prose! - weRead
Good arguments and explanations. - weRead
Brilliant scientific writing and insights. - Goodreads
Good starting point to understanding evolution. - Goodreads
This is a great introduction to evolution. - weRead
good overview of evolution - Goodreads

Review: The Selfish Gene

User Review  - Sfahrney - Goodreads

Good explanations of genes and their influence but often the point was made repeatedly. Interesting perspective. Read full review

Review: The Selfish Gene

User Review  - Eli Taub - Goodreads

Wow! This book looks at evolution from a whole different angle. Makes me look at it all from a whole new perspective as well as better understand the process of natural selection. It's not about us at ... Read full review

All 1284 reviews »

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Selected pages

Contents

Why are people?
1
The replicators
12
Immortal coils
21
The gene machine
46
Aggression stability and the selfish machine
66
Genesmanship
88
Family planning
109
Batde of the generations
123
You scratch my back Ill ride on yours
166
Memes the new replicators
189
Nice guys finish first
202
The long reach of the gene
234
Endnotes
267
Updated bibliography
333
Index and key to bibliography
345
Copyright

Battle of the sexes
140

Other editions - View all

The selfish gene
The selfish gene
Richard Dawkins
Limited preview - 2006
The Selfish Gene : 30th Anniversary edition: 30th Anniversary edition
The Selfish Gene : 30th Anniversary edition: 30th Anniversary edition
Richard Dawkins
Limited preview - 2006
The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary Edition
The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary Edition
Richard Dawkins
Limited preview - 2006
View all »

Common terms and phrases

allele altruism animals ants aphids apparendy Axelrod baby behaviour benefit biologists birds body brain called cells chance chapter cheats child chromosome cooperation copies copulate cuckoo Darwinian Defect eggs evolution evolutionarily stable evolutionarily stable strategy evolutionary evolve exacdy example expect exploit Extended Phenotype fact favour female fight gene pool genetic unit group selection grudgers Hamilton handicap happen hawk human idea individual investment kin selection kind large number litde living look males mate Maynard Smith means meme molecules mother mutation naked mole rats nasty natural selection nest nice offspring organism paradoxical parasites parents particular play players population predators primeval soup Prisoner's Dilemma queen ratio reason recendy reciprocal altruism relatedness replicators reproduction retaliator rival selfish DNA selfish gene theory sexual snail social insects species sperms suckers suppose survival machines tend things Tit for Tat Trivers workers young

References to this book

From other books

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From Google Scholar

Knowledge of the Firm, Combinative Capabilities, and the ...
Bruce Kogut, Udo Zander - 1992 - Organization Science
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RICHARD DAWKINS
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References from web pages

The Selfish Gene - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Selfish Gene is a very popular and somewhat controversial book on evolution by Richard Dawkins, published in 1976. It builds upon the principal theory ...
en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ The_Selfish_Gene

The Selfish Gene
The world of the selfish gene is one of savage competition, ruthless exploitation, and deceit. But what of the acts of apparent altruism found in nature ...
www.simonyi.ox.ac.uk/ dawkins/ WorldOfDawkins-archive/ Dawkins/ Work/ Books/ selfish.shtml

The Selfish Gene
This idea has been expressed by Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene which is used as a textbook in American universities. ...
www.marxist.com/ science/ selfishgene.html

TED | tedblog: Richard Dawkins' "The Selfish Gene"
Whether or not you've read The Selfish Gene, I urge you to give this edition your attention. It's brilliantly written and profound. It may shock. ...
blog.ted.com/ 2006/ 04/ richard_dawkins.php

R-Views: Book: The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
With The Selfish Gene I got plenty of such moments, because even of the number of pages doesn't seem that high the small font and the sheer concentration of ...
r-views.blogspot.com/ 2007/ 02/ book-selfish-gene-by-richard-dawkins.html

Dawkins:The Selfish Gene: BOOK SUMMARY
Dawkins, R. (1976) The Selfish Gene. Oxford: Oxford University Press, reprinted in 1989. Dawkins, R. (1998) Unweaving the Rainbow. ...
www.geocities.com/ we_evolve/ Human_Nature/ dawkins.html

Evolution of the selfish gene: Nature
Published 30 years ago, The Selfish Gene has been, and remains, one of the most ... In the last chapter of the first edition of The Selfish Gene, ...
www.nature.com/ nature/ journal/ v441/ n7090/ full/ 441151a.html

Cognition.Sociobiology.98: Re: "The Selfish Gene"
simply explained in terms of The Selfish Gene. However he goes on to ... This seems to oppose a lot of what The Selfish Gene says on family ...
users.ecs.soton.ac.uk/ harnad/ Hypermail/ Cognition.Sociobiology.98/ 0039.html

notes on The Selfish Gene
As well as giving a popular account of evolution and the idea of the selfish gene as the unit of natural selection, it also introduces the meme meme. ...
www.rbjones.com/ rbjpub/ philos/ bibliog/ dawkin89.htm

The selfish gene's birthday | Comment is free
The Selfish Gene" is 30 years old and was celebrated with a stunning cast of short lectures at .... I studied 'The Selfish Gene' at university 29 years ago. ...
commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ sue_blackmore/ 2006/ 03/ the_selfish_genes_birthday.html

About the author (1989)


Richard Dawkinsis Lecturer in Animal Behavior and Fellow of New College, Oxford. He is the author ofThe Blind Watchmaker.

Bibliographic information

QR code for The Selfish Gene.
TitleThe Selfish Gene.
Oxford paperbacks
Popular Science Series
AuthorRICHARD DAWKINS
Edition2, illustrated, reprint, reissue
PublisherOxford University Press, 1989
ISBN0192860925, 9780192860927
Length352 pages
Subjects ›  › 

Literary Criticism / American / African American
  
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