evolution

A quarter of a century old it may be, but "The Selfish Gene" is still the best book to read if you want to learn about what genetics and evolution are really about. Dawkins' style is accessible for those (such as myself) with practically no experience in biology, and the subject matter is applicable to all.

What is the selfish gene? Traditionally, people tend to look at evolution at the level of the organism. They think of different alleles aiding or harming the "fitness" of an organism. Or, worse, they could take the group-selectionist view and talk about how a gene or an organism helps the "survival of the species." But Dawkins makes a convincing case that it is best to look at natural selection at the level of the gene. Each gene "wants" to secure its survival and maximize its proliferation in the future. (A suggested title for the book was "Immortal Coils," referring to the lifespan of the gene and the double-helical structure of the DNA in which it is embedded. This ended up as the title for chapter 3.) By this, it is meant that genes that are more successful at proliferation and self-replication are more likely to survive. Thus, the genes are not instruments of the organism, but rather the reverse. The organism is a robot "designed" by genes to maximize their survival and proliferation. Dawkins' name for these robots - including us - is "survival machines." This is not a disparaging term, of course, and some of the most enjoyable portions of the book are brought about by Dawkins' instillation of hope in the reader - hope that humans, alone among Earth's survival machines, have the ability to transcend the limitations that genetics and culture would impose on them and strive for something higher.

My purpose here has been to give you a taste of the content of the book. This book will change the way you think of evolution - and the way you think of our species - for the better.

"The Selfish Gene" is essential science literacy reading. It is the single clearest introduction to the concept of natural selection at the level of genes, the central concept in modern evolutionary theory. A classic of engaging and illuminating science writing that gets the point across. Maybe too well.

On the down side, the selfishness metaphor does seem to take many readers on a journey that Dawkins doesn't seem to intend, extending "selfishness" beyond the limited way it is used in the book, and even offering them some sort of alternate religion.

That's the power of a really strong metaphor, it tends to take on a life of its own. Dawkins begins to address that I think in his classic introduction in this book of the concept of "memes" as units of cultural replication akin to genes. That's an idea that has yet to be completely shaken out I think, as far as addressing the specific units that memes represent, and how generally and usefully we can model their propagation characteristics without reference to the specifics of the vehicles replicating them.

Thinking of genes as selfish sometimes distracts people from gaining a further understanding of the tremendous complexity of the evolutionary process, and all else that is also going on. That weakness however is more a side-effect of the tremendous strength of Dawkins' argument than any problem that can be faulted to him in this book.

There's also the technical issue of the gene's eye view of the world, which tends to dominate modern evolutionary thinking, because it is believed to dominate evolutionary processes. There are however probably some conditions under which other levels of selection make significant contributions to evolved characteristics. Dawkins doesn't go much beyond things like inclusive fitness and allusions to reciprocal altruism in explaining why some people and other organisms will sacrifice themselves (sometimes for strangers !), and why such a thing as a non-reproductive drone should be constructed by selfish genes. "The Selfish Gene" doesn't really address this in a satisfactory way.

Other authors, such as Elliot Sobel, Robert Wright, John Maynard Smith, and Brian Skyrms have explored these kinds of questions (regarding levels of selection in evolution) better. Also, for those topics, look into the excellent introduction to modern evolutionary thinking in "Sex and Death" by Sterelny and Griffiths, which gives a broader picture, though it lacks the focused clarity and near-relgious force of Dawkins' brilliant exposition of the selfish gene metaphor.

Reading this book today, one can easily forget how revolutionary it was. Many of the new, controversial ideas inside are now accepted scientific dogma; memes now have their own entire field of study.

Enlightening and exciting for both the layperson and expert, if you haven't read it yet, you're missing out!