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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
“It is raining DNA outside. On the bank of the Oxford canal at the bottom of my garden is a large willow tree, and it is pumping downy seeds into the air… It is raining instructions out there; it’s raining programs; it’s raining tree-growing, fluff-spreading algorithms. That is not a metaphor, it is the plain truth. It couldn’t be any plainer if it were raining floppy discs.”
Brilliant. It’s a shame that Dawkins is more known these days for religion bashing than for his excellent explanations of evolutionary theory. Few, if any, other writers can break down the complexity of this subject like he can, with his flair for indelible metaphors. The chapters on evolutionary arms races and sexual selection were a couple of my favorites. I still prefer The Selfish Gene (hard to top), but I recommend The Blind Watchmaker right alongside it as another top tier work.
Brilliant. It’s a shame that Dawkins is more known these days for religion bashing than for his excellent explanations of evolutionary theory. Few, if any, other writers can break down the complexity of this subject like he can, with his flair for indelible metaphors. The chapters on evolutionary arms races and sexual selection were a couple of my favorites. I still prefer The Selfish Gene (hard to top), but I recommend The Blind Watchmaker right alongside it as another top tier work.
A friendly approach to evolution for the non-biologist or one who isn't scientifically minded, this is an excellent breakdown and continuation of the theory of evolution with current understandings of genetics.
Edit: At least, accurate up to publication. Dawkins writes the relatedness of the turtle amongst other reptiles, when recent studies have found that turtles are closely related to turtles; they may share a common ancestor, but not a "recent" (for lake of better word) one.
Edit: At least, accurate up to publication. Dawkins writes the relatedness of the turtle amongst other reptiles, when recent studies have found that turtles are closely related to turtles; they may share a common ancestor, but not a "recent" (for lake of better word) one.
I knew it before that Dr Dawkins sonetimes rambles too much about the same topic but some of the chapters (the latter ones from chapter 7-8)were really quite unnecessary and I didn't find any worthwhile information from these chapters.
P.S- need to cut down some of the parts, the core meaningful parts were pretty straightforward and in my opinion the circumlocution was pretty tiring.
soliloquizing- took me 14 days to read it
P.S- need to cut down some of the parts, the core meaningful parts were pretty straightforward and in my opinion the circumlocution was pretty tiring.
soliloquizing- took me 14 days to read it
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Dawkins most resolute defense and substantiation of Darwinian evolution. A brilliant scientific masterpiece though the unnecessary mathematical explanations make it somewhat laborious.
This books only gets really interesting in the second half, when Dawkins actually begins to explain the biology and details of evolution. In the first half, Dawkins just keeps throwing tons of statistics and computer simulation results at the reader in an attempt to convince them about the improbability of complexity arising spontaneously out of simple building blocks without any force pushing it in that direction. Although the arguments presented in the first half are definitely rational and provide a basic understanding of why we need to look for such an evolutionary force in the first place, a comprehensive and coherent explanation of the process of natural selection (as is provided in the rest of the book) would have been far more interesting and sufficient to convince the reader about the plausibility of the modern theory of evolution. I chose this book with an intention to learn how evolution really works according to the latest theories. I would have rated this books higher if it had only stuck to that purpose (explaining the biology) and not waste a few chapters at the beginning on a more philosophical and mathematical approach to rationalizing evolution.
Beautiful book on evolution and how nature solves problems with what is available.
I am weary reading this methinks mr Dawkins mixes his metaphors and labours the point too much. He is making the subject hard work
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Wasn't greatly inspired, but it was a good enough book, certainly did a good job of explaining evolution and the power of natural selection. I just know it all already :P