The Selfish Gene - Signed -
Richard Dawkins
1976 - Oxford University Press, Oxford - First Edition
A fine and thus rare signed first edition of Dawkins’ fascinating and somewhat controversial masterwork.
‘Dawkins 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.)’ – New York Review of Books.
‘This important book could hardly be more exciting.’ – The Economist.
Dawkins used the term ‘selfish gene’ as a way of expressing the gene-centred view of evolution as opposed to the views focused on the organism and the group. The more two individuals are genetically related, the more sense (at the level of the genes) it makes for them to behave selflessly with each other. Therefore the concept is especially good at explaining many forms of altruism. This should not be confused with misuse of the term along the lines of a selfishness gene.
An organism is expected to evolve to maximise its inclusive fitness - the number of copies of its genes passed on globally (rather than by a particular individual). As a result, populations will tend towards an evolutionarily stable strategy. The book also coins the term meme for a unit of human cultural evolution analogous to the gene, suggesting that such ‘selfish’ replication may also model human culture, in a different sense. Memetics has become the subject of many studies since the publication of the book.
In the foreword to the book's 30th anniversary edition, Dawkins said he ‘can readily see that [the book's title] might give an inadequate impression of its contents’ and in retrospect thinks he should have taken Tom Maschler's advice and called the book The Immortal Gene. Dust jacket illustration from a painting by Desmond Morris, entitled The Expectant Valley.
Richard Dawkins - Clinton Richard Dawkins, DSc, FRS, FRSL is an English ethologist, evolutionary biologist, and writer. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was the University of Oxford's Professor for Public Understanding of Science from 1995 until 2008.
Dawkins came to prominence with his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, which popularised the gene-centred view of evolution and introduced the term meme. In 1982, he introduced into evolutionary biology the influential concept that the phenotypic effects of a gene are not necessarily limited to an organism's body, but can stretch far into the environment, including the bodies of other organisms. This concept is presented in his book The Extended Phenotype.
Dawkins is an atheist, a vice president of the British Humanist Association, and a supporter of the Brights movement. He is well known for his criticism of creationism and intelligent design. In his 1986 book The Blind Watchmaker, he argues against the watchmaker analogy, an argument for the existence of a supernatural creator based upon the complexity of living organisms. Instead, he describes evolutionary processes as analogous to a blind watchmaker.
He has since written several popular science books, and makes regular television and radio appearances, predominantly discussing these topics. In his 2006 book The God Delusion, Dawkins contends that a supernatural creator almost certainly does not exist and that religious faith is a delusion – ‘a fixed false belief’. As of January 2010, the English-language version had sold more than two million copies and had been translated into 31 languages. Dawkins founded the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science to promote the teaching of evolution and to counteract those who advocate classroom programs against evolution.
References: Ridley, Richard Dawkins: How a Scientist Changed the Way We Think 2007. University of Oxford, web. ‘European Biologists rally Behind Richard Dawkins’ Extended Phenotype’ Science Daily 2009, web.
Octavo (book size 22.3x14.6cm), pp. xi [1] 224. In the publisher’s black cloth, spine lettered in gilt. Dust jacket priced ‘£2.95 net in UK’. Condition: Fine in fine dust jacket but for very gentle fading. Ref: 112226 Price: HK$ 23,000
‘Dawkins 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.)’ – New York Review of Books.
‘This important book could hardly be more exciting.’ – The Economist.
Dawkins used the term ‘selfish gene’ as a way of expressing the gene-centred view of evolution as opposed to the views focused on the organism and the group. The more two individuals are genetically related, the more sense (at the level of the genes) it makes for them to behave selflessly with each other. Therefore the concept is especially good at explaining many forms of altruism. This should not be confused with misuse of the term along the lines of a selfishness gene.
An organism is expected to evolve to maximise its inclusive fitness - the number of copies of its genes passed on globally (rather than by a particular individual). As a result, populations will tend towards an evolutionarily stable strategy. The book also coins the term meme for a unit of human cultural evolution analogous to the gene, suggesting that such ‘selfish’ replication may also model human culture, in a different sense. Memetics has become the subject of many studies since the publication of the book.
In the foreword to the book's 30th anniversary edition, Dawkins said he ‘can readily see that [the book's title] might give an inadequate impression of its contents’ and in retrospect thinks he should have taken Tom Maschler's advice and called the book The Immortal Gene. Dust jacket illustration from a painting by Desmond Morris, entitled The Expectant Valley.
Richard Dawkins - Clinton Richard Dawkins, DSc, FRS, FRSL is an English ethologist, evolutionary biologist, and writer. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was the University of Oxford's Professor for Public Understanding of Science from 1995 until 2008.
Dawkins came to prominence with his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, which popularised the gene-centred view of evolution and introduced the term meme. In 1982, he introduced into evolutionary biology the influential concept that the phenotypic effects of a gene are not necessarily limited to an organism's body, but can stretch far into the environment, including the bodies of other organisms. This concept is presented in his book The Extended Phenotype.
Dawkins is an atheist, a vice president of the British Humanist Association, and a supporter of the Brights movement. He is well known for his criticism of creationism and intelligent design. In his 1986 book The Blind Watchmaker, he argues against the watchmaker analogy, an argument for the existence of a supernatural creator based upon the complexity of living organisms. Instead, he describes evolutionary processes as analogous to a blind watchmaker.
He has since written several popular science books, and makes regular television and radio appearances, predominantly discussing these topics. In his 2006 book The God Delusion, Dawkins contends that a supernatural creator almost certainly does not exist and that religious faith is a delusion – ‘a fixed false belief’. As of January 2010, the English-language version had sold more than two million copies and had been translated into 31 languages. Dawkins founded the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science to promote the teaching of evolution and to counteract those who advocate classroom programs against evolution.
References: Ridley, Richard Dawkins: How a Scientist Changed the Way We Think 2007. University of Oxford, web. ‘European Biologists rally Behind Richard Dawkins’ Extended Phenotype’ Science Daily 2009, web.
Octavo (book size 22.3x14.6cm), pp. xi [1] 224. In the publisher’s black cloth, spine lettered in gilt. Dust jacket priced ‘£2.95 net in UK’. Condition: Fine in fine dust jacket but for very gentle fading. Ref: 112226 Price: HK$ 23,000