Patiently and lucidly, this Los Angeles Times Book Award and Royal Society of Literature Heinemann Prize winner identifies the aspects of the theor...
read full description
reviews
Jan 21, 2012
Paul
rated it: 
I should explain the point about the watchmaker.
A SMALL ROCK
If you’re walking along in the countryside and you come across a rock, you don’t say, well, where the hell did that come from and who made it? It’s a rock. No one cares. There’s no notices stuck on trees or printed in local free newspapers anywhere saying “have you seen this rock? Description – roughly three inches by four by three; last seen in the Dorchester area; undistinctive grey colouring; answers to the n More...
A SMALL ROCK
If you’re walking along in the countryside and you come across a rock, you don’t say, well, where the hell did that come from and who made it? It’s a rock. No one cares. There’s no notices stuck on trees or printed in local free newspapers anywhere saying “have you seen this rock? Description – roughly three inches by four by three; last seen in the Dorchester area; undistinctive grey colouring; answers to the n More...
17 comments
like
(22 people liked it)
Feb 03, 2012
Carlo
rated it: 
One of the most informative and accessible books I read about Evolutionary Biology. I recommend it to anyone who wants an introduction to this interesting topic. I found this book to be even better than the famous The Selfish Gene.
In this book, Dawkins explains the mechanism by which evolution works. Then, he takes one at a time, various arguments against Natural Selection and shows how they cannot be supported by evidence or even sometimes by logic alone.
I mostly liked More...
In this book, Dawkins explains the mechanism by which evolution works. Then, he takes one at a time, various arguments against Natural Selection and shows how they cannot be supported by evidence or even sometimes by logic alone.
I mostly liked More...
8 comments
like
(4 people liked it)
Sep 02, 2008
Félix
rated it:
Dawkins is surely a genius -- but his arrogance sometimes gets on my nerves. The more he rails against creationists the more they twist his words to use against his ideas. The way I see it, with an issue like evolution, you either are ready to accept it or you're not. Even if I prove you wrong with perfect logic, you still think you're right. Right? I mean, especially when you're dealing with the dogma of established religion. I believe you Richard -- but they never will!
6 comments
like
(7 people liked it)
Oct 01, 2008
Mostephl
rated it:
wow and double wow. i read this through and turned back to p.1 to read it again.
blind watchmaker has been amazingly influential in the way i think about just about everything- the world, existence, life forms, physics- down to the micro, myself and my craft. it's sent chills down my spine, made me euphoric and angry. the first for finally addressing questions that have long been in my mind (but receive no echo in society as i've known it), the second for the willful repression of in More...
blind watchmaker has been amazingly influential in the way i think about just about everything- the world, existence, life forms, physics- down to the micro, myself and my craft. it's sent chills down my spine, made me euphoric and angry. the first for finally addressing questions that have long been in my mind (but receive no echo in society as i've known it), the second for the willful repression of in More...
Oct 06, 2007
Charles
rated it: 
Enchantingly beautiful fiction, 23 Mar 2007
Musings of a fideist (a materialistic fideist).
Richard Dawkins has a breathtaking gift for expressive, catchy writing. His handling of illustration and narrative flow like silk. Yet he reminds me of an eloquent 19th century clergyman. His persistent dedication to the high altar of gradualistic explanation, however incredibly improbable, stretches credulity to breaking point. Take for example his extraordin More...
Musings of a fideist (a materialistic fideist).
Richard Dawkins has a breathtaking gift for expressive, catchy writing. His handling of illustration and narrative flow like silk. Yet he reminds me of an eloquent 19th century clergyman. His persistent dedication to the high altar of gradualistic explanation, however incredibly improbable, stretches credulity to breaking point. Take for example his extraordin More...
5 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Feb 08, 2008
Laura
rated it:
This book was okay, but since I already am convinced evolution occurs by natural selection, I felt like he was not preaching to the choir, but trying to convince the choir. Of course, I got tired of it after a while (but I had to keep going, because I had to read it for a class). He comes up with many different arguments/theories for how evolution/natural selection could occur, many of which are interesting, but I would just rather read a science book rather than a philosophical book on evolutio
More...
Sep 04, 2009
Simon
rated it:
Dawkins is one of my top picks for the most articulate, engaging and proficient scientists I've read to date. The Blind Watchmaker turned out to be a very prolific piece. I was baffled by his logical analogies, most excellent examples and extremely engaging vernacular.
In this work, one learns much about the evolutionary adaptations of numerous species, of which the sonar technology of baths, dolphins and other mammals seemed most shocking.
His reasoning of what constitutes miracles, More...
In this work, one learns much about the evolutionary adaptations of numerous species, of which the sonar technology of baths, dolphins and other mammals seemed most shocking.
His reasoning of what constitutes miracles, More...
0 comments
like
(4 people liked it)
Aug 19, 2011
Ergun
rated it:
The Blind Watchmaker is probably one of the best introductory books on evolution.
Dawkins takes his time, explaining step by step how Darwinian evolution works.
Dawkins explains at great length, how species that look like a "complex design" evolve with accumulating small changes via natural selection, why natural selection is "blind"; ie. it lacks purpose, how random mutations combined with non-random natural selection is necessary for evolution to take plac More...
Dawkins takes his time, explaining step by step how Darwinian evolution works.
Dawkins explains at great length, how species that look like a "complex design" evolve with accumulating small changes via natural selection, why natural selection is "blind"; ie. it lacks purpose, how random mutations combined with non-random natural selection is necessary for evolution to take plac More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Jul 27, 2011
This ws a very educational read for me. I think I'm kind of clued up on what evolution is about, stilll this book brings it to an even clear light. It is due much to Dawkins lucid writing and also that he is avoiding much of the academic terminology, even though some is still there. I'm not sure I agreed with everything, but that's another thing. Maybe I got an overall problem with people who thinks evolution is the most brilliant idea ever to have occured. I find it difficult to get away from t
More...
Jul 20, 2011
Russell
rated it:
Essential reading for anyone wanting to better understand how we got here. Dawkins does a wonderful job of explaining adaptive complexity and it becomes clear that Darwinian evolution is not only scientifically sound but also axiomatic: that which can survive does so, and that which cannot survive, does not! In the chapter entitled 'Doomed Rivals' Dawkins also discusses the scientific alternatives to Darwinian selection and demonstrates why they are flawed.
He also shows how punctu More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jun 09, 2011
Kurtbg
rated it: 
To me this book provided the author a way to respond to what he most likely felt as an elegant and very moving argument against evolution by an 18th century theologian William Paley. That's how he derives the books title. But this book is not a tit for tat rebuttal to Paley's work. Instead the book is broken into chapters based on Dawkin's on reasoning behind why evolution is the best way to describe how we came to be here.
Unfortunately, Dawkin's has an edge. He has all the observation More...
Unfortunately, Dawkin's has an edge. He has all the observation More...
Feb 21, 2010
Tony
rated it:
Dawkins, Richard. THE BLIND WATCHMAKER: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design. (1986). ****. If I had read this book by Dawkins when it was published, I’m sure that about 50% of it would have gone right over my head. When I read it now – twenty-four years later – only 40% of it goes over my head. This just shows what experience can do for you. Dawkins, obviously, is trying to debunk the claims of a ‘grand’ designer for the universe and bolster our knowledge and
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jul 18, 2009
Bernie
rated it:
Just finished. I'd already read "The Selfish Gene," so this covered some similar ground but in more depth. As an intelligent nonscientist, I found it a good introduction to a modern understanding of evolution, mostly accessible, though a bit dense in a few sections.
As a refutation of Creationism or "Intelligent Design", the book is pretty much overkill, since "Intelligent Design" is an obviously absurd argument that negates with it's assumed premise the More...
As a refutation of Creationism or "Intelligent Design", the book is pretty much overkill, since "Intelligent Design" is an obviously absurd argument that negates with it's assumed premise the More...
Sep 08, 2009
Tyler
rated it:
I'm a little disappointed here. This was my introduction to Richard Dawkins, and maybe I just picked the wrong book. I was hoping to learn more about the fascinating world of evolutionary biology, but instead got a long-winded, all-over-the-map apologetic response to Creationism and various oddities like Lamarckism and Punctuationism.
This really is an odd book, with the first hundred pages or so mostly devoted to Dawkins's own little computer programming exercise to demonstrate how c More...
This really is an odd book, with the first hundred pages or so mostly devoted to Dawkins's own little computer programming exercise to demonstrate how c More...
Jul 15, 2010
Mostafa
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
2 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Aug 11, 2011
Rev.
rated it:
Alright, I normally read books that OPPOSE my opinions because reading a book like this doesn't really do much for me. No surprise here. I am a Dawkins fan, but this is like the album of the band that came out before they got that sound that you like. There's a lot here, and the first several chapters were great. The later chapters in the book descend into criticisms of alternate theories of adaptation that are either absurdly out of date (Lamarckianism in 1986? Really?) or - as Dawkins sees it
More...
May 22, 2008
"I don't agree with Dawkins much of the time (I find his atheism as fanatical as the religions he criticises), but find him an intelligent and entertaining read. He posits the other side of the coin to the argument for ""intelligent design"". Some very funny correspondence in the Guardian this month (October 2005), included one query that GWBush might be evidence against intelligent design."
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Dec 06, 2009
Stephen
rated it:
The last two chapters took this text from a 4 to a 3 for me. The initial chapters provided a very good overview of how evolution works with particular emphasis on cumulative selection and mutation. The chapter on sexual selection was also quite good, although not quite as good as "The Red Queen" by Matt Ridley. It all falls apart with a dreadful discussion on Taxonomy and continues to descend with a discussion about rival theories to evolution. Taxonomy involves how animals are gro
More...
Aug 07, 2011
Scott
rated it:
The edition I read of this was the 1996 ed. I should say that a lot of it seemed like an endless ramble to me (the entire 1st chapter was totally and exclusively on the definition of complexity, and most of the other chapters seemed to ramble a lot as well), it wasn’t as hard-hitting as I expected it to be offensively or defensively (Refuting arguments like, “The Second Law of Thermodynamics contradicts evolution” or “Evolution is just a Theory,” whose use is discouraged by Answers in Genesis, d
More...
Oct 27, 2009
John
rated it:
I am a strong believer in Darwinism but one of the strongest arguments (or so I thought) against Darwin's theory came from William Paley in the 18th century through the "watchmaker arguement." Though it made sense to me, I was distrustful of this arguement so in attempting to find out why it was wrong I picked up this book. Dawkins has two annoying habits - first, in the words of South Park, Dawkins has to be a dick to everyone that does not agree with him, and second, that he hammer
More...
Dec 28, 2011
David
rated it:
I'm fascinated by evolution, its one of my current favorite topics which kind of leads me back to reading one of the best known evolution writers, Dawkins. This book takes its name from Paley's Watchmaker analogy and tries to show that using evolution the abundance of species we have can get here not because they were created by a creator but by natural processes. The book started off good and has some good parts, but it also is pretty uneven, for example Dawkins has a way of getting off track
More...
Feb 14, 2011
Mark
rated it:
Fantastic book. Not a novel, but a reasoned argument for evolution. A teeny bit boring if you're sold, but the chapter (2) on bat sonar alone is worth the price of admission. Did you know they use doppler chirp sharpening? Did you even know what that is? Me either: bats are so cool.
Terrific arguments, and Dawkins was being argumentative. He's fighting a battle that doesn't NEED a champion, or so it seems to me. A favorite: a thousand monkeys would take forever to type Shakespeare, bu More...
Terrific arguments, and Dawkins was being argumentative. He's fighting a battle that doesn't NEED a champion, or so it seems to me. A favorite: a thousand monkeys would take forever to type Shakespeare, bu More...
Oct 18, 2010
Steve
rated it:
Written in 1986, The Blind Watchmaker is essentially a response to the creationist argument that the complexity in nature couldn't possibly have come about without an intelligent designer. If you recently read 'The Greatest Show on Earth' and want to follow it up with another of the author's books on evolution, I strongly recommend this one as it represents Dawkins at his very best - intelligible, illuminating and engaging; a masterpiece of a book that lays bare the subtleties and elegance of ev
More...
Jul 07, 2009
Serene
rated it:
Dawkins has a down-to-earth, humorous at times, way of explaining difficult concepts in a simple manner. His presentation of evolution as traveling through a "space" of animals, his discussion of Cairns-Smith's theory of the origin of life, and his explanation of the variable rates that evolution might proceed at were all fascinating. I understood evolution much better after reading this, particularly on the genetic level (which my high-school education treated only lightly.)
More...
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Feb 18, 2011
Broodingferret
rated it:
While competently executed, The Blind Watchmaker is not one of Dawkins' best works. This book was, effectively, his first attempt at explaining the theory of evolution to a lay audience and it shows (I say "effectively" because The Selfish Gene was intended to be for a wider audience but wound up being presented in such a way as to make it hard to access for those with nil to no scientific training). While Dawkins' style of writing is lucid and engaging, the metaphors that he chooses
More...
Sep 16, 2011
Sameer
rated it:
Fairly well written explanation of evolution. This is meant for a lay audience so don't expect any real biology. In fact, Dawkins goes to great lengths to avoid any technical terms and instead uses overly complicated analogies to real life situations as replacements. One of the things that bothered me about this book is that Dawkins doesn't seem interested in evolution for its own sake but more so because it's an argument against religion. You can see this clouding his arguments in some cases. F
More...
Sep 04, 2008
Greg
rated it:
Terrifically fun to read. If you ever felt like kicking a right-wing born again evangelical Christian who denies evolution in the shins -- well this book is at least that satisfying!
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jul 28, 2009
James
rated it:
I enjoyed reading this book. It was written in the late 80's by British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. It is a detailed description of how evolution works with many examples. It also goes into various 1980's computer models of evolution, which is kind of entertaining to read in 2009. There are some direct refutations of creationist counter arguments that are very much old news to anyone who has read anything about this debate.
Evolution is the cornerstone of modern biology. More...
Evolution is the cornerstone of modern biology. More...
Sep 18, 2011
Gary
rated it:
Surprisingly simple-minded and repetitious.
I wanted to read more thoughtful and example filled essays like Steven Jay Gould's exploration of the mis-understood natural history situations which seem to contradict evolution.
Instead, it's a hand-waving pseudo math of natural selection, where EVERYthing can be accepted as gradualistic because 10% and even 1% of the trait's goodness is also good.
I HATE creationist narrative, but found this essays very weakly suppo More...
I wanted to read more thoughtful and example filled essays like Steven Jay Gould's exploration of the mis-understood natural history situations which seem to contradict evolution.
Instead, it's a hand-waving pseudo math of natural selection, where EVERYthing can be accepted as gradualistic because 10% and even 1% of the trait's goodness is also good.
I HATE creationist narrative, but found this essays very weakly suppo More...
May 09, 2011
John
rated it:
A sometimes dense and "preachy" examination of evolution and the meaning of the Darwinian explanation of life. While I'm not a biologist I very much like the book and his step-by-step refutation of the other expanations of the origin and development of life on earth. Many years ago I read his "Selfish Gene" and had forgotten his connection to the book, but had become reaquainted with Dawkins through his criticisms of creationism. It was nice to read this book as a reconnectio
More...
