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50th out of 174 books
—
160 voters
The Extended Phenotype: The Long Reach of the Gene
by
Richard Dawkins (Goodreads Author)
People commonly view evolution as a process of competition between individuals—known as “survival of the fittest”—with the individual representing the “unit of selection.” Richard Dawkins offers a controversial reinterpretation of that idea in The Extended Phenotype, now being reissued to coincide with the publication of the second edition of his highly-acclaimed The Selfi...more
Paperback, 336 pages
Published
August 5th 1999
by Oxford University Press, USA
(first published 1982)
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The book is a logical continuation of his devastating book The Selfish Gene. Here Dawkins turns his critical eye and razor sharp words to evolutionary views that take the individual organism as the definitive playing field for natural selection to operate.
Using the gene's eye view of life that he developed so well in The Selfish Gene, he shows that animal artifacts are better understood as objects engineered by natural selection, rather than as by products of the behavior of organisms. He als...more
Using the gene's eye view of life that he developed so well in The Selfish Gene, he shows that animal artifacts are better understood as objects engineered by natural selection, rather than as by products of the behavior of organisms. He als...more
The essentials of life's story: Biodiversity is more than a buzzword for ecologists. Variation gives life its grandeur, and Richard Dawkins gives us a description of the workings of variation. Fortunately, with a sharp mind and sharper wit, he has the ability to deliver this portrayal so that nearly everyone can understand it. That's not to say this book is an easy read. Although he delivers his narration as if sitting with you in a quiet study, you may still need to review his words more than o...more
The main idea of this book is rather simple: Genes do not only program the physical development of the organisms that they "live in." Rather they also program stuff that occurs outside of the organism. The genes found in most bird species program the development of nests in the exact same sense that they program the development of wings. There are genes in the beaver gene-pool that program dams just like there are genes that program whiskers.
The extension of the phenotype gets more interesting,...more
The extension of the phenotype gets more interesting,...more
A response to his earlier and more successful book THE SELFISH GENE (TSG). It tries to address some questions and inadequacies in that work. It primary function however was to offer a meditative position between group selection and gene/individual selection in the burgeoning evolution wars at the time of the books publication.
In that regard the book wildly missed its mark. As the majority of people on both sides of the debate took a more hardline stance on whatever they believed rather then loo...more
In that regard the book wildly missed its mark. As the majority of people on both sides of the debate took a more hardline stance on whatever they believed rather then loo...more
A wonderufl book for anyone interested in biology or genetics. It talks about how natural selection can be altered and produce very shocking results. It explains how the peacock got it's tail and the interesting train of between being desirable as a mate and being able to survive. It's a facinating book.
An extra read for those who liked "The Selfish Gene". This one was written for biologists but the glossary in the end of the book and Dawkins' illuminating prose make it easy to follow. The first chapters are aimed at precluding any possible misunderstandings of what Dawkins meant in "The Selfish Gene". The last four chapters explain the long-reach-of-the-gene idea and argue that the phenotypical effects are not limited to one organism. With a multitude of examples Dawkins demonstrates that ther...more
"[The] 'central theorem' of the extended phenotype: An animal's behaviour tends to maximize the survival of the genes 'for' that behaviour, whether or not those genes happen to be in the body of the particular animal
performing it." p233
Dawkin's theory of the extended phenotype is given full expression in this his self-proclaimed favorite work. It is only now that I realize the publication of The Extended Phenotype (TEP) was in 1982, a mere three years after my favorite work of his The Selfish Ge...more
performing it." p233
Dawkin's theory of the extended phenotype is given full expression in this his self-proclaimed favorite work. It is only now that I realize the publication of The Extended Phenotype (TEP) was in 1982, a mere three years after my favorite work of his The Selfish Ge...more
As Dawkins warns at the outset, whereas the Selfish Gene was written for the layman, the Extended Phenotype is written for the professional biologist. This is why I think I'm being terribly unfair with just a three-star rating, but at least I'm being honest. It's not that I couldn't keep up with the level of argument and the abundance of technical terms, no - I just didn't care! I have no interest in the nuances of the evolution wars that were going on at Dawkin's time of writing, and I complete...more
This book contains wonderfully interesting information about the animal world. I had no idea that some of those bizarre parasitic organisms existed or that many of the commonly known organisms have such elaborate strategies for competing with each other. If you liked The Selfish Gene, then be reassured that The Extended Phenotype is full of the type of factoids that you enjoyed in the first book. The problem is that it is a poorly written book with too many long tangents upon tangents. This lead...more
Well, that took a while. This book is not for everyone. Dawkins himself says in the Introduction that this book is intended for professional biologists and not laymen, and it is no understatement. Halfway through the book I had to stop and take a break, during which I read the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, a trashy queer beach-read and two graphic novels.
This book is absolutely fascinating, though it requires quite a bit of rigor to complete (having an encyclop...more
This book is absolutely fascinating, though it requires quite a bit of rigor to complete (having an encyclop...more
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you stand in the midst of uncountable interlocking fields of replicator power!!!
an extended phenotypic character i teh product of teh intereaction of many genes whose influence impinges from both inside and outside the organism.
this book follows on logically from the selfish gene and takes the genes eye view all the way outward from the gene to its ultimate effects.
genes exert quatitative, mutually interactive, mutually modifying, effects on a shared phenotype.
natural selection is the process...more
an extended phenotypic character i teh product of teh intereaction of many genes whose influence impinges from both inside and outside the organism.
this book follows on logically from the selfish gene and takes the genes eye view all the way outward from the gene to its ultimate effects.
genes exert quatitative, mutually interactive, mutually modifying, effects on a shared phenotype.
natural selection is the process...more
It was very interesting to read an earlier work by Richard Dawkins, especially one aimed at a scientific audience. He presents some fascinating ideas regarding the approach we take to quantifying evolution, and The Extended Phenotype is certainly a necessary piece of reading for anyone working in a related field. The first half of the book seemed bloated, however; he could have made all the necessary points in just one or two chapters, and I found the sheer length of reading before getting to th...more
Dawkins will always sparkle and charm me, even despite his unbelievable refusal to admit the adaptive nature of faith (in god, in whatever 'helps' a group of people cohere). This book, however, has become less impressive the more I understand genetics. I wish this book had been co-written with a geneticist, but absent that, the greater point still holds: just as the individual genes cannot be assessed without considering their host bodies, we cannot assess them without consideration of their aff...more
Very detailed, and perhaps most of all scientific, analysis of how the little things in life... literally, are the ones that drive change--at least biologically. Things can get pretty technical and minute, and perhaps overly defensive with all the rebuttals of other authors that sure makes it tempting to just skip a few paragraphs or even pages just to get to the summary of the idea he's trying to get across... the ideas are grand but the delivery a bit too verbose--
Aqui neste livro, o brilhante Zoólogo Geneticista Dawkins traz o contra-argumento da seleção natural Darwiniana e o extremo da filosofia de Capra (A Teia da Vida). Ele defende que os animais, especialmente os seres humanos, são egoístas por essência, devido à uma predisposição gênica inerente a sua sobrevivência. O altruísmo, assim, seria um modo não racional de existência e fadado ao fracasso evolutivo, pois evita a competição entre genes. Não sou a favor de sua teoria, embora concorde com algu...more
A good book, very detailed points on previous ideas that have been made. I really love the idea of the extended phenotype. I am studying Zoology and I am in my second year, my mind did get a bit confused at certain parts of the book. I think I will be getting this on the kindle as I found the text size too small so I couldn't read this book for long amounts of time, which I think is a shame as it made me loose concentration and forget parts of the book which where latered referred to.
Anyone wit...more
Anyone wit...more
Not as approachable as "The Selfish Gene," but it's a very strong follow-up for people who want more and who are willing to do a little work... Because of the rigor and the slightly different tilt of the book, there are many broader implications revealed through this treatment that weren't evident to me from "The Selfish Gene." As a non-biologist, the discussions frequently pushed me to their implications in the non-genetic meme-scape.
The idea that the genes which benefit most from a given animal's behavior may be genes that lie in some other animal is a very intriguing addition to the contemporary understanding of animal behavior. Dawkins is partial to comparing animal bodies to robots, and the point of this book (if we stay in the metaphor) is that they're robots which can be programmed by outside forces -- even hostile ones.
I was pretty proud of myself for getting through this one. Not because it's boring - Dawkins is never boring! - but I'm definitely a layperson and this one is far more technical than the others I'd read. But I'm glad I stuck with it, because it gives more depth and perspective on the ideas in the more populist books.
Another powerful book by Richard Dawkins following in the glorious footsteps of The Selfish Gene of which this is a sequel. These two books together are the most compelling argument for the gene's eye view of evolution. My 2nd favorite book by Richard Dawkins (and I have read quite a few).
The follow-up to the brilliant work The Selfish Gene. Only the last few chapters actually focus directly on the extended phenotype concept, which was disappointing to me, as I thought it was one of Dawkins's more intriguing ideas introduced in this book's precursor. Those chapters are indeed the best and most interesting; much of the rest is spent defending the selfish gene concept from criticisms and making small but not especially revelatory touch-ups on the basic theory. It's still very good...more
Like his first book on The Selfish Gene, it was a lucid read though in this book the tone is slightly more formal, together with more inline citations like how a report/paper should read. The new idea is mainly on extended phenotype, which built on the idea of selfish gene. The refreshing idea was itself a merit even if one does not believe in it.
So Dr. MacKinnon said she would be bit skeptical about how reductionistic this approach is (note for James). But otherwise its an interesting read and pretty stimulating.
The language of the book cannot be called simple and it takes some efforts to follow the authors reasoning, but these efforts will reap big reward. In process of reading you will experience the happiness of discovers time and again, have finished the book you will get another angle of view of the phenomenon of life. Don't panic, extend your mind.
Good, but fairly technical. Prepare to spend some time on Wikipedia if you don't understand words such as haplodiploid and homozygous.
Dawkins has an interesting theory that our genes drive us and compel us to protect the genes not our specific offspring.
Recommended for anybody interested in the evolution of "weird" animal behaviour, or generally evolution.
Wonderful follow on to The Selfish Gene. Changes completely how one views life (at the mechanical level). Highly recommended.
This is the one to read. Anyone who wants to say anything about Dawkins should read this first.
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