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Blind Watchmaker
by
Richard Dawkins (Goodreads Author)
Twenty years after its original publication, The Blind Watchmaker, framed with a new introduction by the author, is as prescient and timely a book as ever. The watchmaker belongs to the eighteenth-century theologian William Paley, who argued that just as a watch is too complicated and functional to have sprung into existence by accident, so too must all living things, with...more
Paperback, 496 pages
Published
September 19th 1996
by W. W. Norton & Company
(first published January 1st 1986)
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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
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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
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!
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
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
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
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
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
Joseph Sverker
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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
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
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
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
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
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
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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
"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."
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.)
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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
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
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!
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
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
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
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| Blind Watchmaker | 4 | 30 | May 19, 2011 11:27pm |
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“There is something infantile in the presumption that somebody else has a responsibility to give your life meaning and point… The truly adult view, by contrast, is that our life is as meaningful, as full and as wonderful as we choose to make it.”
—
30 people liked it
“The Bishop goes on to the human eye, asking rhetorically, and with the implication that there is no answer, 'How could an organ so complex evolve?' This is not an argument, it is simply an affirmation of incredulity.”
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14 people liked it
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