Rating: 
Summary: Very interesting
Review: Dawkins Selfish Gene is a rather interesting and seemingly plausible theory of evolution at the level of the gene. He provides an excellent intro on ESS (evolutionary stable strategies) and the prisoner's dilemna game in the context of biology. I am now anxious to read the extended phenotype. Also, be warned that if you have a basic biology education there will be some easy reading in this book, but there are enough new insights to warrant reading it and seriously considering Dawkins selfish gene theory which seems to me to have much merit.
Rating: 
Summary: Supremely Important Book
Review: This is a must read for anyone who wants to know how the world works. If you have a logical and rational mind and have searched for answers about why humans exist and what we're doing on this planet, this is the book for you. Many people choose to believe in fairy tales, myths and lies in order to make themselves feel better about their meaningless lives. This book is not for them.
Rating: 
Summary: Alien attack on religion
Review: ------- -------The first few pages of The Selfish Gene carry an enormous amount of inanities, falsehoods, and outright lies. First Dawkins wishes to inform the reader that his book is science, by saying that it is science. But saying that it's science doesn't mean that Dawkins applies scientific methodology, systemises or formalises his theory, or has submitted his work for peer-review in scientific journals, or any of the other things one would expect from something that is supposed to be science. Dawkins conscpicuously doesn't do these things, leaving his work more correctly classed as a philosphical thinkpiece about genes as the unit of selection. The work carries blatant religious overtones, for instance when he talks about knowing evolution theory being a defining charateristic of civilization. It follows that Dawkins must think himself to be one of the most civilized men on earth, since he knows evolution theory so well. A crucial mistake he makes is in confusing contingent moral behaviour with mechanical behaviour of genes. For instance he asserts that genes can explain our greed. It is no coincedence that this pseudo-scientific intellectualism is used by Nazi-propagandists to justify racism. Avoid.
Rating:
Summary: the barely known/never taught spin on things
Review: the take on genetics and our genes that you would never even think it could be. but after reading dawkin's words the apparent truth is revealed. is it us being us or just the selfish little gene at play?
Rating:
Summary: Classic science writing so good it's almost religious
Review: "The Selfish Gene" is essential science literacy reading. It is the single clearest introduction to the concept of natural selection at the level of genes, the central concept in modern evolutionary theory. A classic of engaging and illuminating science writing that gets the point across. Maybe too well. On the down side, the selfishness metaphor does seem to take many readers on a journey that Dawkins doesn't seem to intend, extending "selfishness" beyond the limited way it is used in the book, and even offering them some sort of alternate religion. That's the power of a really strong metaphor, it tends to take on a life of its own. Dawkins begins to address that I think in his classic introduction in this book of the concept of "memes" as units of cultural replication akin to genes. That's an idea that has yet to be completely shaken out I think, as far as addressing the specific units that memes represent, and how generally and usefully we can model their propagation characteristics without reference to the specifics of the vehicles replicating them. Thinking of genes as selfish sometimes distracts people from gaining a further understanding of the tremendous complexity of the evolutionary process, and all else that is also going on. That weakness however is more a side-effect of the tremendous strength of Dawkins' argument than any problem that can be faulted to him in this book. There's also the technical issue of the gene's eye view of the world, which tends to dominate modern evolutionary thinking, because it is believed to dominate evolutionary processes. There are however probably some conditions under which other levels of selection make significant contributions to evolved characteristics. Dawkins doesn't go much beyond things like inclusive fitness and allusions to reciprocal altruism in explaining why some people and other organisms will sacrifice themselves (sometimes for strangers !), and why such a thing as a non-reproductive drone should be constructed by selfish genes. "The Selfish Gene" doesn't really address this in a satisfactory way. Other authors, such as Elliot Sobel, Robert Wright, John Maynard Smith, and Brian Skyrms have explored these kinds of questions (regarding levels of selection in evolution) better. Also, for those topics, look into the excellent introduction to modern evolutionary thinking in "Sex and Death" by Sterelny and Griffiths, which gives a broader picture, though it lacks the focused clarity and near-relgious force of Dawkins' brilliant exposition of the selfish gene metaphor.
Rating:
Summary: Man of strong religious convictions
Review: This book is a very valuable tool that can be used in exploring the strong faith of the author. He is somehow able to use even the most obscure associations of events and facts to seemingly prove what is in essence blind faith in a conclusion that he has evidently drawn before he wrote the first line. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in researching the power that seems to be inherent in humans to twist any fact into a conclusion that is in keeping with our liking. I would recommend that this book be read along with Behe's "Darwin's Black Box." Dawkin's should probably read it as well.
Rating:
Summary: A whole new view of life
Review: This book is about biology and genetics, in which I am only slightly interested, but what is REALLY IMPORTANT to me it that it answers some of the oldest and most important questions we (as humans) have asked ourselves: - Who (or what) are we? - Why are we here? - What are we here for? READ THE BOOK! The answers suprised me, intrigued me and changed the way I look at the world ... and made me read a bunch of other books. You might think I exaggerate, but it is the best money I've ever spent. Jose Fernandez-Calvo josefc@hotmail.com PS: In this book Dawkins introduced the concept of "memes" an idea that is fascinating and has caught on like wildfire!
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Summary: Engaging, thorough account of evolution for laypersons
Review: This is the first book that you should read if you want to know more about evolution, and not only that, if you want to explain it clearly to others. Dawkins does particularly well in using analogies to illustrate to the layperson what would otherwise be nearly impenetrable scientific concepts. He makes the journey exciting, because of his illumination of otherwise baffling animal behavior, including that of human beings. The book could benefit from breaks within chapters, because it is awfully hard to read in small chunks. Also, illustrations might help with some of the trickier concepts. But overall, this is a highly engaging, informative book. It has and will continue to introduce many to the fascinating subject of evolution.
Rating: 
Summary: Keep your friends close....
Review: This is must reading, but mainly to know what to expect from those who will take up these old and tired arguments about how evolution works at the level of the gene. I get tired of reading popular science books where one author pats another author on the back who pats their author-friend on the back, and so on, in a bought of reciprocal altruism. The Selfish Gene sits at the top of a giant chain letter, where those at the bottom of the chain (the readers) pay the price. When reviews are posted here saying that Dawkins' ideas have stood the test of time, they are correct, but only in the popsci circles. Real peer-reviewed papers in biological journals say otherwise, Ridley notwithstanding.
Rating:
Summary: A jewel to understand animal behavior and evolution.
Review: This book should be readed by anybody who likes biology, specially etology (study of animal behavior), and evolution, it is really an eye opener to the why of so many strange animal functions, from the most basic self perpetuation to the most complex, beauty genes, sexual and agression reactions, and why the human is in most cases a really strange and contradictory animal. On the second and, I guess, later editions there is a final chapter that introduces the term memes, with which the author tries to explain some of the human behavior using his theory.
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