Rating: 
Summary: Dawkins: brilliant but dense reading
Review: 1) The fine print is hard on the eyes.
2) Dawkins' brilliant points are buried between tendentious rebuttals of criticism of his own prior works, and belabored claims of errors by evolutionary analysts such as Lewontin and Gould. This is less a book about evolution than a book of argument piled on argument about evolution. (Indeed, Daniel Dennett recommends it for just this reason: that it is a `feast' for the professional philosopher, of `masterful, sustained chains of rigorous argument...' To each his own.)
3) This book is out-of-date. These overlong critiques and disputations are not only tiresome, but they are by now over two decades old. It's like a review of the literature, circa 1982.
4) It is a tedious read. Where Gould I think wrote to enrich and educate his readers, Dawkins in this book seems more motivated by an obsession that for any point of dispute, no matter how picayune, Dawkins must have the last word - or more typically, the last hundred or thousand.
5) Dawkins anthropomorphizes genes and other replicators, as if they intend the effects they have on their environment, or aspire to be better replicators. (And if he complains that in this criticism I pick on his language and images instead of focusing on the points he tries to illuminate thereby, I would reply: "Yes, sir, as do you, only I did it in twenty-five words or less.")
Rating: 
Summary: Essentials of life's story
Review: 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 once. That's not a challenge or a chore, it's a pleasure.Dawkins, unlike other science writers, is forthright in declaring his advocacy in writing this book. It's a refreshing start to his most serious effort. After publication of The Selfish Gene led to a storm of fatuous criticism, Extended Phenotype comes in response with more detail of how the gene manifests itself in the organism and its environment. It's clear that Dawkins' critics, who label him an "Ultra-Darwinist" [whatever that is] haven't read this book. His critics frequently argue that The Selfish Gene doesn't operate in a vacuum, but must deal within some kind of environment, from an individual cell to global scenarios. Dawkins deftly responds to critics in describing how genes rely on their environment for successful replication. If the replication doesn't survive in the environment it finds itself, then it, and perhaps its species, will die out. The child's favourite question, "why" is difficult enough for parents and teachers to answer. Yet, as thinking humans we've become trained to deal with that question nearly every context. So well drilled that we consider something for which that question has no answer to be suspicious if not insidious. Part of Dawkins presentation here reiterates that there is no "why" to either the process of evolution nor its results. It isn't predictable, inevitable or reasonable. It's a tough situation to cope with, but Dawkins describes the mechanism with such precision and clarity, we readily understand "how" if not "why" evolution works. We comprehend because Dawkins does such an outstanding job in presenting its mechanics. This edition carries three fine finales: Dawkins well thought out bibliography, a glossary, and most prized, indeed, an Afterword by Daniel C. Dennett. If any defense of this book is needed, Dennett is a peerless champion for the task. Dennett's capabilities in logical argument are superbly expressed here. As he's done elsewhere {Darwin's Dangerous Idea], Dennett mourns the lack of orginality and logic among Dawkins' critics. Excepting the more obstinate ones, these seem to be falling by the wayside. It's almost worthwhile reading Dennett's brief essay before starting Dawkins. It would be a gift to readers beyond measure if these two ever collaborated on a book.
Rating: 
Summary: Why Will Dawkins not admit he's wrong
Review: Dawkins refuses to let it go. Astrobiology and microbiology is pushing the final nail in the coffin of this ultra-Darwinist garbage. BUT, Dawkins refuses to let it go, using same flawed reasoninng to back his claims. It is time to abandon the current evolutionary paradigm, and ebrace the more than plausible models that have been pushed away by dogma of ultra-Darwinists.
Rating:
Summary: Confusion Multiplies
Review: Dawkins takes the thesis of his "Selfish Gene", and tries to meet the critics by further expanding the "action at a distance" aspects of the idea. Dawkins just doesn't seem to get it -- evolution doesn't see the individual gene. It only "sees" the fitness of the individual and evaluates the total fitness relative to others in the locality. Fitness is normally the product of a constellation of genes, which manifest a characteristic or characteristics. He does start to move towards the importance of the individual or the body, but doesn't want to let loose of this single gene idea. Parsimony of assumptions crumbles as he adds issue upon issue to try to emerge from the blind alley he has created. The piling on of assumptions and attempts to use language to craft a logic for a perspective that nature does not recognize is masterful. Science is, however, not about nuance or language. It should be an attempt to describe and explain what nature has put before us.
I guess, if I had sold enough books called "The Selfish Gene", and had as much invested in it, I'd not go easily, either. Save your time, and read "Darwins Dangerous Idea", by Dennett, or anything by Gould or Eldridge.
Rating:
Summary: A scholarly exposition of "the long reach of the gene".
Review: Firstly in reference to another review below, I think it is mean-spirited to give a negative review to a book you confess not to be capable of understanding!
This book was marketed as the sequel to The Selfish Gene, and chronologically it certainly was. However, the book is far more scholarly in its approach and for that reason is different in tone from Dawkins' other major works. Dawkins states at the outset that he is writing primarily for the professional biologist, but that anyone who makes the effort may understand and enjoy the work (I paraphrase).
This is true. With occasional reference to the helpful and educational glossary provided at the back of the book, I found it easy to make progress, to enjoy and to follow the arguments presented. I highly recommend this to all professionals, and to all others who may have read Dawkins' other works and feel ready to go deeper.
Rating:
Summary: Why Will Dawkins not admit he's wrong
Review: I once bought this book at a university bookstore, but I later returned it. It was ok I guess, but a bit too technical for my tastes -- it's more something I'd rather check out from the library than something I'd want to own.
Rating:
Summary: For True Believers its not really that surprising...
Review: If you haven't read "The Selfish Gene", stop, go back and read that book. If you really _get_ the message presented there, that replicators (DNA) have built all of the life on earth, then this book is not as revealing as Dawkins seems to think it is. By this, I mean that there are no knew insights, only explanations of how DNA behaves. I can only suppose that most readers of TSG are not actually aware of the full implications of the idea he presented in that book. If you understand that DNA builds organisms, and that genes cooperate to the extent necessary for each to insure its own continued existence, then the idea that genes in different organisms, species, etc... can cooperate is not surprising. The reader will definitely learn a lot about how genes cooperate and compete with one another, and for this alone, the book is worth reading. But, if you understand that genes make organisms (when it suits them), and that organisms do not _use_ genes to reproduce themselves, then you may be disappointed to find that this book lacks something that a groundbreaking book like The Selfish Gene necessarily contains. Still, highly recommended, a powerful exploration of replicator phenomenology. (Note: if you have read this book, and think I've missed the point, please email me your interpretation, or where you think I've gone wrong.)
Rating:
Summary: Dawkins does get it.
Review: One of the reviewers here claims that Dawkins doesn't get that evolution doesn't see individual genes, but only individual organisms. This person isn't getting Dawkins!! Dawkins is saying individuals are a products of complex genetic interplay and that the influence of genes (singly or in groups) can extend outside the individual. The individual-centric viewpoint is only a viewpoint. In fact individuals are NOT selected by natural selection (all humans that have ever lived so far have eventually died!) GENES are selected -- albeit in groups since they reside together in an individual (this is their mini-environment)--though not permanently since recombination ensures genes will be shuffled regularly into new, though similar, micro-environments. My grandfathers genes live on -- though my grandfather is dead. Dawkins is repsenting a different viewpoint on GENETIC selection as he explains in the preface of the book. And it is a brilliant viewpoint. Genes have an influence on the world, that includes both the characterisitics and behaviors of individual organisms in which they reside as well as the behavior of organisms and artiftacts outside that individual. Really one of the great books in evolution. Let me put it another way--Is a physicits wrong when he claims the desk I sit at is mostly empty space? Sure looks solid to me, I say. But at the micro-level the desk is indeed mostly empty space and if neurtrinos could talk they would surely attest to this fact. One has to open one's mind to see that Dawkin's gene-centric perspective is as valid as the old-fasioned model and indeed leads to new insights and illuminations. That's thw whole point of him presenting this view after all!!! Isn't that waht good theory is supposed to do?
Rating: 
Summary: Very Good, also very difficult
Review: Richard Dawkins is one of the most interesting popular science writers working today, and usually his books are filled with insight and perception about evolution (and other topics), written in clear and effective prose. This book is different from most of Dawkins's books, as it targets biologists rather than laypeople, and so it is a much more frustrating and difficult reading for such readers. Frankly, if you are, like me, a lay person, don't read this book before reading other books by Dawkins, most notably The Selfish Gene, but also other stuff by him. I doubt I would have understood this book had it been my introduction to Dawkins's ideas. The glossary, though helpful, is far from complete and rarely detailed enough. But for all this, The Extended Phenotype is richer in observations and ideas then any other book by Dawkins I have ever read. Dawkins says this is his best book, and you can see that he has a point. The book has three main themes. The first is discussion of left over issues from The Selfish Gene, answering criticism and elaborating on the ideas in that book. The second is clarifying some issues in discussion of evolution, such as replicators and vehicles, fitness, etc. The third one, and the one for which Dawkins is most proud is his 'Extended Phenotype' - the concept that genes operate on the enviornment, and that the body (the individual organism) is a link in the chain of orders passing from DNA to the external phenotype - beaver dams or host behaviour that helps the parasite, or any other activity that helps the genes. Frankly, the concept of the extended phenotype is best explained in the chapter about 'The Long reach of the gene' in the new (1989) edition of 'The Selfish Gene'. The book is actually best when Dawkins deals with the two other themes -difining genes for example, and discussing replicators. Those chapters are masterworks of clear, essential thinking, of which Dawkins is always a champion. Finally, one would wish that the book was updated. Many discussions are based on information that at the time was brand new, and follow up would be useful. uinfortunately, Dunnet's afterword does not do the trick, and is more of a hymn to Dawkins (albeit a justified one) than anything else. 'The Extended Phenotype' is not an easy read, but it is definetly worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Fascinating
Review: This book, while more technical than Dawkins' other works, is still easily accessible to any layperson willing to think long and hard about the concepts (and to use the glossary!). The book's basic premise - essentially, that a beaver's dam should be considered as much a product of beaver genes as a beaver's body - is right on target. Not to mention that seeing this type of old problem in a new light is becoming Dawkins' specialty - in "The Selfish Gene", he popularized and expanded the theory of gene-based natural selection and also developed the concept of memes as the basis of cultural evolution; now he shows that phenotypic effects extend far beyond the boundaries of the body. Dawkins also takes this opportunity to expand on his theory of the replicator, or replicating entity, and develop its classification further. I'd recommend reading the book after The Selfish Gene just to get the concepts down (unless you're familiar with evolution - and NOT of the punctuationist variety!).
|
