Recommendations from our site
“I chose this because I think it expresses a really important idea. Richard Dawkins wrote this book not long after The Selfish Gene came out. That was his landmark book, in which he argued for a gene-centric view of evolution. Genes build bodies. They build traits, which are known as phenotypes, in order to be replicated in the next generation. In this book Dawkins took this argument to the next level. He said that when we think of the phenotype, we think about fur or eyesight or the red blood cell’s ability to take in oxygen. But genes influence behaviour, and so behaviour is part of the phenotype. And that behaviour allows animals to change their environment in ways that can then raise their reproductive success.” Read more...
The best books on The Strangeness of Life
Carl Zimmer, Journalist
“This is one of my favourite books by Richard Dawkins. I like them all, but this is the one that I think is the most imaginative and compelling. It is slightly more technical than The Selfish Gene, but it shows a highly imaginative approach to understanding the nature of the biosphere. The Extended Phenotype is really an explanation of why an organism should not be seen just in isolation, but rather as part of a wider community of organisms and entities. It is a very clever book.” Read more...
The best books on The Emergence of Understanding
Peter Atkins, Scientist
