The Extended Phenotype: The Gene as the Unit of Selection

Dawkins, R.

ISBN 10: 0198576099 / ISBN 13: 9780198576099

Published by Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1983

About this Item

viii, 307, . . HB. Lamination peeling from bottom corner of rear cover. Vg. First paperback edition. (The original hardback edition was published by W.H. Freeman, 1982). This book is in some respects a logical development of The Selfish Gene (1976). Dawkins considered this work as his principal contribution to evolutionary theory. [9780198576099]. Seller Inventory # S46399

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Extended Phenotype: The Gene as the Unit...

Publisher: Oxford University Press, Oxford

Publication Date: 1983

Binding: Soft cover

Condition: Very Good

Edition: 1st Edition

About this title

Synopsis:

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 Selfish Gene. He proposes that we look at evolution as a battle between genes instead of between whole organisms. We can then view changes in phenotypes--the end products of genes, like eye color or leaf shape, which are usually considered to increase the fitness of an individual--as serving the evolutionary interests of genes.
Dawkins makes a convincing case that considering one's body, personality, and environment as a field of combat in a kind of "arms race" between genes fighting to express themselves on a strand of DNA can clarify and extend the idea of survival of the fittest. This influential and controversial book illuminates the complex world of genetics in an engaging, lively manner.

About the Author:

About the Author:
Richard Dawkins is a Fellow of New College and Lecturer in Animal Behavior at Oxford University. He is the author of The Selfish Gene and The Blind Watchmaker.