Genetics and Health

Richard Dawkins’s The Selfish Gene

by Hsien Hsien Lei, PhD on March 5th, 2006

One of the most influential books in genetics and evolutionary biology, The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. I’m embarrassed to say that I’ve never finished reading the book but will make it a point to do so this year.

Harvard psychology professor Dr. Steven Pinker discusses the book in The Times where there’s also a list of “science books that changed the world”:

• DE REVOLUTIONIBUS ORBIUM COELESTIUM (On the Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres)
  Nicolaus Copernicus, 1543
• ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES
  Charles Darwin, 1859
• SOCIOBIOLOGY: THE NEW SYNTHESIS
  Edward O. Wilson, 1975
• GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL
  Jared Diamond, 1997

How many of these have you read?

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POSTED IN: Genetics Book Reviews