num_pages: 307
description: The common view of evolution is that it is the process of competition between individuals—"survival of the fittest"—so that the individual is seen as the "unit of selection." But the newest book from the author of The Selfish Gene proposes a controversial re-interpretation of that idea: what if we look at evolution as a battle between genes instead of between whole organisms? The changes in phenotypes (the end products of genes, like eye color or leaf shape)—which are usually seen as increasing the fitness of an individual—would thus be seen as serving the evolutionary interests of genes.As strange as it might seem to consider 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, Dawkins makes a convincing case that such a point of view can clarify and extend the idea of survival of the fittest. As he carefully unfolds his argument, Dawkins illuminates the complex world of genetics in his engaging and lively style.Cover design by Marsha CohenA Galaxy Book • Oxford University Press • New York
language: English
title: The Extended Phenotype: The Gene as a Unit of Selection
titlecomplete: The Extended Phenotype: The Gene as a Unit of Selection
genres: Nature, Popular Science, Philosophy, Psychology, Biology, Science, Genetics, Atheism, Nonfiction, Evolution
ratings_count: 9109
publisher: Oxford University Press