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The Blind Watchmaker:

Why Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design
Front Cover
337 Reviews
W. W. Norton & Company, 1986 - Science - 358 pages
The watchmaker belongs to the eighteenth-century theologian William Paley, who made one of the most famous creationist arguments: Just as a watch is too complicated and too functional to have sprung into existence by accident, so too must all living things, with their far greater complexity, be purposefully designed. It was Charles Darwin's brilliant discovery that put the lie to these arguments. But only Richard Dawkins could have written this eloquent riposte to the creationists. Natural selection - the unconscious, automatic, blind, yet essentially nonrandom process that Darwin discovered - has no purpose in mind. If it can be said to play the role of watchmaker in nature, it is the blind watchmaker. Acclaimed as perhaps the most influential work on evolution written in this century, The Blind Watchmaker offers an engaging and accessible introduction to one of the most important scientific discoveries of all time.
  

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5 stars
133
4 stars
106
3 stars
67
2 stars
22
1 star
9

A great overview of evolution. - Goodreads
Finally, the ending was solidly underwhelming. - Goodreads
Great introduction to evolutionary biology. - Goodreads
A good reference to use for a lesson. - Goodreads
A good introduction to the theory of evolution. - Goodreads
Still, he is an excellent writer. - Goodreads

Review: The Blind Watchmaker

User Review  - Gavin Greenwood - Goodreads

Dawkins is one of the best non-fiction authors that I have ever read. Thus book, as all his others, is a must-read for anyone interested in the science of evolution. Read full review

Review: The Blind Watchmaker

User Review - Goodreads

This was a good book for fleshing out the finer points of why evolution is a process & isn't guided by anything supernatural or otherwise. It is fairly well written & my only gripes are the ...

All 312 reviews »

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Contents

Explaining the very improbable
1
Good design
21
Accumulating small change
43
Making tracks through animal space
77
The power and the archives
111
Origins and miracles
139
Constructive evolution
169
Explosions and spirals
195
Puncturing punctuationism
223
The one true tree of life
255
Doomed rivals
287
Bibliography
321
Index
327
An Application for the Apple Macintosh Computer
335
Computer Programs and The Evolution of Evolvability
351
Copyright

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About the author (1986)

Richard Dawkins writes about such topics as DNA and genetic engineering, virtual reality, astronomy, and evolution. Dawkins was educated at Oxford University and taught zoology at the University of California and Oxford University, holding the position of the Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science. He is a member of the International Academy of Humanism. Dawkins' books include The Selfish Gene, The Extended Phenotype, The Blind Watchmaker, River Out of Eden, and Climbing Mount Improbable. His newest book, entitled The God Delusion, shows how religion fuels war, foments bigotry, and abuses children. Dawkins supports his points with historical and contemporary evidence.

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