Richard Dawkins How a scientist changed the way we think

Subtitled, "How A Scientist Changed The Way We Think". Leading scientists, philosophers, novelists, and media figures contribute to this witty, and at times controversial, analysis of how one man has changed how we think about evolution.

Published to coincide with the 30th anniversary of The Selfish Gene, this sparkling collection explores the impact of Richard Dawkins as scientist, rationalist, and one of the most important thinkers alive today. Specially commissioned pieces by leading figures in science, philosophy, literature, and the media, such as Daniel C. Dennett, Matt Ridley, Steven Pinker, Philip Pullman, and the Bishop of Oxford, highlight the breadth and range of Dawkins' influence on modern science and culture, from the gene's eye view of evolution to his energetic engagement in public debates on science, rationalism, and religion. This volume, which includes personal reminiscences and critical debate, as well as accessible discussions of science, is a stimulating tribute to a remarkable intellectual, written by some of the finest writers and scientists working today.

Preface; BIOLOGY; Andrew F. Read: Ballooning Parrots and Semi-Lunar Germs; Helena Cronin: The Battle of the Sexes Revisited; John Krebs: Richard Dawkins: Intellectual Plumber-and More; Michael Hansell: What is a Puma?; THE SELFISH GENE; Marian Stamp Dawkins: Living with The Selfish Gene; David Haig: The Gene Meme; Alan Grafen: The Intellectual Contribution of The Selfish Gene to Evolutionary Theory; Ullica Segerstr?le: An Eye on the Core: Dawkins and Sociobiology; LOGIC; Daniel C. Dennett: The Selfish Gene as a Philosophical Essay; Seth Bullock: The Invention of an Algorithmic Biology; David Deutsch: Selfish Genes and Information Flow; Steven Pinker: Deep Commonalities between Life and Mind; ANTIPHONAL VOICES; Michael Ruse: Richard Dawkins and the Problem of Progress; Patrick Bateson: The Nest's Tale: Affectionate Disagreements with Richard Dawkins; Robert Aunger: What's the Matter with Memes?; HUMANS; Martin Daly and Margo Wilson: Selfish Genes and Family Relations; Randolph M. Nesse: Why a Lot of People with Selfish Genes Are Pretty Nice Except for their Hatred of The Selfish Gene; Kim Sterelny: The Perverse Primate; CONTROVERSY; Michael Shermer: The Skeptic's Chaplain: Richard Dawkins as a Fountainhead of Skepticism; Richard Harries: A Fellow Humanist; A. C. Grayling: Dawkins and the Virus of Faith; Marek Kohn: The Politics and Ethics of Richard Dawkins; David P. Barash: What the Whale Wondered: Evolution, Existentialism, and the Search for 'meaning'; WRITING; Matt Ridley: Richard Dawkins and the Golden Pen; Philip Pullman: Every Indication of Inadvertent Solicitude; Index

Alan Grafen is Professor of Theoretical Biology in the Department of Zoology at Oxford. He is co-author of Modern Statistics for the Life Sciences (OUP, 2002) and numerous scientific papers. Dr Mark Ridley lectures at the Department of Zoology at Oxford, and is best known as the author of a number of books, including Evolution (Blackwell, 2e, 2003), Evolution: A Reader (OUP, 2e, 2003) and the critically acclaimed Mendel's Demon (Wiedenfeld, 2000). Alan Grafen and Mark Ridley are both distinguished former students of Richard Dawkins.