Genes are replicators and the fundamental unit of natural selection and the individual organism is just a vehicle in order to preserve and pass down these replicators. Therefore, organisms are temporary and perishable, and genes, the basic elements of life, are immortal and continually evolving.Dawkins favors individual selection rather than group selection, and the organisms that work in the interest of other organisms are often a result of manipulation where natural selection will impassively

The book is a logical continuation of his devastating book The Selfish Gene. Here Dawkins turns his critical eye and razor sharp words to evolutionary views that take the individual organism as the definitive playing field for natural selection to operate. Using the gene's eye view of life that he developed so well in The Selfish Gene, he shows that animal artifacts are better understood as objects engineered by natural selection, rather than as by products of the behavior of organisms. He als...

Great but fatiguingContrary to Dawkin's most famous "Selfish Gene," this book is much more challenging to read for a non-biologist person. Some parts required me to google terms definitions and problem backgrounds each paragraph, if not line.Despite this, the whole reading experience is very satisfying. A lot of new concepts that bring up interesting ideas, numerous facts, and remarkably great language - all of this teams up to build the great book. It's excellent reading for everyone ready to g...

I'm sure this is great, but I'm not a scientist and as one of Dawkins least accessible books, this one was overkill. It's an expansion of topics covered in The Selfish Gene, which I'd previously enjoyed, but there was too much detail for me to take in. I'll skip back to some of his later books.

The essentials of life's story: Biodiversity is more than a buzzword for ecologists. Variation gives life its grandeur, and Richard Dawkins gives us a description of the workings of variation. Fortunately, with a sharp mind and sharper wit, he has the ability to deliver this portrayal so that nearly everyone can understand it. That's not to say this book is an easy read. Although he delivers his narration as if sitting with you in a quiet study, you may still need to review his words more than o...

Difficult but eminently worthwhileThis is a long and difficult book, although not as long and difficult as it might be if it had been written by somebody without Richard Dawkins' gift for clarity of thought and expression.The crux of Dawkins' thesis is expressed early on and much of what follows is a very detailed supporting argument. What he wants us to see is that the "selfish gene" has a reach that extends beyond the confines of the individual organism that houses the gene. The phenotype of o...

In this book, Dawkins picks up his selfish gene theme and extends its influence to organs and systems within the body and then to the external environment. In doing so, Dawkins never strays from his central themes: Genes are in charge, pursuing their self-interest; the body and its behavior is their vehicle; and the germ-line replicator is the unit of selection. Dawkins argues* that the gene replicators first begin to transcend their gene-only behavior within the body when they cooperate with ot...

First half 3*, Second 5*This is a good book. Off the back of reading The Selfish Gene, and reading that The Extended Phenotype is Dawkin's favourite of his products, I was expecting big things. From the get-go, the style of the book is a lot more science-heavy—more jargon, more in depth scientific ideas and reasoning, which (as a scientist myself) I enjoyed: Dawkins is terrific at scientific reasoning, and this was a good outing from him, even by his standards. The problem with the first half (m...

I'd give it 5 stars if I knew enough biology to be able to confirm it (or 1 if I could refute it).

2015: Built upon and more advanced than The Selfish Gene. Readers beware!2017: Re-read this after re-reading The Selfish Gene. It definitely makes more sense to me this time around.

"It doesn't matter if you ever read anything else of mine, please at least read this." -Richard DawkinsAs someone who has read a lot of Dawkins's books, I wholeheartedly disagree with this request. I can understand his claim that this book is his most unique contribution to science, but the only way this should be your first Dawkins book is if you are already familiar with biological concepts. After all, the book was written for professionals, not laypeople. I started with River out of Eden, an

Richard Dawkins asks us (again) to try to think of evolution in terms of selfish *genes*.The book promotes concepts called replicators (genes, DNA) and vehicles (organisms, groups, species...). Examples are given of how this replicator/gene-centric view of evolution tries to make sense of evolutionary phenomena that otherwise we would have a hard time explaining if we stuck to the traditional, organism-centric view.I got to about mid-way through the book, then Dawkins went on a "Lamarckism bash"...

''The Selfish Gene' was written for educated lay readers . . . . 'The Extended Phenotype' was written for the professional biologist, but so graceful and lucid is Dawkins's writing that even outsiders who are prepared to exercise their brains vigorously can follow the arguments, and appreciate the subtlety of the issues.'As Daniel Dennett suggests in the afterword, the book is, at moments, a cognitively very demanding read. Persistence pays off, however. The concept of the extended phenotype is,...

I have picked up and put this book down a few times over the past 5 years, and it took the better part of a biology degree to finally understand it. But well worth the work! Nearly every page was thought-provoking and brought a deeper understanding of how evolution works.

Dawkins is a contemporary genius with fresh perspectives in several fields. Good read.

Typical Dawkins. Solid work, possibly great, but I’ve never viewed him as the most scintillating writer. Still, I’ve always viewed his content over his writing style and I find little fault with most any of his content. Definitely recommended.