The Guardian view on 50 years of The Selfish Gene: flawed, outdated, yet still a model of truly popular science writing | Editorial
The science has moved on, but any writer looking to supplant its place must learn its lessons Richard Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene was not predicted to be a success.
Key points
- And yet the book is primarily concerned with proving that complex, selfless behaviour such as altruism in animals can….
- It went on to sell millions, and is perhaps the most influential work of pop-science ever.
- Richard Dawkins’ first work has thrilled fans and frustrated critics for five decades.
Prof Dawkins’ central claim, that “we are survival machines – robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes” was provocative, stripping the messy stuff of human and other life down to a simple law.
For 50 years, it has been the go-to resource for the layperson seeking to understand evolution.
Additional details
- Its initial print run, published this week in 1976, was just 5,000.
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