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The Selfish Gene

The Selfish Gene is a 1976 book on evolution by ethologist Richard Dawkins, in which the author builds upon the principal theory of George C. Williams's Adaptation and Natural Selection (1966). Dawkins uses the term "selfish gene" as a way of expressing the gene-centred view of evolution (as opposed to the views focused on the organism and the group), popularising ideas developed during the 1960s by W. D. Hamilton and others. From the gene-centred view, it follows that the more two individuals are genetically related, the more sense (at the level of the genes) it makes for them to behave cooperatively with each other.

For other uses, see Selfish gene (disambiguation).

Author

Richard Dawkins

English

Evolutionary biology

Oxford University Press

  • 1976
  • Second edition in 1989
  • Third edition in 2006
  • Fourth edition in 2016

United Kingdom

Print

224

0-19-857519-X

2681149

The Extended Phenotype 

A lineage is expected to evolve to maximise its inclusive fitness—the number of copies of its genes passed on globally (rather than by a particular individual). As a result, populations will tend towards an evolutionarily stable strategy. The book also introduces the term meme for a unit of human cultural evolution analogous to the gene, suggesting that such "selfish" replication may also model human culture, in a different sense. Memetics has become the subject of many studies since the publication of the book. In raising awareness of Hamilton's ideas, as well as making its own valuable contributions to the field, the book has also stimulated research on human inclusive fitness.[1]


In the foreword to the book's 30th-anniversary edition, Dawkins said he "can readily see that [the book's title] might give an inadequate impression of its contents" and in retrospect thinks he should have taken Tom Maschler's advice and called the book The Immortal Gene.[2]


In July 2017, a poll to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Royal Society science book prize listed The Selfish Gene as the most influential science book of all time.[3]

Awards and recognition[edit]

In April 2016, The Selfish Gene was listed in The Guardian's list of the 100 best nonfiction books, by Robert McCrum.[64]


In July 2017, the book was listed as the most influential science book of all time in a poll to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Royal Society science book prize, ahead of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species and Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica.[65]

 – 2005 evo-devo book by Sean B. Carroll

Endless Forms Most Beautiful

 – Type of game involving individual competition

Non-cooperative game

 – Genetic segments that can enhance their own transmission at the expense of other genes

Selfish DNA

 – Solution concept in game theory

Evolutionarily stable strategy

 – Hypothesis for altruism in evolutionary biology

Green-beard effect

(1976). The Selfish Gene. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-286092-7.

Dawkins, Richard

(1989). The Selfish Gene (second ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0192177735.

Dawkins, Richard

(2006). The Selfish Gene (30th anniversary ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-929115-1. Archived from the original on 4 May 2006. The Selfish Gene at Google Books

Dawkins, Richard

Grafen, Alan; Ridley, Mark, eds. (2006). . Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-929116-8.

Richard Dawkins: How a Scientist Changed the Way We Think

Ridley, Matt (28 January 2016). . Nature. 529 (7587): 462–463. Bibcode:2016Natur.529..462R. doi:10.1038/529462a.

"In Retrospect: The Selfish Gene"

Archived 6 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine from Google Videos

Video introduction by Richard Dawkins

Archived 14 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine and mp3 from Edge Foundation, Inc.

The Selfish Gene: Thirty Years On

on the BBC World Book Club

Richard Dawkins discusses The Selfish Gene

Archived 26 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine Royal Institution event video, 20 September 2013

Richard Dawkins on the origins of The Selfish Gene