I have been hoping to use the book section of my blog to give a short summary of some of the books which I found most worthwhile and interesting in relevance to zoology. To start this off the Selfish Gene seemed an appropriate place to start. Witty and well written it provides a brilliant look at different suggestions for key question within evolution, focusing on the concept that everything we, or other living organisms do, is controlled by genes trying to survive.
Anybody studying biology (or perhaps any science) will know about the Selfish Gene, and have most likely read it. It is one of those books you are told to read at the start of your first year, and again in your second, and I should think also the third. But this is fully justified. I have recently re-read the book by Richard Dawkins and found it as fascinating the second time as the first. Throughout Dawkins describes the key theories of evolution in a way that even 40 years after being written can be understood by anyone, science background or not.
Dawkins describes the brutality and the limitation of survival for different genes. Each chapter focuses on to a specific point or strategy, building on those previously explored and described. The Evolutionary Stable Strategy (ESS) is one particular theory which is focused on repetitively in numerous sections of the book, describing how it both enhances the level of specific genes, but prevents others from ever fully prospering. The main focus of an ESS is defined as: ‘a strategy which, if most members of the population adopt it, cannot be bettered by an alternative strategy’.
Other theories are focused around specific conflicts. Chapters 8 and 9 specifically focus on sexual and parental/sibling conflict, where a description of the control of each competitor. Using the examples of swallows, Dawkins portrays the unconscious decisions individuals make for the sake of their genes. By both sabotaging and protecting others is largely controlled by the overall genetic benefit. For example consumption of a runt by a mother pig may seem horrific, but by taking the energy from one individual and investing on its siblings instead of investing heavily in its recovery can be seen as more beneficial to all involved.
The book also covers the suggestion of a new replicator, the meme. It covers the idea of a replicator transferred by imitation, like the replication of a song or the development of a religion. The idea is suggested that unlike the gene, the meme has some focus on the good of the individual, to leave a legacy. This like all of the other theories in the book, the meme is explained in a clear, understandable way, making it a great book for anyone to read. The accessibility of the book without reducing the levels of complexity of the core theories around evolution I’m sure is one of the key causes of its success, and I am sure this success will continue for as long as evolution is being explored.
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