
The Selfish Gene
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Narrated by:
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Richard Dawkins
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Lalla Ward
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By:
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Richard Dawkins
About this listen
Richard Dawkins' brilliant reformulation of the theory of natural selection has the rare distinction of having provoked as much excitement and interest outside the scientific community as within it. His theories have helped change the whole nature of the study of social biology, and have forced thousands to rethink their beliefs about life.
In his internationally best-selling, now classic, volume, The Selfish Gene, Dawkins explains how the selfish gene can also be a subtle gene. The world of the selfish gene revolves around savage competition, ruthless exploitation, and deceit, and yet, Dawkins argues, acts of apparent altruism do exist in nature. Bees, for example, will commit suicide when they sting to protect the hive, and birds will risk their lives to warn the flock of an approaching hawk.
©1989 Richard Dawkins (P)2011 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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-
Audio version is superb for us grown-ups
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In 12 fiercely funny, mind-expanding chapters, Dawkins explains how the natural world arose without a designer - the improbability and beauty of the "bottom-up programming" that engineers an embryo or a flock of starlings - and challenges head-on some of the most basic assumptions made by the world’s religions: Do you believe in God? Which one? Is the Bible a "Good Book"? Is adhering to a religion necessary, or even likely, to make people good to one another? Outgrowing God is a concise, provocative guide to thinking for yourself.
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Few companies in history have ever been as successful and as admired as Google, the company that has transformed the Internet and become an indispensable part of our lives. How has Google done it? Veteran technology reporter Steven Levy was granted unprecedented access to the company, and in this revelatory book he takes listeners inside Google headquarters - the Googleplex - to explain how Google works.
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Just ok for me
- By Everyday Mom on 04-23-11
By: Steven Levy
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The Four Horsemen
- The Conversation That Sparked an Atheist Revolution
- By: Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and others
- Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Daniel C. Dennett, Sam Harris, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2007, Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett filmed a landmark discussion about modern atheism. The video went viral. Now, the transcript of their conversation is illuminated by new essays from three of the original participants and an introduction by Stephen Fry.
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Short
- By Cole Brandon Eckhardt on 03-22-19
By: Christopher Hitchens, and others
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Brief Candle in the Dark
- My Life in Science
- By: Richard Dawkins
- Narrated by: Richard Dawkins
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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In this hugely entertaining sequel to the New York Times best-selling memoir An Appetite for Wonder, Richard Dawkins delves deeply into his intellectual life spent kick-starting new conversations about science, culture, and religion and writing yet another of the most audacious and widely read books of the 20th century - The God Delusion.
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I'm a Dawkins Groupie but...
- By Anne on 10-18-15
By: Richard Dawkins
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Damn Right
- Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger (Revised)
- By: Janet Lowe
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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A must-listen biography from the author of the best-selling Warren Buffett Speaks.
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2019 audio of 1999 book
- By William J Brown on 03-10-20
By: Janet Lowe
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The Moral Animal
- Why We Are the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology
- By: Robert Wright
- Narrated by: Greg Thornton
- Length: 16 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Are men literally born to cheat? Does monogamy actually serve women's interests? These are among the questions that have made The Moral Animal one of the most provocative science books in recent years. Wright unveils the genetic strategies behind everything from our sexual preferences to our office politics - as well as their implications for our moral codes and public policies.
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Ridiculously Insightful
- By Liron on 10-25-10
By: Robert Wright
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An Appetite for Wonder
- The Making of a Scientist
- By: Richard Dawkins
- Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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In his first memoir, Richard Dawkins shares a rare view into his early life, his intellectual awakening at Oxford, and his path to writing The Selfish Gene. This is an intimate memoir of the childhood and intellectual development of the evolutionary biologist and world-famous atheist and how he came to write what is widely held to be one of the most important books of the 20th century.
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The Memoir of a Genius
- By Wurm on 09-25-13
By: Richard Dawkins
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Why Evolution Is True
- By: Jerry A. Coyne
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Why evolution is more than just a theory: it is a fact. In all the current highly publicized debates about creationism and its descendant "intelligent design", there is an element of the controversy that is rarely mentioned: the evidence, the empirical truth of evolution by natural selection.
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As great as everyone says it is
- By Joseph on 12-01-10
By: Jerry A. Coyne
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Guns, Germs and Steel
- The Fate of Human Societies
- By: Jared Diamond
- Narrated by: Doug Ordunio
- Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Having done field work in New Guinea for more than 30 years, Jared Diamond presents the geographical and ecological factors that have shaped the modern world. From the viewpoint of an evolutionary biologist, he highlights the broadest movements both literal and conceptual on every continent since the Ice Age, and examines societal advances such as writing, religion, government, and technology.
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Compelling pre-history and emergent history
- By Doug on 08-25-11
By: Jared Diamond
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How the Mind Works
- By: Steven Pinker
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 26 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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In this delightful, acclaimed bestseller, one of the world’s leading cognitive scientists tackles the workings of the human mind. What makes us rational—and why are we so often irrational? How do we see in three dimensions? What makes us happy, afraid, angry, disgusted, or sexually aroused? Why do we fall in love? And how do we grapple with the imponderables of morality, religion, and consciousness?
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Excellent, but a difficult listen.
- By David Roseberry on 12-11-11
By: Steven Pinker
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The Master Algorithm
- How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World
- By: Pedro Domingos
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Under the aegis of machine learning in our data-driven machine age, computers are programming themselves and learning about - and solving - an extraordinary range of problems, from the mundane to the most daunting. Today it is machine learning programs that enable Amazon and Netflix to predict what users will like, Apple to power Siri's ability to understand voices, and Google to pilot cars.
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Great book, irritating narration
- By N. G. PEPIN on 09-24-15
By: Pedro Domingos
What listeners say about The Selfish Gene
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- AShopper
- 09-29-15
Great - minus the pedantic footnotes
Any additional comments?
This would have been better presented as two options: 1) read with footnotes and asides inline, or 2) read without footnotes entirely. Classic book. Great listen. Gets a bit bogged down, unnecessarily.
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15 people found this helpful
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- Justin
- 05-12-15
How can a science book be this captivating?
This is one of those rare science books that seems to be accessible to both the scientifically literate and (most) laymen. I'm very familiar with physics, and had reasonable understanding of evolutionary principles, but I never fully understood the mechanism by which evolution works. I didn't think I'd be all that excited about genetics itself, but I found myself positively captivated. It may take a full book to detail its effects and expressions in a complex world, but it's thrilling to learn just how simple of a mechanism genetic evolution truly is at its core.
Dawkins' writing is characteristically eloquent, and his narration matches the writing style. Note that he narrates in tandem with his wife. It's a little jarring the first few times the voice switches, but you quickly get used to it.
I've listened to several others of Dawkins' books, but so far none have matched The Selfish Gene in revelatory and explanatory power. I've listened through two or three times, and recently bought it in print to examine the theory at my own pace. Trust me, this is one book you won't regret spending time on!
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13 people found this helpful
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- E. Smakman
- 10-23-11
Understand evolution and how it shapes behavior
Narration: excellent, the switching between Richard and Lalla keeps the story fresh. They both understand what they read and have nice voices to listen to.
Story: science explained, and although this book is from 1976, endnotes from 1989 and 2011 update some aspects based on current insights. But they are rare, indicating the truth and value of the original work.
This book outlines why genes are the ultimate survivors, and all organisms mainly vehicles for the protection, survival en reproduction of genes. That this leads to a multifaceted world in which even behavior can be explained scientifically, is desribed wonderfully.
Well worth the read if you are interested in understanding the origins and perpetuation of life.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Douglas
- 06-13-15
Fantastic production
Every Dawkins audiobook I've listened to has been exceptionally well produced and this is no exception. He takes the time to rearrange and add to the text to better fit the audio format, make it comparatively easy to follow, and include additional updates. The book itself is an absolute must listen for anyone with even a passing interest in the history of life on our planet.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Daedalus
- 06-19-18
Lalla ward's narration is great, Dawkins not so
it would have been better if there was a way to incorporate the footnotes / new edition into the story. having dawkins read was too jarring and most of the time the new editions was there to refute older critiques, or self serving commentary by the author. I definitely preferred the original narroator. still, the overall message the book tried to convey is really good and recommend either getting the older version with just lalla ward and reading the new edition items later.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Alan Siu
- 10-29-19
Double voices make a little bit discomfort
great voice but just two voices make the story not smooth enough. I recommend more consistent of voice. It could be first half male voice and another half female voice.
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1 person found this helpful
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- ok
- 05-15-17
The inventor of the Meme speaks
spoiler alert :
He says this book has a follow up the extended phenotype which I can't find in audiobook format
I wanted to give this four stars because of his outdated references to computers. Also he says humans are the only ones that can go against their genes or something after filling entire chapters with animal behaviour.
But I'm not a biologist so five stars for introducing me to genes , memes, evolution, and animal behaviour.
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- Melanie
- 01-13-15
Fascinating Information
I found this book to be an outstanding understanding of the driving factors behind life's genetic reproduction. I gained a better understanding or how evolution works, and why it is the force behind the diversity of life. It was thought provoking and stripped the mask of mysticism off our existence.
The narration was very good and I appreciate the shifting between Mr Dawkins and Ms Ward. The subject was overly dry in some instances so having the narration broken up helped to avoid ennui.
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- qwertyuiop
- 01-01-15
Evolution from the Point of View of a Gene
What did you love best about The Selfish Gene?
It introduced me to concepts like the ESS and all of the tradeoffs involved in evolution, and explains why it is necessary to look from the point of view of the gene to understand evolution.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
"We are survival machines – robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes. This is a truth which still fills me with astonishment"
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- Rebecca
- 10-13-14
Amazing
What made the experience of listening to The Selfish Gene the most enjoyable?
The Narrators did a great job of not making this sound boring by avoiding monotone voices and by switching the voice from time to time between male and female. Additionally, it is written in a way that includes humor from time to time which also makes it enjoyable.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
I really loved the part discussing ants farming the aphids for food. Fascinating.
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