The Extended Phenotype

Some while ago I reread Richard Dawkins's The Extended Phenotype, which he has referred to as his favorite work. You could say it's the logical follow up on The Selfish Gene, quite technical and expert-oriented, but Dawkins is such a talented and lucid writer that anyone with enough intellectual thirst can follow the arguments. I regard it a piece of philosophy as much as a textbook about evolution.

I think The Extended Phenotype is a better choice. It contains the central insight of The Selfish Gene, and then adds a lot on top of it.

This is embarrassing. I grew up with sorta fundie parents (they got better) and dropped out of school early (religious schools...), so it might be different for HNers that had a solid mental upbringing. A Brief History of Time because it pretty much slapped any thoughts I had of a supernatural universe/god right out of my mind. I know it's not highly regarded, but for a rather ignorant guy, it woke me up. The Selfish Gene (inc The Extended Phenotype). This is one I think is the most powerful, even for people that had OK education. Showing how life could possibly evolve, just with random mutations and non-random survival made it real to me that we live in a natural world. And not just that, but that since it's so obviously a natural world, it's up to us to decide what is right, what our purpose is. The earth and nature aren't going to help us there - it's our call, full stop. That is huge, and many otherwise seemingly well educated people don't seem to get it.…

The Extended Phenotype by Richard Dawkins.