Richard Dawkins
Also known as Clinton Richard Dawkins
British evolutionary biologist, born 1941; wrote The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion.
At a glance
Main ideas
The gene's-eye view, The extended phenotype, Memes …
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The Selfish Gene, The Extended Phenotype, The Blind Watchmaker …
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Daniel Dennett, E. O. Wilson and 3 others
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Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- Dawkins is a British evolutionary biologist, zoologist and science communicator.
- He is known for popularising the gene as the main unit of selection in evolution.
- In The Selfish Gene (1976) he coined the word meme.
- He made the case for atheism in The God Delusion (2006) and is counted among the "Four Horsemen of New Atheism".
Why it matters
- His books explaining evolution reached a general readership, and The God Delusion made him a leading voice in public debates about science and religion.
Key facts
- Born
- 26 Mar 1941, Nairobi, Colonial Kenya1
- Education
- Zoology at Balliol College, Oxford (graduated 1962); D.Phil. by 1966 under Nikolaas Tinbergen1
- Teaching
- Assistant professor of zoology at UC Berkeley from 1967 to 1969; lecturer at Oxford from 1970; reader in zoology from 19901
- Simonyi Professor
- First Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford, from 1995 to 20081
- New College, Oxford
- Fellow from 1970; now an emeritus fellow1
- Foundation
- Founded the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science in 2006; it merged with the Center for Inquiry in 20161
- Honours
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (1997) and of the Royal Society (2001); Shakespeare Prize (2005); Lewis Thomas Prize (2006)1
Main ideas
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The gene's-eye view1
The gene, not the organism or the group, is the principal unit of selection in evolution.
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The extended phenotype1
A gene's effects are not limited to its organism's body but can reach into the environment, including other organisms.
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Memes1
A meme is a unit of culture that replicates and changes, by analogy with the gene.
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God as a hypothesis1
The existence of God should be treated as a scientific hypothesis like any other; he rejects Gould's nonoverlapping magisteria.
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Faith without evidence1
He opposes religion as a source of conflict and as a justification for belief without evidence.
Books to start with
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The gene-centred view of evolution; introduces the meme.
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The Extended Phenotype1
What he considers his major contribution to biology.
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The Blind Watchmaker1
How natural selection acting on random variation creates complexity.
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Climbing Mount Improbable1
How complex adaptations evolve through a series of intermediates.
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His case for atheism.
Connections
Links
Sources
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