Looking to read a Richard Dawkins book...

[Fountain79]

more dealing with evolution and not so much with atheism. What book should I start with? Selfish Gene? Climbing Mount Improbable? Ancestor's Tale?

[TZ]

1. Either the Selfish Gene. or the Blind Watchmaker

I read both in conjunction with my evolutionary biology classes in college. Excellent both!

[BurtWorm]

2. I can vouch for The Ancestor's Tale.

It's a brilliant concept, brilliantly executed. It walks you backwards from last common ancestor to last common ancestor, starting with humans and going all the way back to single celled organisms, stopping along the way to highlight research into various life forms and expanding on the science that goes into understanding them. It's a great book that merits more than one read, which you won't mind doing.

[Bunny]

4. Based on your recommendation, BurtWorm, I read that a couple of years ago.

It is indeed very good! :hi:

[BurtWorm]

7. Glad you enjoyed it, Bunny!

:hi:

(What if you hadn't? :scared: )

[Bunny]

8. Well, in keeping with the recent Lounge cliche, I guess you'd be dead to me.

:scared:

[BurtWorm]

9. Well, I KNEW you'd like it.

I've recommended it many times and as far as I know, I'm not dead to any of those other readers yet, either.

:patriot:

[Zomby Woof]

3. Start with 'The Blind Watchmaker'

That, or "The Selfish Gene". They are a good intro to his theories on Darwinian natural selection.

[Taverner]

5. Selfish Gene all the way

[targetpractice]

6. Selfish Gene changed my life...

You'll never think of life the same way after reading it!

[targetpractice]

10. Start with Selfish Gene then Blind Watchmaker...

Not only is it an introduction to his fundamental way of looking at natural selection... it's also pretty interesting that in the Selfish Gene, Dawkins coins the term "meme" which everyone uses quite often these days.

[pokerfan]

11. Currently reading The Ancestor's Tale

http://books.google.com/books?id=ZicUataX4G0C">The Ancestor's Tale

And these two are classics:

http://books.google.com/books?id=WkHO9HI7koEC">The Selfish Gene (preview).

I see that there's a new (2006) http://www.amazon.com/Blind-Watchmaker-Richard-Dawkins/dp/0141026162/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243532809&sr=1-1">illustrated edition of The Blind Watchmaker.

[JitterbugPerfume]

12. The Blind Watchmaker

is really good