| Record ID | marc_columbia/Columbia-extract-20221130-004.mrc:144710873:3361 |
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LEADER: 03361fam a2200397 a 4500
001 1610014
005 20220608195814.0
008 941003t19951995nyua b 001 0 eng
010 $a 94037146
020 $a0465016065
035 $a(OCoLC)31376584
035 $a(OCoLC)ocm31376584
035 $9AKL6912CU
035 $a(NNC)1610014
035 $a1610014
040 $aDLC$cDLC$dDLC$dOrLoB
050 00 $aQH430$b.D39 1995
082 00 $a575$220
100 1 $aDawkins, Richard,$d1941-$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n81074298
245 10 $aRiver out of eden :$ba Darwinian view of life /$cRichard Dawkins ; illustrations by Lalla Ward.
260 $aNew York, NY :$bBasic Books,$c[1995], ©1995.
300 $axiii, 172 pages :$billustrations ;$c25 cm.
336 $atext$btxt$2rdacontent
337 $aunmediated$bn$2rdamedia
490 1 $aScience masters series
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 163-166) and index.
520 $aHow did the replication bomb we call "life" begin and where in the world, or rather, in the universe, is it heading? Writing with characteristic wit and an ability to clarify complex phenomena (the New York Times described his style as "the sort of science writing that makes the reader feel like a genius"), Richard Dawkins confronts this ancient mystery.
520 8 $aDawkins has been named by the London Daily Telegraph "the most brilliant contemporary preacher of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution." More than any other contemporary scientist, he has lent credence to the idea that human beings - indeed, all living things - are mere vehicles of information, gene carriers whose primary purpose is propagation of their own DNA.
520 8 $aIn this new book, Dawkins explains evolution as a flowing river of genes, genes meeting, competing, uniting, and sometimes separating to form new species.
520 8 $aFilled with absorbing, at times alarming, stories about the world of bees and orchids, "designed" eyes and human ancestors, River Out of Eden answers tantalizing questions: Why are forest trees tall - wouldn't each survive more economically if all were short? Why is the sex ratio fifty-fifty when relatively few males are needed to impregnate many females? Why do we inherit genes for fatal illnesses?
520 8 $aWho was our last universal ancestor? Dawkins suggests that it was more likely to have been an Adam than an African Eve. By "reverse engineering," he deduces the purpose of life ("God's Utility Function"). Hammering home the crucial role of gradualism in evolution, he confounds those who argue that every element of, say, an eye has to function perfectly or the whole system will collapse.
520 8 $aBut the engaging, personal, frequently provocative narrative that carries us along River Out of Eden has a larger purpose: the book illustrates the nature of scientific reasoning, exposing the difficulties scientists face in explaining life. We learn that our assumptions, intuitions, origin myths, and trendy intellectual and cultural "isms" all too often lead us astray.
650 0 $aGenetics.$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85053877
650 0 $aEvolution.$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85046029
830 0 $aScience masters series.$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n94016108
852 00 $boff,sci$hQH430$i.D39 1995