The Selfish Gene

1976 book by Richard Dawkins

The Selfish Gene

Summary

The Selfish Gene is a 1976 popular science book by Richard Dawkins that espouses the gene-centred view of evolution. It builds upon the thesis of George Christopher Williams's Adaptation and Natural Selection (1966) and W. D. Hamilton's work on kin selection. From the gene-centred view, it follows that the more genes two individuals share, the more sense it makes for them to co-operate.

Originally created by 62.60.57.3

3/13/2002, 11:23:46 AM

Modified

5/6/2026, 10:45:50 PM

Recent revisions

WikiCleanerBot5/6/2026, 10:45:50 PM

v2.05b - [[User:WikiCleanerBot#T23|Bot T23 CW#558]] - Fix errors for [[WP:WCW|CW project]] (Duplicated reference - Missing whitespace before a link)

Keeper of Albion5/2/2026, 3:29:55 PM

British English

Hollis Hurlbut3/25/2026, 1:20:48 AM
Charlie Faust3/20/2026, 1:44:56 AM

/* Book */ fixed nonaggressors

Charlie Faust3/19/2026, 2:29:18 PM

replaced 'has become the subject of many studies since the publication of the book' with 'has become a subject in its own right in the years since.'

Charlie Faust3/19/2026, 12:59:38 AM

/* Critiques */ nixed ')'

Charlie Faust3/19/2026, 12:57:09 AM

nixed <ref name=Thompson2>

Hollis Hurlbut3/18/2026, 11:35:22 PM

added Smith

Charlie Faust3/18/2026, 3:01:40 PM

/* Critiques */ condensed [[Mary Midgley]]

Hollis Hurlbut3/17/2026, 10:28:13 PM

/* Reception */ 'replicator' defined in text; 'interactor' not in the book at all

AnomieBOT3/17/2026, 10:22:03 PM

Rescuing orphaned refs ("Sarkar" from rev 1344020635; "River" from rev 1344020635; "Thompson" from rev 1344020635)

Charlie Faust3/17/2026, 10:07:10 PM

/* Awards and recognition */ nixing Time

Charlie Faust3/17/2026, 10:00:45 PM

/* Enactive arguments */ "Life is just bytes and bytes and bytes of digital information"; maybe it is and maybe it isn't, but that should be on the page for River Out of Eden

Charlie Faust3/17/2026, 9:25:51 PM

/* Critiques */ article needs to be condensed

Charlie Faust3/17/2026, 9:17:56 PM

/* Contents */ replaced 'self-replicating molecules' with 'replicators'; nixed floating '(Dawkins' (my bad)

Charlie Faust3/17/2026, 9:12:15 PM

/* Title */ replaced ',' with '.'

Charlie Faust3/17/2026, 9:11:02 PM

/* Title */ shortened

Charlie Faust3/17/2026, 9:07:55 PM

/* Reception */ added Hamilton

AnomieBOT3/17/2026, 8:24:29 PM

Rescuing orphaned refs ("Bury" from rev 1344017149)

Charlie Faust3/17/2026, 8:09:22 PM

article still interminable

Contributors

Source: WikipediaView full article