The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design in Science and Inquiry

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The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design

Richard Dawkins

Start date: September 1, 2011

Finish date: September 30, 2011

Discussion: Book Club 2011

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Book Club 2011

September, 2011: The Blind Watchmaker
By David · 47 posts · 151 views

last updated Jun 21, 2018 05:08AM

April 2011 - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
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Jun 16, 2018 Jim rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1audio, 2non-fiction, science

...one of my aims in the book is to convey something of the sheer wonder of biological complexity to those whose eyes have not been opened to it. But having built up the mystery, my other main aim is to remove it again by explaining the solution...

He managed the above, but I didn't enjoy this as much as The Selfish Gene or The God Delusion. It delves deeper & wanders around Darwinian Evolution & other theories more than I want or need. I hadn't planned to read this since I understood this from h ...more

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Dec 21, 2008 David Rubenstein rated it really liked it

Shelves: biology, nonfiction

I enjoyed this book very much, despite the difficulty of reading the very small typeface. Dawkins' style is almost folksy, and not at all the arrogant, condescending style that some reviewers mention. The first chapter, about echolocation in bats, is fascinating. I also enjoyed reading about the different philosophies involved in taxonomy, the classification of species. Some reviewers mention that Dawkins' explanations are "old hat", and that the computer simulations are primitive; but they do n ...more

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Dec 09, 2011 David S. T. rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science

I'm fascinated by evolution, its one of my current favorite topics which kind of leads me back to reading one of the best known evolution writers, Dawkins. This book takes its name from Paley's Watchmaker analogy and tries to show that using evolution the abundance of species we have can get here not because they were created by a creator but by natural processes. The book started off good and has some good parts, but it also is pretty uneven, for example Dawkins has a way of getting off track a I'm fascinated by evolution, its one of my current favorite topics which kind of leads me back to reading one of the best known evolution writers, Dawkins. This book takes its name from Paley's Watchmaker analogy and tries to show that using evolution the abundance of species we have can get here not because they were created by a creator but by natural processes. The book started off good and has some good parts, but it also is pretty uneven, for example Dawkins has a way of getting off track and rambling on about a topic which doesn't really add much to the discussion. This book is at its best when Dawkins is talking about actual biology and using real examples, for example the chapter on bats sonar design is excellent and very informative.

I mentioned real examples because early on in this book Darwkins spends a chapter talking about this computer program he wrote, one where he takes straight lines and using 鈥済enes鈥� the lines branch off a certain direction, he goes on and on about how using this simple program with natural selection, with himself being the selector, he created a group of insects. He calls these biomorphs and I think throughout the book he references his biomorphs far more than actual animals which is really annoying. I realize that he is using this as an example, but to a creationist does the fact that he created insects on his computer really prove evolution is true? Furthermore he mocks using clouds for the likeness of animals, but clouds look at much like insects to me as his biomorphs.

I was also pretty annoyed with Dawkins straw man dismantling of punctuated equilibrium, which basically said that since we can bread cows for milk, evolution and modification are always taking place and therefore, punctuated equilibrium is incorrect. I'm not very familiar with Gould's reasoning for PE, but I can't imagine he didn't take dog or cow breeding into account before he proposed it. This book does make me want to finally get around to reading one of Gould's books.

Even with all these complaints, this book was decent and worth a read, I'd probably recommend a different evolution book for a first time reader. As for Dawkins, I'll continue to read him, I at least have to try The Selfish Gene before giving up. ...more

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