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

good addition to The Selfish Gene

Published ten years after The Selfish Gene, this book is just as enlightening and entertaining as that first book by Dawkins. More examples of evolution in the natural world, and more evidence that evolution has indeed shaped the diversity of living things, past and present, on the earth. Very well written, it's a pleasure to read. One criticism of this and especially The Selfish Gene: Dawkins seems to think that there's no or very little selection at the level of the group, and that natural selection takes place at the level of the individual or even his or her DNA. However, I think it's clear that there is a good deal of selective pressure at the level of the group or tribe, and even to some degree at the level of the entire species. If a group of animals dies, that includes every member of the group, so it stands to reason that there should be some selection at the level of the group, even if that selection runs counter to the immediate goals of the individual within that group. In spite of this criticism, any curious person should give this, and The Selfish Gene, a read.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Important, Readable and Comprehensible

This is an important book to anyone who wants to understand how life works. I found it readable and comprehensible. I picked it up because it is referenced in other books I've read. I placed it on my "100 Book List" My subjective list of the 100 books I think everyone should read in their lifetime.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Refutation of 'Intelligent Design'

This book is an outstanding refutation of 'Intelligent Design', a religious pseudo-science masquerading as true science. Dawkins shows the logical fallacies and innumeracy at the base thereof. Very readable - more so than his masterwork 'The Selfish Gene'.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

amazing book

Dawkins is amazing at explaining things in simple english. This books isn't only about evolution but more important is about it's process which is natural selection.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Blind produces design?

The whole thesis of "The Blind Watchman" is that there is no design in nature.

Yet we see design everywhere. Is it merely an illusion?

The human body is an amazingly designed machine. It is perfectly designed for human life and activities in the environment in which it is surrounded.

There is unity of design, intent and purpose in the whole universe, from quark through cellular structure to the 500 million galaxies.

Richard Dawkins' specialty, cellular biology is one tiny segment of the total universe.

He does not know the origin of the cell. He knows only how it works.
He does not know the origin of matter. He knows only that it is there.

He cannot explain why the universe does not consist of hydrogen and helium.
He cannot explain the emergence of the carbon atom.
He has no exlanation for the hydrosphere and atmosphere of the earth.

The evolution process is not adequately explained by "Natural Selection".
That is like saying that a car runs on gas.
I am not saying that it is not true. I am saying that it does not explain what mechanisms are at work in the process.

Nor does he distinguish between a single cell and multi-celled organisms.
In other words, what are the sufficient causes of the selection, and how clear is it that acquired characteristics are passed on?
If so, describe the mechanism of the transfer.

As for "chance" - "The word "chance" is used for various sorts of happenings that are characterized by our incomplete insight into their causal connections. The lack of insight can be of a fundamental nature, as is the case with the information that is restricted by the lack of definition at the quantum mechanical level, or else it may be due to information that is incomplete or capable of supplement'.
Peter Schuster, cf. ""Darwin und Chemie: Die chemiken Grundlagen der biologischen Evolution", Vienna, Picus Verlag, 2006
and "Ulirich Kkutschera, "Evolutionsbiologie", Stuttgart Verlag, Eugen Ulmer, 2006.

The key to the mysteries of evolutionary biology are "causal connections". For instance, there is no factual evidence of the descent of the human body from the biological descent of any of the higher primates. Similarities, yes, but no evidence of descent. The causal connection is presumed, not demonstrated. What can be demonstrated is a relationship of similarity, not of biological descent.

Richard Dawkins dominates the English-speaking world in his particular fieldl, but he is not the only voice in evolutionary biology. We need a wider net and more detailed and intimate physical, biological, somatic and chemical facts.

cf. August Weismann, "The Evolution Theory", 1905 and his "Studies in the Theory of Descent."

Blind only expresses a lack of detailed information on the causal connections of certain phenomena.

1 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

A MUST READ FOR EVOLUTION BUFFS ....

A fascinating read that really makes you think. So interesting to see an esteemed scientist like Dawkins taking on this subject so successfully, getting into the nitty gritty of what evolution is and what it is not. The only problem was that at times it could be quite dry and sometimes slow to read. On that note, I just finished another book that also really made me think. NATURAL SELECTION by Dave Freedman. It's a Jurassic Park type book - a science-based action-thriller about the evolution of a new species of flying predator. What made it special - besides how incredibly fast those pages turned - was how fun, relatable and easy-to-understand it made evolution, a great 'fictional compliment' to anything by Dawkins.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

One of the best books ever written

This book, together with The Selfish Gene, by the same author, are the best two books I ever read. After reading this book, you will understand for example that the concept of species is not well founded, it makes no sense at all, because the boundaries between species are indeed arbitrary. Species is a continuous variable, and we are able to tell one species from another just because the intermediate ancestors between them are dead. If this weren't the case, our society would be totally different: we would not grant social rights to humans alone, because there would be a continuous fade between apes and humans, as there really was in the past. In other words, the evidence for evolution would make this thing ridiculous. As Dawkins himself explains very well in the selfish Gene, this belief, shared by creationists, Catholics, Christians, etc, is nothing more than racism. This book is a miracle. It nearly moved me to tears. Together with the other great book from Dawkins, the selfish Gene, it is a must read. I dare say everyone should be morally obliged to do so; everyone should know which are the mechanisms of the world, in order to think better and to act better socially. I think this book is better read after the selfish Gene, but many others do not think so. IT is a lot easier to follow that the selfish genes. Anyone could read it. Dawkins is unparalleled in explaining things clearly. Perhaps this book is slightly more obvious than the selfish Gene if you are already in the matter, but it is addressed to different groups of people.:-) If you are interested (and you morally should ) in how evolution really works, the final chapter of the book is a real gem: it explains many misunderstandings on the theory, misunderstandings that everybody has still today. For example, the communication between the body and the DNA is strictly unidirectional: than this, no matter how strongly you become during a life, no matter how much you learn, your son will inherit nothing of all this. The reason for this is simple, once you understand that the bodies are just machines used by DNA in order to preserve itself inaltered. In other words, DNA is a ¿recipe¿ to create bodies, not a ¿blueprint¿. Once the bodies are created, what happens to them does not modify the recipe, because there would be no easy mechanical method to do this. For example, if a cake is made from a recipe, and later one slice is eaten, the recipe cannot be modified (in a simple mechanical way) in order to create a cake with one slice already eaten! If DNA were not a recipe, but a blueprint, every single part of the body would be easily indentified in the blueprint, so the blueprint COULD be modified to reflect the changes in the body. But that simply doesn¿t happen in nature. Dawkins explains why it CANNOT happen: if DNA were a blueprint evolution could not work. The reason is that our children would tend to inherit ALL changes of the body, even the worsenings, so they would be soon destroyed. I have been very simplistic on this; read the book. :-) Dawkins also answers to ¿group selectionists¿: this people - if they still exist - think that the animals (and us) act for the welfare of the species: Dawkins clearly proves that this is absurd: trees in a forest are all equally tall, very tall. If they really acted for the welfare of the species, they would be equally short, because it would be cheaper. The reason why they are not equally short is that the state of being equally short is not a stable state: it is highly probable that a mutant individual who is slightly taller would get more sun, so he would have more descendants, and eventually the forest would be once again full of trees all equally high, slightly higher than before. That process would endlessly repeat, until the disadvantages begin to overweight the advantages , so the population stands still at the same height. So we can learn that, in nature, individuals act for their immediate adva

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A good read for those already converted to evolutionism

Dawkins' writing style is always engaging and persuasive. However, as someone who has always been fascinated with the debate between science (here naturalistic evolution) and religion (creationism), i found this book surprisingly lacking in substance. I found no good arguments against the creationist worldview and little good evidence for Darwinism as an alternative. As i said, it is still a good book and an interesting use of your time, but i would steer away from this one if you are seeking for the truth.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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