Customer Reviews

River Out of Eden (Science Masters)

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As a layperson of Science I have no critisism of Dawkins whatsoever. I agree with the fundamentals of all his points. As a major thinker in evolution biology it behooves me to listen to him. But since I have read the majority of his work I think that I can comment on how this volume stacks up against his other volumes.

I cannot help thinking that Dawkins is at his worst when he does two things: tries to assume a Carl Sagan-like mantle of the scientist who is describing the wonders of Science in general, and; when he issues a book that repeats in pale prose other ideas better introduced in his other works. It is this latter critisism that I would level at him him in this book.

I had the distinct notion that I had either read these essays before, or that they had been gleaned from assorted previously published introductions in other books. I have to say that from what I found in the English Edition of this book, there was no evidence to back up my predjudice --- still the feeling was always there and certainly the thematic details of several of his books were contained within the pages of this book, from the "Selfish Gene" to the "Blind watchmaker" to the importance of memes in the development of language and cultures.

Moreover I had this same uneasyness when I read "Unweaving the Rainbow" --- some parts were great, but some parts were absolutely uninspiring (the hedge sparrows were absolutlely soporific).

This slender volume could not compare with the three classics, really the ones worth reading: "The Selfish Gene" " The Extended Phenotype" and " The Blind Watchmaker."

In a world where a lot of good books compete for our time, R. Dawkins works are important. But I think that one can get more out of concentrating (or even re-reading) the three books above by Dawkins and leaving his lesser works as possible introductions to his ideas (though once again, I think that his main works offer a better introduction to his ideas than these essays).

Reading the other customer comments you can see that this book will upset many readers of 'strong faith.' In addition, there are a few that say material in this book has been written by Dawkins elsewhere before.

Well, this is the first book of his I have read, and I found it to be provocative and very interesting. He tends to put down those who believe in 'something larger' besides the theory of evolution, which wasn't really necessary except to bring out loud counterarguments in the reviews from those folks.

The best parts of the book were the clear, logical, and interesting examples of natural selection. It has been said that gaining new perspective is one of the most powerful things you can learn. This book will definitely give you a new perspective on the world around you, and will be a short and interesting read in the process. Enjoy.

In my Navy days, The Landing Force Manual was the guidebook for transforming sailors into combat soldiers. It was a catalogue of techniques teaching bivouacking, patrolling, land occupation and defense. Richard Dawkins has unabashedly given us a similar primer useful in learning to deal with those still resisting Darwin's concept of evolution by natural selection. Like The Landing Force Manual, River Out of Eden is an arsenal of topics that, once learned, may be applied in conversational combat with those still resisting the idea that evolution is the way life works. With thorough knowledge and captivating style, Dawkins gives us illuminating examples of how life has achieved what appear to be miracles.

Dawkins re-initiated the debate over evolution's mechanics with The Selfish Gene. For his lucid explanation of the gene as the foundation for life's workings, he was dubbed The Great Reductionist by those uncomfortable with the concept that genes tend to override the treasured idea of "free will" overriding Nature. With River Out of Eden, Dawkins proves his ability by presenting an even more comprehensible account of how DNA is the foundation for life's mechanics.

He begins with the idea that all life had ancestors - all of which succeeded in producing offspring. Their success at reproducing overshadows the fact that most life forms ultimately went extinct over the vast span of Earth's time. Extinction is due to failure to produce offspring that survived to further reproduce new generations. The reasons for this failure are uncountable and obscure, but the issue remains success or failure. Tracing the ancestral line allows us to envision rivers of life. The rivers aren't composed of water, but of DNA. DNA over time, acts as a "digital river" with sections turning on or off in the process of making proteins. And proteins are the bricks that build organisms and all their parts.

From an almost purely descriptive beginning, Dawkins moves on to demonstrate how many of those "parts" could evolve over the many millennia available to them. Among the favourite organs used to oppose natural selection is "the eye". How could such a complex part of life work half complete? Well, for starters, better than 49% complete. A statement that can be applied to all the body parts in various organisms when viewed over the long stretch of years available to change gradually. Wings, finding mates, locating food sources, all the "complex functions" we see in today's life came from earlier, simpler beginnings. Dawkins' chapter "God's Utility Function" is a must read and understand for anyone wishing to comprehend how many of these features came into existence. They didn't all arrive in a finished state.

Dawkins is adept at illustrating his points. Among his more clever tricks is the portrayal of a sentence reading clearly even with different typefaces for each word. You can still read and understand the meaning. But the appearance differs in each case. He also gives an excellent account of how genes govern energy expenditure for various types of creatures. Each has its own variant, but an "audit" of how the genes benefit from the arrangement reveals why it's a successful strategy.

The key to all these patterns is the idea that somehow, somewhen, a molecule that later became DNA learned to replicate. He posits Graham Cairns Smith's suggestion that DNA, or more likely its precursor, RNA, learned the trick from clay crystals. This remains the most likely explanation for life's origins, but requires the reader to recognize that the replicating molecule preceded any discernible organism. Cairns Smith's concept removes forever the idea that life's driving force occurred by chance. It was a relatively simple chemical and physical process. It may not appear elegant, but the mechanism has the elegance of plausibility.

This whole book carries the argument against "creation by design" into the camp of Darwin's enemies. Dawkins lists the contentions of the "creationists", then adroitly unravels them through pure logic and good science. Those who feel daunted by arcane biological treatises on life need only take up this excellent summation of why Darwin was right. Those who quail at the idea DNA drives our existence can take heart. It's all part of what's required in achieving a better idea of who we are. A major step in that understanding is in this book.

Let me start out by saying that I am a great admirer of Richard Dawkins. I find his work, especially 'The Selfish Gene' and 'The Extended Phenotype' to be extremely enlightening and a joy to read.

Sadly, in this book Dawkins largely repeats himself and at the same type manages to down-scale his arguments for less capable readers.

In short, if you've read other works by Dawkins and have a healthy dose of scientific education this book will often be boring.

I highly reccomend 'The Selfish Gene'

This slim little volume manages to accurately depict the concepts and philosophy underpinning the rest of Dawkins' work without going into as much technical detail. If you're unfamiliar with Dawkins' work or with evolution in general, this is the Dawkins book to read first. On the other hand, if you only plan to read one Dawkins book, I'd suggest "The Blind Watchmaker" instead - it fleshes out the topics in a little more detail, with additional explanatory material.

That said, "River out of Eden" is one of Dawkins' best works of prose. It's both rare and gratifying to see such a brilliant scientist who also possesses a talent with words. Wit, wisdom, and erudition combine to make this book a great success. In fact, the book contains the single sentence I can pick out of Dawkins' entire body of work as most his most effective and captivating writing (it's at the end of Chapter 4, "God's Utility Function" - read the book to find it! :)

If you enjoyed this book, or would like to find out more about Dawkins' work, try these two websites:

http://www.world-of-dawkins.com/default.asp (The World of Richard Dawkins)

http://library.thinkquest.org/C004367 (Replicators: Evolutionary Powerhouses)

I agree with other reviewers that this book is a good introduction to Richard Dawkins' wonderful authorship. Although theists might find it annoying when Dawkins mixes emperical evidence with his personal philosophy (like in "God's Utility Function", which is basically another version of the argument from suffering), I do not hink that this should be regarded as an "atheist-book".

If I have any objections to the contents this book, it should be that Dawkins doesn't seem to have a general topic to pursue, except to entertain and fascinate his readers. He starts out by presenting the analogy of the evolution of life as a river, connecting every specie through a common ancestor (or, following the flood-analogy, a common parent-branch). Then, he goes on to discuss Mitocondrial Eve, dispelling the common misunderstanding that this has anything to do with the Eve talked about in Genesis. After that, he delivers a rightfully-earned whack at creationists who insists that their own lack of imagination should be considered a problem for the gradual mode of evolution. He also explains how some biological systems could have evolved, like how certain specie of orchids evolved their way of "tricking" bees into helping them reproduce, and (of course) how the eye evolved. Also included is a discussion on how a certain dance performed by bees to communicate evolved. It was quite complicated, and the fact that English is only my second language didn't make it easier. After the aforementioned argument from suffering, Dawkins compares the explosion of life on Earth with the explosion of a supernova, laying out certain "tresholds" that needs to be crossed in order to produce intelligent lifeforms capable of radio communication.

Dawkins doesn't seem to use any other criteria for chosing his topic than "this might be interesting to read about". And while this might not be the most orderly approach in writing a book, he is right: The topics chosen *are* interesting, which isn't lessened in the least by Dawkins' great abilities as a science writer.

A book essentially dealing with genes (a favourite subject of the author) and how scientists can use DNA 'fingerprinting' to delve deeper and deeper into the past to discover life's origins and branching points.

It dispels some myths & misconceptions about how evolution works and also raises some rather novel issues (I thought) about heredity - took me a bit of time to get my head round the argument here!

Although I found this book enlightening (as all Mr Dawkins' books are), I found myself a tad overwhelmed by the economics brought in to play to explain the apparent inconsistencies in populations of male & female in certain species, and also I found the discourse on bees a little more laboured than usual.

Nonetheless, a very thought-provoking and interesting read for those who wish to know more about life, the universe & everything (42).

River Out of Eden is a beautiful short book, which I believe holds many keys to taking the ceiling off of our minds, and allowing us to soar unfettered into new understandings of our evolutionary origins and our human potential in the universe. Dawkins suggests that we have reached a watershed, in that the unraveling of the DNA code, and modern astronomy now make tribal myths and traditional religion obsolete. We pay a price for this information. It comes at the expense of being taught the not very soothing fact that we as humans, are, quite simply, life-support systems which genetic information (DNA) uses to survive and perpetuate itself. But what about musical talent and good looks and great skill at skateboarding? Aren't these the ineffable and spiritual qualities which set us apart from all things? Sorry. According to Dawkins, these are simply genetically evolved traits which serve the DNA by making the individual more likely to attract a mate, reproduce, and hence, perpetuate the genes which caused those traits. While this book may be unsettling at first blush, one is left with a feeling of awe and wonder that we have evolved to such a degree that we can look back at the stars and chemistry which resulted in ourselves, and shiver with wonder at what we may learn next.

The book of a great thinker. You don't have to follow him on every detail to benefit from his train of thought. His book is not only thought-provoking about what evolution and life are, it is also entertaining. Don't miss his story about a secret message transmitted by a virus. Learn also what could explain the evolution of the food signaling danse of the bees. For me, if Dawkins too often writes as if genes were always running the show of life, he still is a good debater and an antidote against mystical ideas. A must for all inquisitive minds!

This was the first of Dawkins' books that I encountered. He develops a picture, step by step, of what evolution actually means AND does not mean. I felt, after reading this book, that for the first time I had obtained a worthwhile understanding of the topic. He expresses it in terms that I could understand, yet the concepts were much more sophisticated than what I learned in Secondary school and Undergrad Bio courses (as an engineering student).

This book was so fascinating that I have subsequently gone on to read all his books.