About this Item
Ships in a BOX from Central Missouri! May not include working access code. Will not include dust jacket. Has used sticker(s) and some writing or highlighting. UPS shipping for most packages, (Priority Mail for AK/HI/APO/PO Boxes). Seller Inventory # 001849224U
Bibliographic Details
Title: The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of ...
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Publication Date: 2015
Binding: Paperback
Condition: Good
Edition: Reissue.
About this title
Richard Dawkins’s classic remains the definitive argument for our modern understanding of evolution.
The Blind Watchmaker is the seminal text for understanding evolution today. In the eighteenth century, theologian William Paley developed a famous metaphor for creationism: that of the skilled watchmaker. In The Blind Watchmaker, Richard Dawkins crafts an elegant riposte to show that the complex process of Darwinian natural selection is unconscious and automatic. If natural selection can be said to play the role of a watchmaker in nature, it is a blind one―working without foresight or purpose.
In an eloquent, uniquely persuasive account of the theory of natural selection, Dawkins illustrates how simple organisms slowly change over time to create a world of enormous complexity, diversity, and beauty.
22 illustrations
I want to persuade the reader, not just that the Darwinian world-view happens to be true, but that it is the only known theory that could, in principle, solve the mystery of our existence.
The title of this 1986 work, Dawkins's second book, refers to the Rev. William Paley's 1802 work, Natural Theology, which argued that just as finding a watch would lead you to conclude that a watchmaker must exist, the complexity of living organisms proves that a Creator exists. Not so, says Dawkins: "All appearances to the contrary, the only watchmaker in nature is the blind forces of physics, albeit deployed in a very special way... it is the blind watchmaker."
Dawkins is a hard-core scientist: he doesn't just tell you what is so, he shows you how to find out for yourself. For this book, he wrote Biomorph, one of the first artificial life programs. You can check Dawkins's results on your own Mac or PC.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Store Description
We guarantee the condition of every book as it’s described on the AbeBooks websites. If you are not satisfied with your purchase or if the order has not arrived yet, you are eligible for a refund within 30 days of the estimated delivery date. If you have any questions about an order, please us the “Ask Bookseller a Question” link to contact us and we will respond within 2 business days.
All orders ship from our warehouse, centrally located in Columbia, Missouri. Orders usually ship on the same or next business day (Monday – Friday).
Payment Methods
accepted by seller