| The Blind Watchmaker | |
 Cover illustration by the zoologist Desmond Morris | |
| Author | Richard Dawkins |
|---|---|
| Subject(s) | Evolutionary biology |
| Publisher | Norton & Company, Inc |
| Publication date | 1986 |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-393-31570-3 |
| Preceded by | The Extended Phenotype |
| Followed by | River Out of Eden |
The Blind Watchmaker is a 1986 book by Richard Dawkins in which he presents an explanation of, and argument for, the theory of evolution by means of natural selection. For the Australian rugby league footballer coach and administrator see Des Morris Desmond John Morris (born 24 January 1928 Clinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL (born 26 March 1941 is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist, and Popular science Evolutionary biology is a sub-field of Biology concerned with the origin of Species from a Common descent, and Descent of species Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of Literature or Information &ndash the activity of making information available for public view Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) The Extended Phenotype (subtitled "The Gene as the Unit of Selection" and later "The Long Reach of the Gene" is a 1982 book by Richard River out of Eden (subtitled "A Darwinian View of Life" is a 1995 Popular science book by Richard Dawkins. Clinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL (born 26 March 1941 is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist, and Popular science eVolution is the third Album by eLDee, it was due to be released in 2008 Natural selection is the process by which favorable Heritable traits become more common in successive Generations of a Population of He also presents arguments to refute certain criticisms made on his previous book The Selfish Gene. (Both books are intended to popularise the gene-centric view of evolution. The gene-centered view of evolution, gene selection theory or selfish gene theory holds that Natural selection acts through differential survival of competing )
In his choice of the title for this book, Dawkins makes reference to the watchmaker analogy made famous by William Paley in his book Natural Theology. The watchmaker analogy, or watchmaker Argument, is a Teleological argument for the Existence of God. William Paley (July 1743 &ndash 25 May 1805) was a British Christian apologist, Philosopher, and utilitarian. Paley, arguing more than fifty years before Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species, held that the complexity of living organisms was evidence of the existence of a divine creator by drawing a parallel with the way in which the existence of a watch compels belief in an intelligent watchmaker. Charles Robert Darwin (February 12 1809 &ndash April 19 1882 was an English naturalist, who realised and demonstrated that all Species of life Charles Darwin 's On the Origin of Species (published 24 November 1859) is a seminal work in Scientific literature and arguably the God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity. Dawkins, in contrasting the differences between human design and its potential for planning with the workings of natural selection, therefore dubbed evolutionary processes as analogous to a blind watchmaker.
In developing his argument that natural selection can explain the complex adaptations of organisms, Dawkins' first concern is to illustrate the difference between the potential for the development of complexity of pure randomness as opposed to that of randomness coupled with cumulative selection. He demonstrates this by the example of the Weasel program. The weasel program is a computer Software Simulation written by ethologist Richard Dawkins in order to demonstrate the relative power of Dawkins then describes his experiences with a more sophisticated computer model of artificial selection implemented in a program also called The Blind Watchmaker, which was sold separately as a teaching aid. A computer simulation, a computer model or a computational model is a Computer program, or network of computers that attempts to simulate an
In an appendix to a later edition of the book (1996), Dawkins explains how his experiences with computer models led him to a greater appreciation of the role of embryological constraints on natural selection. Developmental Biology is the official journal of the Society for Developmental Biology. In particular, he recognised that certain patterns of embryological development could lead to the success of a related group of species in filling varied ecological niches, though he continued to maintain that this should not be confused with the ideas associated with group selection. Ecology (from Greek grc οἶκος oikos, "house(hold" and grc -λογία -logia) is the scientific study of He dubbed this insight the evolution of evolvability.
After arguing that evolution is capable of explaining the origin of complexity, near the end of the book Dawkins uses this to argue against the existence of God: "a deity capable of engineering all the organised complexity in the world, either instantaneously or by guiding evolution, . God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity. . . must already have been vastly complex in the first place . . . " He calls this "postulating organised complexity without offering an explanation. "
In its preface, Dawkins states that he wrote the book "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. "
References
- Dawkins, Richard [1986] (1996). Clinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL (born 26 March 1941 is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist, and Popular science The Blind Watchmaker. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. . ISBN 0-393-31570-3.
External links
- Blind Watchmaker Applet (the "Blind Watchmaker" biomorph program written in Java)
- The Blind Watchmaker, Jeremy Taylor and Richard Dawkins, BBC Horizon, 1987, television documentary
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