Now I don't often read science books - but this at least was relatively short, and I kept asking myself how much of this is science, and how much philosophy? Richard Dawkins is man on a mission - extremely anti religion. So, he starts out by saying that everyone now accepts Darwinism as fact - therefore all religious belief must be erroneous. I get the feeling he is falling into the same trap that he accuses those of faith of having fallen into. A Christian believes that God created the world (and does this belief really exclude Darwinism?) whereas Dawkins believes in the continuing effect of genetic development. What he fails to explain is where, what or who began the process of the development of life. Anyway, having skimmed over all that, he seeks to demonstrate that it is the genetic imperative in all lifeforms (and he isn't neglectful of every possible species - bees, wasps, seahorses, cuckoos, gazelles, urchins, all get a look in) that affects every aspect of life. Therefore, no life form every does an 'altruistic' act, without subconsciously the genes thinking 'What's in this for me?' All genes are thinking about are how do I achieve immortality - passing on through the generations, adapting, intermixing and so on. He fobs off group support as fallacious, a mere mask for genes seeking their survival into breeding and therefore continuous. Parents caring for their children? No - genes ensuring that they survive through to grandchildren. I'm sorry it is too simple - and maybe that was his intention, science for the non-scientific. Rating 5/10
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