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The Selfish Gene</Article-Title> As this is an introductorytextbook, the well have been fitled, "CourtshipPat- inclusionof the authorindex wouldseem terns and Practices."He cites many to be primarilyfor the instructor'suse. examples of male/female reproductive The writingstyle for the most part is and behavioralpatterns, all which may relatively simple with good definitions. supporthis thesis. Descriptionsof some of the elementary EN vIRONMENTAL Finally, in Chapter 10, the author statisticaltools of research,in chapter15, assembles a rathermiscellaneous list of are writtenin an unusuallyunderstand- FILMS benefits for animalsthat live in groups able manner. When the author begins (bird flocking, insect swarming, fish describing details of some research, 16 mm, color and optical sound schooling, mammal herds and packs) however, he often becomes hard to which specificallysupport his "selfish follow. CLOUDOVER THE CORAL REEF gene theory."By far the most significant If the book were used in a one semes- . .. one of the most visually striking support comes from the study of the efforts of documenting the decline ter course meeting three times a week, and fall of an ecosystem that students socialinsect colony. the instructorwould need to be most are likely to experience"-The Sci- Dawkinsthen sums up his argument selective about how much to cover. The ence Teacher. 27 min. Price $350 for gene selfishness by drawing an sheer quantity of materialincluded in analogybetween culturalevolution (and justthe sectionsrecommended for use in THEPOISONED SEA a coined word, 'meme'or imitator)and such a course is overwhelming.Part of Shows the effects of sewage pollution genetic (gene) evolution. Here he sug- Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/abt/article-pdf/39/6/387/35537/4445971.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 the problemis the inclusionof excessive in coastal waters. "Well suited for an gests that so-calledmemes make a cul- detail in describingresearch studies. In introduction to water pollution . tural contributiongoing from brain to many cases, some of this detailcould be sewage treatment . oceanography, brain,in additionto survivalvalue and ecology, or conservation."-The Sci- omittedand leftfor the interestedstudent ence Teacher. 27 min. Price $350 survivalrate. Such survival,according to to pursue. The excellent reference lists the author,is sure to outlastgene pools, would make such pursuitsrather simple. Purchase, rental or preview from since the one unique feature of man is An example of such excessive detail is his capacityfor conscious foresight. MOONLIGHT Lee Tepley found in the discussionof extra-chromo- PRODUCTIONS/Dr. Since no comparablebook on gene somal inheritanceof the kappa particle 2650 CaliforniaStreet, Dept. BT animation and selfishness appears to 94040 in Paramecium and the "virus-like" MountainView, California exist, there is reallynothing to compare particle,sigma and anothersimilar parti- this writingto. I am afraidI cannotagree cle in are devoted Drosophila.Six pages The authordescribes three imaginary with Mr. Dawkins that he has three to this materialand then, in one of the readersfor whom the book was written: potentialreaders. The layman may find rare chapter summaries,it is suggested the layman,with no special great difficultyin understandingthe ESS that even thoughthe researchis interest- knowledge, for whom popularizedyet subtle and theory, the student may wonder if the ing, the verificationof the presence and complicated ideas may find mystery authoris really serious, (whichI myself mode of transmissionof such inheritance story appeal; the expert, for whom a find difficultto decide), while the expert is difficultand sometimesquestionable. I new way of lookingat familiarideas may mightenjoy the humorof it all. It seems in find this type of thing textbooksfrus- be entertaining;and, the student,making to me the work is writtenmore for the tratingwhen so much space has been the transitionfrom layman to expert graduatestudent in genetics or animal devoted to the coverageof the research. (withthe author'sexpectation that some ecology than those suggested by the An additionaland relatedproblem with may be recruited to his own field, author.It makes for interestingreading, the text is that the lines of reasoning from zoology). if not fora totallyacceptable hypothesis. the experimentsto the principlesare too Dawkinswrites with a lightand humor- The bibliographyseems to be care- often lost in the masses of detail pro- ous style, but his obviouswit should not fully selected, complete, and one which videdin the researchdescriptions. be taken as a totally tongue-in-cheek students (or readers)of animalbehavior As an instructor'sreference even at the effort.The documentationsupporting his willfind interesting. high school level, Genetics is excellent. thesis (survivalmachines under gene Richard As a general textbook requiredfor an C. Powell control) comes from many biological SammamishHigh School introductorycollege sophomoreor junior examples found in nature and, he has the au- Bellevue,Washington course running one semester, well-knownauthori- thor'spresentations of historicalmaterial drawn upon many ties. He includes:R. L. Trivers,Parental and the general principlesof genetics Smith, W. D. are equallygood. Investment;J. Maynard Hamilton,and R. H. MacArthur,Evolu- ELEMENTSOF MEDICALGENETICS Jean E. Cooper tionary Stable Strategy; J. M. Smith, by Alan E.H. Emery. 4th ed., 1976. EastHigh School G. R. Price and G. A. Parker,Game Universityof CaliforniaPress (2223 Cheyenne,Wyoming Theory;Konrad Lorenz, On Aggression, Fulton Street, Berkeley 94720). 245 et al. p. $4.25. The book opens with several back- Recently a national newspaper had THESELFISH GENE groundchapters on fundamentalheredi- four articleson genetic diseasesfeatured by RlichardDawkins, 1976. Oxford tary principles.These are all quite read- withina two-weekperiod. Where does a UniversityPress (200 Madison Ave- able if not new in information.The re- biology teacher find concise and clear nue, New York,10016). 224 p. $8&95. maining chapters deal with support of explanationsof the geneticbases of these The titleand bookjacket might suggest his basicargument for survivalmachines widelypublicized diseases? While Emery a science fiction format,but it isn't. In- in terms of aggression,genesmanship, does not claimto have writtena compre- stead, it establishesgenetic materialas familyplanning and siblingrivalry. hensivetext forthis complex field, he has the "master" while we -the survival However,Dawkins reaches deep into provided a readable, interesting,and machines-blindly follow the selfish his bag of biologicalexamples in Chap- thoroughreview of currentinformation molecules,the genes. ter 9, "Battleof the Sexes," whichmight on the relationshipbetween genetics REVIEWS 387 .
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