Status
Available
Call number
Collections
Publication
House of Anansi Press (1996), 112 pages
Description
A short but powerful book, the latest in the continuing debate between the genetic reductionists (such as Richard Dawkins, John Maynard Smith and E.O. Wilson) and those who argue for a rather more complex relationship between genes and the environment (such as Stephen Jay Gould, Steven Rose and Niles Eldredge). Lewontin is a forceful writer and this is an effective statement (largely because it is so short) of the case against the selfish gene.
User reviews
LibraryThing member gibbon
Professor Lewontin's book counters the deterministic arguments of some well-known geneticists who would have us believe that all differences between human beings, social as well as physical and mental, are due to variations in our DNA, maybe modified to an extent by different environments. He
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points out the circular nature of the arguments used to support some of their unprovable statements and the straightfowardly unscientific nature of others. In particular, he rejects the claim of sociobiology that it provides a scientific explanation of the current state of human society. This is not alwys an easy book to follow, but it is essential reading in particular for those who are dubious about the "scientific" nature of DNA analysis and what it can tell us about human beings, whether individually or in society. Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
112 p.; 5 inches
ISBN
0887845185 / 9780887845185