Buy new:
$75.00
$3.99 delivery May 16 - 17
Ships from: concisebooks
Sold by: concisebooks
$75.00
$3.99 delivery May 16 - 17. Details
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$75.00 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$75.00
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
concisebooks
Ships from
concisebooks
Sold by
concisebooks
Sold by
concisebooks
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt. You may receive a partial or no refund on used, damaged or materially different returns.
Read full return policy
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt. You may receive a partial or no refund on used, damaged or materially different returns.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$60.00
FREE Returns
A readable copy. Pages and cover are intact. Ships directly from Amazon. Eligible for free shipping with Amazon Prime plus a hassle free return policy means your satisfaction is guaranteed! A readable copy. Pages and cover are intact. Ships directly from Amazon. Eligible for free shipping with Amazon Prime plus a hassle free return policy means your satisfaction is guaranteed! See less
FREE delivery Thursday, May 16
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$75.00 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$75.00
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Richard Dawkins
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

The Blind Watchmaker. Hardcover – January 1, 2008

by Richard Dawkins (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 2,043 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$75.00","priceAmount":75.00,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"75","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"00","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"j%2F3wdW24q%2BDBpFqnrsYl%2Bx%2FfqLy9S%2F%2F6BKS3EEUubf4hj7G0u%2Bv5pqK%2FjXV2kdi1gLjB9GaOuA%2F3BmcHFENJ9bB5psP8Wq28MMDG%2Bu%2BOmAfg7QZgdrjbUvfT3TTXZp%2B%2BMn5SgRzP%2BbFL7BY8p%2BNgfC%2BPwqpQL2h9znlHMTpOG%2Fig43xYQWSLgw%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$60.00","priceAmount":60.00,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"60","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"00","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"j%2F3wdW24q%2BDBpFqnrsYl%2Bx%2FfqLy9S%2F%2F6EI35%2B35vNgO25it%2B6%2FJjfuaafP%2BWYVEREt41LzUpfzkYmWq%2BRY3%2BFvOZOC7fqMZp8YM2wrSPShjzRYB2Pw227eLCVW6bPfeCb1kkaOQ%2FOibZs%2FaHyCO9X3lTrz0wKfUHDsWCG3Rwsut9uxzj9lF9hA%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Bound in cloth, blocked and printed with a computer-generated image of a golden DNA double helix unwinding. Set in Sabon with Optima display. 384 pages; 24 pages of colour plates. 10½" × 6¼" In this award-winning, lucid and entertainingly written book, Richard Dawkins uses the great scientific discoveries of modern times - from DNA to the power of computing and the electron microscope - to lead the reader step by logical step towards a heightened understanding of evolution. It is a fascinating journey, conveying the wonder of such natural phenomena as bat sonar, the clotting of blood or the mating display plumage of long-tailed widow birds, and Dawkins demonstrates how all of these can be explained, indeed, could only be explained, by the processes of evolution and natural selection. As humans, we are so accustomed to designing complex objects that we interpret nature as if it were also designed. But, Dawkins argues, the only ‘design’ springs from nature itself – from the blind, gradual and awe-inspiring process of evolution.
Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Language
    English
  2. Publisher
    Folio Society
  3. Publication date
    January 1, 2008
  4. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Frequently bought together

The Blind Watchmaker.
$75.00
Get it May 16 - 17
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Ships from and sold by concisebooks.
+
The God Delusion
$13.00
Sold by Murfbooks and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.
+
The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution
$16.02
Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 14
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Sold by Murfbooks and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
Some of these items ship sooner than the others.
Show details Hide details
Choose items to buy together.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0014WQVUQ
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Folio Society; Third Folio Printing edition (January 1, 2008)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.25 pounds
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 2,043 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Richard Dawkins

Richard Dawkins

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Richard Dawkins taught zoology at the University of California at Berkeley and at Oxford University and is now the Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford, a position he has held since 1995. Among his previous books are The Ancestor's Tale, The Selfish Gene, The Blind Watchmaker, Climbing Mount Improbable, Unweaving the Rainbow, and A Devil's Chaplain. Dawkins lives in Oxford with his wife, the actress and artist Lalla Ward.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
2,043 global ratings
Inadequate for a ‘New’ condition item
2 Stars
Inadequate for a ‘New’ condition item
The item was advertised as brand new, and for the price I paid, I expected it to arrive in that condition. Instead, I received a book with strong creases on both covers and on the first and last pages, a stain on the back of the front cover, and yellow vertical lines on many pages.I strongly feel that the condition of the received item does not justify the price I paid. I bought many books from Amazon over the last few months, and this time I’m quite disappointed.
Hide
Thank you for your feedback
Sorry, there was an error
Sorry we couldn't load the review

Top reviews from the United States

Adrian Fernandez
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating read that clearly explains concepts that are usually abstract and difficult to follow
Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2024
Verified Purchase
A very great book. Highly recommend for anyone interested in natural science. Would also recommend for those skeptics of such theories of evolution, for this is a straight forward read that is great for critical thinking. The whole book is a series of thought excerises that keep the reader captivating. Not difficult to follow at all, easy to follow even for the science layman. Concepts explained very clearly and vividly. 10/10 book.
Helpful
 Report
Riccardo Audano
5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading before you meet your watchmaker ...
Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2006
Verified Purchase
Great book with a great title. Richard Dawkings is an absolute master in using controversy and philosophical disputes to smuggle fundamental knowledge about evolutionary biology that could otherwise be seen as intimidating or just plain boring by a layman. Just look at some of teh chapters titles: "Explaining the very improbable", "Origins and miracles", "Explosions and spirals", "The one true tree of life", "Doomed rivals". As a minimum, you must concede this guy is a master communicator. How could you not be interested in finding out what this chapters are about...

Anyhow, all the chapters in this book are about giving you a detailed, understandable account of how evolution and natural selection works, and clearing out any doubts you might have conceived or received by others.

It's masterfully written, fascinating and engaging. What surprises me is why all the "religious" fuss abut this book is about. This is not a book defending atheism, or a book trying to demostrate the non existence of God. No real scientist, atheist or not, would ever dream to do such a thing. This is just about explaining reality through rational thinking, something that any sane person should approve of. Even deeply religious people should not be afraid of this book, or of Darvin's theory. What repulsive kind of a plastic God would be the one that literally makes a man out of clay and pops it on earth just like a kid pushes a barbie doll in her little fake house. Or jumping from biology to astronomy what kind of claustrophobic world would have given to us if the enciant view of the universe was a little ball with the "spheres" rotating around it.

I find that those views are the really offensive towards God, so if you believe in God you should be so much more relieved and happy as nature reveals some of her complexities and her beauty, instead of forcing the limited and obtuse human view to God.

Besides, there are far more serious arguments that question the plausibility of God than natural selection and who the first men were..

for example all the sorrow and pain that come to us men from time to time because of wars, accidents, natural disasters..And even if most of these plagues can be traced back more or less directly to men themselves.. how about children born with deformities or terrible illnesses that doom them to death or to a crippled life. Those are way more troubling mysteries to a believer than natural selection theory...Then why Darwin's theory is so adversed by some exponent fo the various churches? Well my idea is that it is one of the few fundamental scientific theories that is at the same time so illuminating and so simple that everyone can appreciate it an fully understand it.And for this reason it leaves you hungry for more truth and more reasoning and promotes love and passion for scientific inquiry and reasoning.. And those who detain the power never like the idea of having to give and account of that power to intelligent, rational, inquisitive minds.

So in the end, in a sense, especially if there actually is a God, you better read this book and use it to enrich your culture and open your mind. If you are an atheist, you will love life better, if you believe in God you will appreciate his ways even more.
24 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Igo Hummaan
4.0 out of 5 stars Appreciate This Book for what it is...
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2020
Verified Purchase
With a topic like evolution / intelligent design, you are bound to get some blind 5 star reviews from people who believe the general idea of evolution without really understanding it, and some blind 1-2 star reviews from people who do not actually WANT to understand it but to find ways to discredit it. Ignore both kinds of review. There's another group of reviewers who might give a lower rating on the premise that the work is not empirical enough or rigorous enough; those people have misunderstood the purpose of this book.

WHAT TO EXPECT
The context and tone of this book are conversational in nature, even if the core ideas are derived from an array of scientific inquiry over the last 150 years. Imagine the author sitting in a coffee shop with you during a bad rain storm (so you've got time), hoping to explain why the main tenets of evolution are important and worth understanding, and why many of the opposing theories are lesser theories from a scientific standpoint, and you will understand the purpose of this book.

It's not hard to see why this work is has been deemed a "classic". Dawkins weaves an interesting and detailed account of the basic principles underlying evolution, including dispelling common misunderstandings like the idea that natural selection is a random process (i.e. conflating genetic mutation — random — with natural selection in favor of specific kinds of mutations — not random). No degrees in molecular biology, genetics, or zoology are required to understand the basic principles described in the book, though you may find that afterward you have a desire to find and order books about these topics (I did). There are also some laugh out-loud passages which I did not expect. While he does at various points veer off-course and ramble a bit (who doesn't), the old saw about babies and bathwater clearly applies (and not much bathwater at that).

In short if the average reader approaches with an open mind, you cannot help but end up with a better understanding of evolution than when you started, regardless of whether or not you personally find every argument made compelling (you're not a bad person if you don't, nor virtuous if you do). We need to learn to debate these things without the toxicity applied.

PERSONAL TAKEAWAYS
While most of the key mechanisms of evolution are known and their effects observable with modern technology (e.g. reading and comparing the genome of two suspected but not obviously related species) and/or through our robust understanding of molecular biology, there are parts of the theory that remain unproven. More specifically, formal proofs of concept of the origins of the first self-replicating cells. This is not unexpected given the time scales involved and the very incomplete fossil record that we have (unfortunately many kinds of things that we would need to study fossils OF, don't actually fossilize when they die). This is also where the typical "God of the Gaps" arguments made by many intelligent design (or ID) supporters originate. Which for many of them amounts to "you can't show me definitive proof today of how certain kinds of cells came into being 4 billion years ago, ergo this entire theory is flawed / false." Which is, on its face, absurd.

If I believe at all in the value of scientific inquiry and thinking, then I must admit that two things are true:
1) there is by now a literal mountain of empirical evidence — in several related scientific fields, ranging from physics to physiology — that points directly to the cellular machinery of what we call "evolution" at work, over very long time scales, in every kind of living thing. To deny the validity of the core parts of evolution, is about as foolish as an educated person choosing to believe that an entire political party is filled with devil-worshipping baby-eaters, despite there being no wide-scale reports of satanic altars and missing babies that we know of;

2) In a wide array of scientific fields, we have scenarios where some parts of a theory are definitively known and proven and others not yet proven (i.e. proven in the same way science has proven than atoms can be split and tornadoes are formed when certain kinds of frontal boundaries collide with one another under specific conditions), and evolution is one of these fields. Admitting that something is unknown is NOT tantamount to admitting it is invalid! : ) There remain problems unsolved / proofs unmade; that is OK. It means we have work to do.

Imagine this conversation between two people (two scientists if you like, no need to make it a scientist and a minister, for example):

"You say we can see from countless optical telescope (and other) observations and crunching of data according to the laws of physics that have been proven valid many thousands of times over, that there is evidence of an unseen type of mass in the universe, that effects everything from the appearance of distant objects in optical telescopes (gravitational lensing) to how galaxies interact, but because you can't show me a visible proof this source of mass exists, I must conclude your entire interconnected theory of solar systems and galaxies and galaxy clusters, and how they interact, is false." Absurd right? That's what many (not all) ID proponents do with evolution (the lack of visible evidence in our example is the analog to the lack of a proven, molecular definition of the first self-replicating cell and its surrounding conditions).

And that leads me to the last point, which is over the last 20 years or so, molecular biologists, molecular engineers, and evolutionary biologists have been generating ever-more-compelling test results in controlled lab conditions, of self-contained, self-replicating cells arising from nothing but simple organic compounds, elemental catalysts, and different forms of energy. They're not there yet, but one by one the technical hurdles are falling; the cells we're capable of generating today are much more robust than when we started 20 years ago. It would be great, therefore, to see Dawkins or perhaps his favored understudy, either re-write portions of this book to include these developments (a lot has happened n biology and genetics since the 90s, including things like systems theory), or write a new book with the same general scope and audience.
65 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
kushal gokhale
5.0 out of 5 stars A truley remarkable book
Reviewed in India on July 25, 2023
Verified Purchase
Richard Dawkins has proved himself one of the finest writers in the world. He truely knows how to write considering what questions will arise in the reader's mind after a certain sentence made. So he writes the further things accordingly. If all writers were like him in all subjects then all subjects would have been very intersting to everyone.
One person found this helpful
 Report
Evelyn Camacho
5.0 out of 5 stars Gran presentación de Kindle
Reviewed in Mexico on March 27, 2021
Verified Purchase
Adoro este libro. Y está escrito en un modo que hace la lectura súper agradable
Report
milena anunciada monteiro
4.0 out of 5 stars Foi um presente
Reviewed in Brazil on January 21, 2021
Verified Purchase
Comprei pra dar de presente ao meu marido. Ele gostou muito, já estava interessado nesse livro a um bom tempo.
Report
AnD
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in Italy on August 12, 2022
Verified Purchase
Extremely interesting.
Report
Vayne77
5.0 out of 5 stars Evolution: very large amount of steps of very small improvements
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 31, 2021
Verified Purchase
This book is about evolution: it is described as a very large amount of steps of very small improvements. Richard goes into great detail to help us understand how it works. I enjoyed reading it as it takes theory a step further and I regret having not read this book years earlier. Richard follows logic if we accept A then it means the following. He also explores the opposite if A isn't true. He (and Darwin) logically rejects evolution as having anything to do with divine intervention because if that is needed to explain any steps in evolution it means the theory is false.

He makes the reader understand that this process is so complex and played at multiple levels - from genes and cells, to species to planetary conditions - and over a time scale that the human mind cannot comprehend. It may seem magical or divine but it really isn't. When reading the chapters about this I had to think about a conversation at the start of Deep Space Nine about time: "What comes before now is not different than what is now or what is to come. It is one's existence". If we were to meet such a being we would not understand this with our human mind. For a human a decade is quite long, on geological time scale 60,000 years is an instant. We look at the animals and plants today and we should realize they are all the outcome of a billion years long evolutionary process.

The fossil record is extremely limited, so we miss many steps and sometimes we aren't even looking in the right area. In Dawkins' view life does not have a meaning - 42 might be the right answer after all. It's interesting as recently I learned about another theory that looked at life as a way to recirculate nutrition - each animal and plant is part of a system. Dawkins would reject that and the system is there because of life. He spent the last chapter debunking 'alternative theories'. In a way it's quite academic but it does show clearly where Richard stands.

Unfortunately he does not know how life started and he postulates some theories that sound the same as how we explain the universe using terms like dark energy and dark matter - it could be true but for now it's not more than an educated guess. I understand that this is still one of the large mysteries of life. As the book was written a few decades ago, some of the examples that Richard uses sounds dated - it does not take anything away from his message, but I can see my daughter for example not being able to understand what he means with a laser disc or a DC-8. If you are religious and have an open mind I would recommend reading it - Dawkins is not against religion in a way that he condemns religious people, it's more that it is not the right explanation for how life is today. There is no Watchmaker at work.
3 people found this helpful
 Report