Hi, my name is Jonathan. I'm new here, so I'm sorry if this isn't the correct board to ask this question. But I am curious... I am a laymen when it comes to science, but I've always been fascinated by evolutionary biology and the study of animals from their inception to their extinction. I believe I know the basics about evolution, but want to know more and I'm wondering, which of Professor Richard Dawkins's books are a good start to understand evolution besides "The Magic of Reality" which is the only book of his I have read. I ask for Dawkins books because I am a huge admirer of his (considering I'm an Atheist too).

 

Should I go with "The Selfish Gene" or "The Ancestor's Tale" or "The Greatest Show on Earth" or "River Out of Eden" or any other book of his on evolution I haven't mentioned...

 

Also, I have a copy of Charles Darwin's "on the Origin of Species", should I jump into that and read it, or should I wait till I'm more familiar with the subject of evolution first?

 

Let me know, please and thank you.

Edited November 8, 201114 yr by JRonda342

If you want something specific to evolutionary biology, then the greatest show on earth is great for providing iron-clad evidence. As for the more abstract notions, selfish gene may be better. Mine is just one opinion, though. Others may feel differently.

 

Also... why choose. Perhaps just read each of them.

 

Enjoy.

Haha, true. What I meant to ask, which should I read first and which is a simpler read to understand Evolution since like I said earlier, I'm not knowledgeable when it comes to science and I only know basics really.

Given that, the greatest show on earth is probably best for you to start with out of the dawkins collection.

If you're really looking for something basic, you might also check out "The Magic of Reality." However, that's less about evolution and more about science and understanding the world around us.

As I said in my Original Post, I have read "The Magic of Reality" and remains to be the only Dawkins's book I have read so forth (in fact, in my picture, that is him, signing my copy). Thanks for the recommendation, I will read "The Greatest Show on Earth" first.

 

By the way, should I read "on the Origin of Species" first, or should I wait till I know more about evolution before I read it?

As I said in my Original Post, I have read "The Magic of Reality" and remains to be the only Dawkins's book I have read so forth (in fact, in my picture, that is him, signing my copy). Thanks for the recommendation, I will read "The Greatest Show on Earth" first.

 

By the way, should I read "on the Origin of Species" first, or should I wait till I know more about evolution before I read it?

Depends on why you're reading it. It is interesting to understand how Darwin reasoned about his ideas, and reading Origin gives clarity on what he saw, how he tied the evidence together, and really what led him to his conclusions. It's fascinating to think about how this would have been perceived way back then when so little was known by a large portion of the population.

 

The basic ideas in Origin are still very much accurate, but we've learned quite a lot in the last 150 years that makes some of what he said outdated. I read it several years ago out of curiosity. It's nice to remain acquainted with history, especially when it comes to the generation of an idea which really serves as the foundation for our knowledge of biology.

 

It's really up to you, though. My approach may differ from yours. My approach would be to explore some basic tutorials and videos, then read Origin to understand what prompted so much of the knowledge we use and rely upon today. You could easily get by without ever reading it at all, and sticking to more modern and complete accounts. It's totally your call. Cheers.

 

 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/

http://www.newscientist.com/topic/evolution

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/evolution/evolution1.htm

 

Btw - Sorry for forgetting you said so clearly in the OP you'd already read magic of reality. My bad.

I think reading origin of species before knowing anything else is quite nice as it is a very nice intro into the whole matter without all the knowledge we have today. It will increase the wonder on how well this fits to what we figured out until now, if you read up the other books. However, the accessibility is much lower, considering that Dawkin's books are squarely aimed at the interested general population, whereas Darwin is a bit more of a scholarly text (but still very readable despite that).