The Blind Watchmaker

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.