Richard Dawkins. Norton, New York, 1986.
A very well presented defense of evolution against the assault of creationism. The key creationist objection to Darwinism, that organisms are too complex to be the result of chance events, is met head on. To the creationist claim that the existence of a watch is evidence of a watchmaker, Dawkins responds that chance events guided by natural selection can in-deed produce complex results, a blind watchmaker guided by trial and error. This book presents a great general account of evolution, a lucid explanation of Darwinism good enough to satisfy professional biologists and yet so well written that any reader can easily grasp what Dawkins — and Darwin — are saying. You may find you like this book more than The Selfish Gene, Dawkins earlier and better known book, reflecting todays sense of alarm at the pervasive influence of creationism, and the excellent job Dawkins does spearing their arguments in this newer book.