Suppose, instead of thinking about organisms using genes to reproduce themselves, as we had since Mendel's work was rediscovered, we turn it around and imagine that "our" genes build and maintain us in order to make more genes. That simple reversal seems to answer many puzzlers which had stumped scientists for years, and we haven't thought of evolution in the same way since. Drawing fascinating examples from every field of biology, he paved the way for a serious re-evaluation of evolution. He also introduced the concept of self-reproducing ideas, or memes, which (seemingly) use humans exclusively for their propagation. If we are puppets, he says, at least we can try to understand our strings.

    Freshly translated, this acknowledged modern classic defends the historic church position that all human beings descend from Adam as the first human being.

    Barash (b. 1946) is a Professor of Psychology at the Univ. of Washington, & is notable for books on human aggression, Peace Studies, & the sexual behavior of animals & people. He has written approximately 30 books in total. He received his bachelor's degree in biology from Harpur College, SUNY at Binghamton & a PhD in zoology from Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison in 1970. He taught at the SUNY at Oneonta, then accepted a permanent position at the Univ. of Washington.

    A hundred years ago Darwin and Wallace in their theory of natural selection, or the survival of the fittest, explained how evolution could have happened, in terms of processes known to take place today. In this book John Maynard Smith describes how their theory has been confirmed, but at the same time transformed, by recent research, and in particular by the discovery of the laws of inheritance.

    The essays collected here are among his most valuable and durable: contributions that form the basis for much of the contemporary understanding of evolutionary biology.