So anyway, I've been hearing and reading of bits and snippets about this book, The Blind Watchmaker, by Richard Dawkins, ISBN 0140144811. So I finally decided I had to go and get myself a copy.

I'm about halfway through it, and it's an excellent setup so far. The most fascinating section in that first part is when he explains how his computer simulation of evolution based on nothing other than a simple rule that any one change was based on the change before it produced amazingly complex figures.

On a deeper level, I'm drawn to his very apt characterization of evolution as a "blind watchmaker". It is an excellent description of a process which acts without foresight or a plan and produces beings as complex as any watch ever invented.

I urge all who are interested in evolution or even in biology to read this book. You may not necessarily agree with it, but it will make you think.

[ September 17, 2002: Message edited by: DrConway ]