The Selfish Gene

This work of evolutionary biology argues that natural selection acts primarily on genes, which persist by building bodies that help copies of themselves spread. Organisms are treated as temporary vehicles; apparent altruism is explained through kinship and reciprocal exchange rather than for the good of the species. Chapters use social insects, game-theory contests, parent-offspring conflict, and sexual selection as cases. A closing discussion introduces memes as cultural replicators that spread by imitation. The book is a popular scientific argument about units of selection, not a memoir and not a laboratory textbook of genetics.

Bound in black cloth with a red and gold beehive image blocked and printed on the front cover. Gold endpapers. Plain gold slipcase.