I didn't connect with the river analogy and also felt that the "greatest show on earth" and some of his other works were much stronger but this was still enjoyable.

A wonderfully exciting read. There were bits of it (like the last chapter)that were way over my head, but a lot of it was absolutely fascinating. Dawkins writes enchantingly. My understanding of DNA has changed...and I loved all the wonderful examples and illustrations that he brings to his arguments. I'm grossly ignorant, yet even I managed to get tons from this book. Now I need to read it again.

I got this book for an english class. Richard Dawkins really bugs me. His view is that people who are religious are uneducated and delusional - hence his newest book "The God Delusion".

This book takes about 30 minutes to read, but is probably the best book I've read when it comes to shooting down morons who believe in stupid shit. If you're offended by the fact that I think creationism is utter bullshit, I'm sorry - but Richard Dawkins isn't, and he's more than happy to give a hundred reasons why you're a moron for believing it. On top of giving ammo to those of us who do come in contact with the less scientifically enlightened among us (snobbery, anyone?), he manages to put a...

There is a point in River Out of Eden when the stark brutality of nature really hits home. With a nervous system programmed to kill anything that moves near its young unless it emits a babies cry, a deaf mother turkey mistakes her children for predators and, in a bid to protect them, ends up massacring every last one. It's one of several tragic anecdotes used to make an important point, and the kind of jolt that Dawkins does best. This is not however a pessimistic book. Far from it. As Dawkins r...

There are some good examples in this book, in addition to some good science-fiction scenarios that were enjoyable and original, but I found it hurrying from topic to topic without much depth. There's nothing special here that can't be found in Dawkins' other book. If you still didn't read The Blind Watchmaker, or better still The Ancestor's Tale, I would suggest you opt for them as the topics he is talking about in this book are better treated in in the others and in the case of The Ancestor's T...

Magisterial. In person, Richard Dawkins can seem defensive, arrogant: chippy. Hardly surprising, considering that he is a dignified and serious scientist who has had to spend years combating preposterous and impudent attacks. But his books are meticulous, supple and surprisingly sensual. His love of, and fascination with, the mechanics of the natural world is exhilarating and a joy to read. Complexities melt away, leaving a view of the world which is infinitely more beautiful, mysterious and ast...

This was okay, but it felt like a simplified version of his other work. A good place to start, but maybe one to skip over if you've read The Selfish Gene or The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design.

I finally get him!!! Guess what? Your DNA is eternal, not you. It flows like a river through us (and all creatures) and we are merely the banks (of the river) that house the DNA for its continuation into next generation, and the next (or not).I have read many of Dawkins' books and articles and this is a winner! If you're interested in learning exactly what Dawkins means by "The Selfish Gene" or the DNA river - this is the read & it's a quicky! The concepts are not as difficult in this book as ma...

“There are now perhaps thirty million branches to the river of DNA, for that is an estimate of the number of species on earth. It has also been estimated that the surviving species constitute about 1 percent of the species that have ever lived.”Before reading River Out of Eden, I had read that it was basically a mixture of the ideas Dawkins first presented in The Selfish Gene, then in The Blind Watchmaker and finally in The Extended Phenotype. So, having only read The Selfish Gene, I naturally t...

“Never were so many facts explained by so few assumptions. Not only does the Darwinian theory command superabundant power to explain. Its economy in doing so has a sinewy elegance, a poetic beauty that outclasses even the most haunting of the world’s origin myths.” ~Richard Dawkins, Oxford, 1994‘River Out of Eden’ is but one in a series of entertaining and enlightening books called “Science Masters” - HarperCollins, publisher. Others feature Richard Leaky, Daniel Dennett, Jared Diamond, Stephen

This is simply a beautiful book. It's kind of hard to put into words why this book is worth reading, or even really what it's about, but I'll try.Richard Dawkins was catapulted into popular stardom by his views on religion, not his views on science. But what the average person (who now knows his name) doesn't know is that Dawkins was a well-respected evolutionary biologist long before he released "The God Delusion". The vast majority of his books are written within his primary field of expertise...

This was a great book to introduce me to the wonders of evolutionary biology. Richard Dawkins is one of the most intelligent writers in this topic and will easily describe and outline the best arguments for evolution in this book. Plus, he is able to give an amazing description of the natural processes that occur everyday, and do so with great examples which are relatively easy to understand. I didn't quite grasp everything, but I got Richard's point. He has written other great books on similar

Dawkins is a clear thinker and elegant writer. This book is an introduction to his views on evolution.

I thought this book elegant. The writing is elegant. Dawkins's use of analogy and example to explain the complexities of evolution is elegant. He glides from idea to idea as elegantly as dance. I only wish I had more background. Dawkins' writing here isn't overbearingly technical. Still, not being a strong swimmer in science, I found myself at times over my head in deep pools of DNA and replicator genes and had to flail a bit before finding a toehold on some sandbar of familiar detail. That's no...

If you are interested in the evolutionary view of the world, this short, informative, and well-written book is a good read for you. If you have not yet read The Selfish Gene, The Greatest Show on Earth, etc., I think this book might be the best introduction to Richard Dawkins' books.The main point of the book is that since the commencing of life on Earth, there has been a flow of genes through time on our planet. By dividing and spontaneous mutation and natural selection, the complex life of all...