"What is a meme? First coined by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 study The Selfish Gene, a meme is any idea, behavior, or skill that can be transferred from one person to another by imitation: stories, fashions, inventions, recipes, songs, and ways of plowing a field, throwing a baseball, or making a sculpture. It is also one of the most important--and controversial--concepts to emerge since Darwin's Origin of the Species .

"Here, Blackmore boldly asserts: ‘Just as the design of our bodies can be understood only in terms of natural selection, so the design of our minds can be understood only in terms of memetic selection.’ Indeed, The Meme Machine shows that once our distant ancestors acquired the crucial ability to imitate, a second kind of natural selection began: a survival of the fittest among competing ideas and behaviors. Those that proved most adaptive--making tools, for example, or using language--survived and flourished, replicating themselves in as many minds as possible. These memes then passed themselves on from generation to generation by helping to ensure that the genes of those who acquired them also survived and reproduced. Applying this theory to many aspects of human life, Blackmore brilliantly explains why we live in cities, why we talk so much, why we can't stop thinking, why we behave altruistically, how we choose our mates, and much more. With controversial implications for our religious beliefs, our free will, and our very sense of ‘self’, this provocative book will be must reading any general reader or student interested in psychology, biology, or anthropology." (Book description)

"Richard Dawkins' brilliant reformulation of the theory of natural selection has the rare distinction of having provoked as much excitement and interest outside the scientific community as within it. His theories have helped change the whole nature of the study of social biology, and have forced thousands of readers to rethink their beliefs about life.

"In his internationally bestselling, now classic volume, The Selfish Gene, Dawkins explains how the selfish gene can also be a subtle gene. The world of the selfish gene revolves around savage competition, ruthless exploitation, and deceit, and yet, Dawkins argues, acts of apparent altruism do exist in nature. Bees, for example, will commit suicide when they sting to protect the hive, and birds will risk their lives to warn the flock of an approaching hawk.

"This revised edition of Dawkins' fascinating book contains two new chapters. One, entitled ‘Nice Guys Finish First,’ demonstrates how cooperation can evolve even in a basically selfish world. The other new chapter, entitled ‘The Long Reach of the Gene,’ which reflects the arguments presented in Dawkins' The Extended Phenotype, clarifies the startling view that genes may reach outside the bodies in which they dwell and manipulate other individuals and even the world at large. Containing a wealth of remarkable new insights into the biological world, the second edition once again drives home the fact that truth is stranger than fiction." (Book description)

"In a book that is both groundbreaking and accessible, Daniel C. Dennett, whom Chet Raymo of The Boston Globe calls ‘one of the most provocative thinkers on the planet,’ focuses his unerringly logical mind on the theory of natural selection, showing how Darwin's great idea transforms and illuminates our traditional view of humanity's place in the universe. Dennett vividly describes the theory itself and then extends Darwin's vision with impeccable arguments to their often surprising conclusions, challenging the views of some of the most famous scientists of our day." (Book description)

"In 1991 Dennett wrote Consciousness Explained , and it so burned up the religious minded they tagged it Consciousness Explained Away . Here, Dennett presses forward the implications of natural selection (the "dangerous idea" ) in a presentation most readers will find rather technical, but for those who persevere, understanding of its mechanisms, particularly the algorithms by which natural selection operates, should gradually sink in. Understanding is facilitated by Dennett's cogent organization, which accounts for all possible evolutionary outcomes (a virtual infinity of possibilities dubbed Design Space), followed by his explanation of the relentless, purposeless winnowing that results in the life-forms that exist today. Yet, however persuasive Dennett's view is, not all evolutionists share it, namely the oft-cited Stephen Gould, and readers who enjoy argumentativeness can follow Dennett blasting Gould's idea of ‘punctuated equilibrium’ for dozens of pages. Ending with a Nietzschean explanation for human morals, Dennett's deep-diving work challenges studious readers but should survive the struggle for shelf space in big, highly evolved libraries." (Gilbert Taylor, Booklist)

"The Extended Phenotype carries on from where The Selfish Gene takes off. It is a fascinating look at the evolution of life and natural selection. Dawkins's theory is that individual organisms are replicators that have extended phenotypic effects on society and the world at large, thus our genes have the ability to manipulate other individuals. A worldwide bestseller, this book has become a classic in popular science writing." (Book description)

"Though we share 98 percent of our genes with the chimpanzee, our species evolved into something quite extraordinary. Jared Diamond explores the fascinating question of what in less than 2 percent of our genes has enabled us to found civilizations and religions, develop intricate languages, create art, learn science--and acquire the capacity to destroy all our achievements overnight. The Third Chimpanzee is a tour de force, an iconoclastic, entertaining, sometimes alarming look at the unique and marvelous creature that is the human animal." (Book description)

"Plenty of provocative ideas in this grand sweep of evolutionary biology and anthropology: not surprising for this MacArthur 'genius' Award-winner, Natural History columnist, and UCLA Medical School physiology professor. With only 1.6 percent difference between the human genome and the genomes of two species of chimps, Diamond declares that we should call ourselves ``the third chimpanzee.'' (Curiously, he fails to mention neoteny as making a world of genetic difference.) Diamond first reviews human evolution, ending with the great leap forward that he attributes to language. New in this area is a discussion of animal art and communication (e.g., bowerbird constructions, vervet-monkey talk) and creolization (the development of sophisticated human languages from pidgin forms). With respect to other human features, Diamond reprises all the theories you've ever heard about sexual behavior, selection, menstruation, menopause, etc. Ditto for aging. He steers a common- sense course between extremes, opting for the games-theory approach of optimizing one's genes and of group survival. Old-but-not- fertile elders are essential imparters of knowledge for the group. A chapter on self-destructive behaviors (smoking, drinking, drug abuse) offers the peculiar theory that we do it to advertise that we are really superior because we can flaunt handicaps! No mention is made of the fit of the chemicals to receptors in the brain and to circuits evoking pleasure. Later, drawing on his special knowledge of New Guinea, Australia, and Polynesia, and his research on birds, Diamond provides a fascinating if overwhelmingly pessimistic view of human predation through genocide, species and resource destruction, and potential nuclear disaster. Conclusions of continued human, species, and planetary destruction are inescapable, in spite of Diamond's optimism that we can learn from the past and some modest success he has had with conservation programs. Quirky arguments at times, yes, but generally Diamond is as sharp as his name. (Twenty-five line drawings and halftones.)" (Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.)

"The idea that human nature is a unitary, unchanging thing, Ehrlich says, ‘has become a major roadblock to understanding ourselves.’ And so he argues for the concept of human natures, plural. ‘The universals that bind people together at any point in our evolution are covered in the word human. The word natures emphasizes the differences that give us our individuality, our cultural variety, and our potential for future genetic and--especially--cultural evolution.’ To understand the concept, Ehrlich writes, one must trace the course of human evolution. And that is what he does, emphasizing human cultural evolution, ‘the super-rapid kind of evolution in which our species excels.’ With the result that the nature of a great musician is not identical with that of a fine soccer player and the nature of an inner-city gang member differs from that of a child raised in an affluent suburb. ‘We need to learn how to direct that cultural process in ways more beneficial for the human future,’ he says. Ehrlich, professor of population studies and of biological sciences at Stanford University, has an extraordinary range of interests and mines a rich lode of knowledge in laying out his argument." (Editors of Scientific American)

"Kitcher's incisive reflections on the moral issues inherent in human genetic research are chiefly addressed to professionals (medical or ethical personnel) but, aided by Kitcher's generalist style, this book ultimately concerns everyone. As the popularity of amniocentesis indicates, people are facing hard moral issues on a daily basis, for if that test discloses a gene connected with disease or deformity, then would-be parents must decide whether abortion is justifiable. Where along the continuum between preventing suffering and full-blown eugenics, Kitcher's thesis asks, does one draw the moral line? First off, Kitcher explains the structure of DNA and the technologies for mapping and replicating its genes. He then discusses how medicine applies current knowledge before devoting the second half of his text to the issue of making moral choices, categorized as privacy rights, social responsibility, and the fate of the unborn. In the latter regard, Kitcher controversially advocates ‘utopian eugenics,’ which will please no one in the polarized abortion debate. Some will see in Kitcher's analysis a horrific rulebook for controlling heredity; others a brave set of bulwarks against violations of rights, but no one can risk ignoring the issues he raises." (Gilbert Taylor, Booklist )

"There is a missing link in human evolution about which few facts are known and surprisingly little has been written. It is not any one of the intermediate forms connecting modern man to his apelike ancestors. It is something much more challenging-the early human mind. How did it come into existence? And why?

"In Promethean Fire Charles J. Lumsden and Edward O. Wilson take us down the twisting corridors through which our species traveled in the two-million-year odyssey from Homo Habilis to modern man. They ask why, out of the millions of species that have emerged and gone extinct, human beings alone took the last, abrupt journey to high intelligence and advanced culture. Lumsden and Wilson attribute the sudden emergence of the human mind to the activation of a mechanism both obedient to physical law and unique to man. This ‘Promethean fire’ is geneculture coevolution, a mutually acting change in the genes and culture that carried man beyond the pervious limits of biology-yet restrains his nature on an elastic, unbreakable leash.

The authors' argument builds impressively from across the entire range of biological and social sciences, but their presentation is essentially lyrical. They share with the reader their reconstruction-both stunning line drawings and colorful vignettes-of how the primitive mind may have functioned in exercising cultural choice with genetic bias. Step by step, they guide us through the diverse categories of evidence, including recent studies of incest avoidance, color vocabulary, infant gaze patterns, taste discriminations, and phobias, which led them toward the theory of cultural transmission based on the importance of genetic filters in individual mental development." (Book description)

"Fans of Douglas Hofstadter, Daniel Dennett, and Richard Dawkins (as well as science buffs and readers of Wired Magazine ) will revel in Aaron Lynch's groundbreaking examination of memetics - the new study of how ideas and beliefs spread. What characterizes a meme is its capacity for displacing rival ideas and beliefs in an evolutionary drama that determines and changes the way people think. Exactly how do ideas spread, and what are the factors that make them genuine thought contagions? Why, for instance, do some beliefs spread throughout society, while others dwindle to extinction? What drives those intensely held beliefs that spawn ideological and political debates such as views on abortion and opinions about sex and sexuality?

"By drawing on examples from everyday life, Lynch develops a conceptual basis for understanding memetics. Memes evolve by natural selection in a process similar to that of Genes in evolutionary biology. What makes an idea a potent meme is how effectively it out-propagates other ideas. In memetic evolution, the "fittest ideas" are not always the truest or the most helpful, but the ones best at self replication.

"Thus, crash diets spread not because of lasting benefit, but by alternating episodes of dramatic weight loss and slow regain. Each sudden thinning provokes onlookers to ask, ‘How did you do it?’ thereby manipulating them to experiment with the diet and in turn, spread it again. The faster the pounds return, the more often these people enter that disseminating phase, all of which favors outbreaks of the most pathogenic diets. Like a software virus traveling in the internet or a flu strain passing through a city, thought contagions proliferate by programming for their own propagation. Lynch argues that certain beliefs spread like viruses and evolve like microbes, as mutant strains vie for more adherents and more hosts. In its most revolutionary aspect, memetics asks not how people accumulate ideas, but how ideas accumulate people. Readers of this intriguing theory will be amazed to discover that many popular beliefs about family, sex, politics, religion, health, and war have succeeded by their ‘fitness’ as thought contagions." (Book description)

"The author deals first with the status of ethics, arguing that there are no objective values, that morality cannot be discovered but must be made. He examines next the content of ethics, seeing morality as a functional device, basically the same at all times but changing significantly in response to changes in the human condition. He sketches a practical moral system, criticizing but also borrowing from both utilitarian and absolutist views. Thirdly, the frontiers of ethics, areas of contact with psychology, metaphysics, theology, law and politics, are explored." (Book description)

"With verve and clarity, the author of The Language Instinct (1993) offers a thought-challenging explanation of why our minds work the way they do. Pinker, director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at MIT, synthesizes cognitive science and evolutionary biology to present the human mind as a system of mental modules designed to solve the problems faced by our evolutionary ancestors in their foraging way of life, i.e., understanding and outmaneuvering objects, animals, plants, and other people. He brings together two theories: the computational theory of mind, which says that the processing of information, including desires and beliefs, is the fundamental activity of the brain, and the theory of natural selection. He suggests that four traits of our ancestors may have been prerequisites to the evolution of powers of reasoning: good vision, group living, free hands, and hunting. He believes that human brains, having evolved by the laws of natural selection and genetics, now interact according to laws of cognitive and social psychology, human ecology, and history. He considers in turn perception, reasoning, emotion, social relations, and the so-called higher callings of art, music, literature, religion, and philosophy. (Language is omitted here, having been treated in his earlier work.) What could be heavy going with a less talented guide is an enjoyable expedition with the witty Pinker leading the way. To get his message across he draws on old camp songs, limericks, movie dialogue, optical illusions, logic problems, musical scores, science fiction, and much more. Along the way, he demolishes some cherished notions, especially feminist ones, and has some comforting words for those who struggled through Philosophy 101 (solving philosophical problems is not what the human mind was evolved to do). Fascinating stuff." (Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.)

"Bringing together evolutionary biology, psychology, and philosophy, Henry Plotkin presents a new science of knowledge that traces an unbreakable link between instinct and our ability to know. Since our ability to know our world depends primarily on what we call intelligence, intelligence must be understood an extension of instinct. The capacity for knowledge is deeply rooted in our biology and, in a special sense, is shared by all living things." (Book description)

"Western philosophy and religion, James Rachels argues, have been shaken by the implications of Darwin's work, most notably the controversial idea that humans are simply a more complex kind of animal. Here, Rachels assesses a number of studies that suggest how closely humans are linked to other primates in behavior, and then goes on to show how this idea undercuts the work of many prominent philosophers.

"Created from Animals offers a provocative look at how Darwinian evolution undermines many tenets of traditional philosophy and religion. Rachels begins by examining Darwin's own life and work, presenting an astonishingly vivid and compressed biography. We see Darwin's studies of the psychological links in evolution (such as emotions in dogs, and the "mental powers" of worms), and how he addressed the moral implications of his work, especially in his concern for the welfare of animals. Rachels goes on to present a lively and accessible survey of the controversies that followed in Darwin's wake, ranging from Herbert Spencer's Social Darwinism to Edward O. Wilson's sociobiology, and discusses how the work of such influential intellects as Descartes, Hume, Kant, T.H. Huxley, Henri Bergson, B.F. Skinner, and Stephen Jay Gould has contributed to--or been overthrown by--evolutionary science.

"With this sweeping survey of the arguments, the philosophers, and the deep implications surrounding Darwinism, Rachels lays the foundations for a new view of morality. Vibrantly written and provocatively argued, Created from Animals offers a new perspective on issues ranging from suicide to euthanasia to animal rights." (Amazon.com review)

"What does it mean to claim–as Charles Darwin did, with his theory of evolution–that human beings are but a more complex kind of animal? Can our ethics survive such a revolutionary shift of thought? How do Western philosophy and religion hold up when evolution enters the picture?

"After providing an overview of Darwin’s life and thought, James Rachels argues that an evolutionary perspective calls into question the classic notions of human dignity and the sacredness of human life. What we need not, Rachels contends, is a philosophy that does not discriminate between different species, one that addresses each being on an individual basis. In his bold survey of the arguments, thinkers, and implication involved in Darwinism, he lays the foundation for a new view of morality." (Book description)

"If, as Darwin suggests, evolution relentlessly encourages the survival of the fittest, why are humans compelled to live in cooperative, complex societies? In this fascinating examination of the roots of human trust and virtue, a zoologist and former American editor of the Economist reveals the results of recent studies that suggest that self-interest and mutual aid are not at all incompatible. In fact, he points out, our cooperative instincts may have evolved as part of mankind's natural selfish behavior--by exchanging favors we can benefit ourselves as well as others. Brilliantly orchestrating the newest findings of geneticists, psychologists, and anthropologists, The Origins of Virtue re-examines the everyday assumptions upon which we base our actions towards others, whether in our roles as parents, siblings, or trade partners. With the wit and brilliance of The Red Queen, his acclaimed study of human and animal sexuality, Matt Ridley shows us how breakthroughs in computer programming, microbiology, and economics have given us a new perspective on how and why we relate to each other." (Book description)

"Since Darwin taught us to view nature as a brutal competition among species, few philosophers have regarded virtue as a natural impulse. Yet it is to evolutionary biology, not ethical theory, that Ridley turns for an explanation of why people often sacrifice self-interest for the common good. With evidence from the latest research, he demonstrates that the hidden maneuvering of the genes punishes the egotist and rewards the saint. But don't expect the dance of the genes to follow a politically correct choreography: Ridley advances highly controversial arguments on the sexual division of labor, on the politics of environmentalism, and on the causes of war. Certainly, no one should look to these pages for a genetic formula for universal harmony and peace. But Ridley concludes with a compelling appeal for a renewal of natural communities in which our best instincts can flourish. At a time of rising fears about bioscience, Ridley still inspires hope that biology may be an ally, not a foe, in the fight for a moral world. (Bryce Christensen, Booklist)

"A former editor of The Economist asks how sexual selection has molded human nature. The title here alludes to a scene in Lewis Carroll in which Alice and the Red Queen run as fast as possible to remain in the same place. Ridley looks first at current thinking on why sexual reproduction exists at all, when many organisms manage quite well without it. The answer has to do with disease: a species must rebuild its defenses from one generation to the next merely to keep from falling behind in the race against opportunistic viruses. Sex, by allowing a new shuffle of the genetic material with each generation, improves the chance of survival. But the predators also improve with each generation, so the race (vide Lewis Carroll) is never over. Turning to animals, Ridley describes mating patterns with an eye as to whether mates are selected for health and vigor, or for esthetics. He concludes that both play a role: neither sickly fashion-plates nor healthy wallflowers will pass on their genes as often as those who combine both beauty and health. Given the contrast between a brief sexual act and long years of child- rearing, aggressive males will tend to have more children, while nurturing women will have healthier ones. Those who select mates with these qualities will transmit them to ensuing generations, along with other qualities affecting offspring survival. Ridley contends--not a popular thesis in recent decades--that such genetic programming is far more central to human nature than social conditioning. Extensively researched, clearly written: one of the best introductions to its fascinating and controversial subject. (Notes, bibliography, index; eight pages of photos--not seen)" (Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.)

"To address human behavior systematically is to make a potential topic of every corridor in the labyrinth of the human mind, and hence to consider not just the social sciences but also the humanities, including philosophy and the process of scientific discovery itself. Consequently, On Human Nature is not a work of science; it is a work about science, and about how far the natural sciences can penetrate into human behavior before they will be transformed in something new. It examines the reciprocal impact that a truly evolutionary explanation of human behavior must have on the social sciences and humanities" (Preface, p. x)

"Are men literally born to cheat? Does monogamy actually serve women's interests? These are among the questions that have made The Moral Animal one of the most provocative science books in recent years. Wright unveils the genetic strategies behind everything from our sexual preferences to our office politics--as well as their implications for our moral codes and public policies. Illustrations." (Book description)