Climbing Mount Improbable
by Richard Dawkins · first published 1996
60% recommend40% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Popular-science account of how gradual evolution can produce complex adaptations like the eye, with vivid examples; recommended as readable background for general readers and anyone wanting a bigger picture of evolution.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
In this book, Richard Dawkins urges us to put aside superstitions and wake up to a universe far more wondrous than those in any myths, by describing the difference between accident and design in evolution.
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Dawkins gives another viewpoint in his book, "Climbing Mount Improbable" with his explanation of the evolution of the eye. You can read an extract here ~ http://www.simonyi.ox.ac.uk/dawkins/writings/climbingmountim... For the Dr Who fans out there Lala Ward did the Illustrations…
on “If mutations occur at random over the entire genome, how can a complex organ such as an eye evolve?” ↗…evolution happening during our lifetimes. But I would say as a mathematical process, pretty likely once you have the basic ingredients. Richard Dawkins has written some good popular science books like 'Climbing Mount Improbable' that talks about evolution in this light. His 'Selfish Gene' is also an excellent read. It is slightly more technical but definitely understandable without an immense technical background.
on “I should have loved biology” ↗…how these Proteins function in a living organism. Not exactly textbook but a bigger picture of the role DNA plays in evolution. I enjoyed them and they definitely inspire a desire to understand more. Climbing Mount Improbable - Richard Dawkins The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins The Blind Watchmaker - Richard Dawkins Physics A Brief History of Time. - Stephen Hawkins
on “Ask HN: What texts about DNA do you recommend for a teenager(12)” ↗Describing how evolution works, and why it is completely blind, is not something for the size constraints of a HN comment. I'd recommend books like Dawkin's "The Blind Watchmaker" or "Climbing Mount Improbable", or Dennett's "Darwin's Dangerous Idea" for good, readable descriptions.
on “On anthropomorphism in science (1985)” ↗…taking the core idea of the book and providing a cumbersome over-extended metaphor about ideas. So the colloquial meme is just as bad because it constantly reminds me of the original shit-house idea. Climbing Mount Improbable was good, but I can't rate Dawkins' later work. The Extended Phenotype I found impenetrable, and I've tried reading it a few times. The God stuff ... omg, just please stop shouting about your Daddy…
on “Computer Files Are Going Extinct” ↗Dawkins has an excellent chapter/essay on the fig/wasp relationship. At the end of Climbing Mount Improbable I believe.
on “The fig is an ecological marvel” ↗of course :). This seems to be the book to which the code belongs http://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Mount-Improbable-Richard-Dawk...
on “Ask HN: Should Richard Dawkins Open Source his software?” ↗…Watchmaker twice, although that was sort of by accident. I forgot I'd already read it, and I was moderately deep into the second read before I realized I'd read it before. It was worth it though. I still have Climbing Mount Improbable, The God Delusion, The Ancestor's Tale, and a couple of other Dawkins books queued up to read as well.
on “Ask HN: What nonfiction books do you keep rereading?” ↗Currently re-reading Climbing Mount Improbable by Richard Dawkins. A difficult read for me.
on “What Are You Reading?” ↗…simultaneously. It links to further discussion at http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/abioprob/abioprob.html ("Lies, Damned Lies, Statistics, and Probability of Abiogenesis Calculations") Richard Dawkin's book "Climbing Mount Improbable" "is about probability and how it applies to the theory of evolution. It is designed to debunk claims by creationists about the probability of naturalistic mechanisms like natural selection." (quoting…
on “I should have loved biology” ↗