The Selfish Gene Another criticism of the book is its treatment of morality, and more particularly altruism, as existing only as a form of selfishness: The philosopher Mary Midgley has suggested this position is a variant of Hobbes' explanation of altruism as enlightened self-interest, and that Dawkins goes a step further to suggest that our genetic programming can be overcome by what amounts to an extreme version of free will. Part of Mary Midgley's concern is that Richard Dawkins' account of "The Selfish Gene" serves as a moral and ideological justification for selfishness to be adopted by modern human societies as simply following
Feathers: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle published by the National Audubon Society. "Feathers" is Hanson's second book, after "The Impenetrable Forest: My Gorilla Years in Uganda" (2008). Following a preface and introduction, "Feathers" is divided into five main parts: "Evolution" discusses the evolutionary history of feathers, "Fluff" explains the role of feathers in regulating body temperature, "Flight" discusses the origin of avian flight as well as its impact on human aviation, "Fancy" discusses the role of feathers in sexual selection and human fashion, and "Function" discusses the continuing evolution of feathers in both nature and human usage. "Feathers" begins with the 1861 discovery of the first