The Blind Watchmaker

Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design

By: Richard Dawkins

Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward

Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

The Blind Watchmaker, knowledgably narrated by author Richard Dawkins and Lalla Ward, is as prescient and timely a book as ever. The watchmaker belongs to the 18th-century theologian William Paley, who argued that just as a watch is too complicated and functional to have sprung into existence by accident, so too must all living things, with their far greater complexity, be purposefully designed. Charles Darwin's brilliant discovery challenged the creationist arguments; but only Richard Dawkins could have written this elegant riposte. Natural selection - the unconscious, automatic, blind, yet essentially nonrandom process Darwin discovered - is the blind watchmaker in nature.

©1986, 1987, 1996 Richard Dawkins (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"As readable and vigorous a defense of Darwinism as has been published since 1859. ( The Economist)

"The best general account of evolution I have read in recent years." (E. O. Wilson, Professor in Entomology, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University)

“Dawkins’s explanation of the evolutionary process continues to be timely and revelatory…This dual reading is an interesting model for a scientific text. It helps to clarify and emphasize points… this is a commendable production, and an excellent primer on how evolution works.” ( AudoFile)

interesting but tough read

like all books by Richard Dawkins, this one is very interesting and explains the subject in easy to understand terms. no way i would have finished the paper version, so i'm glad this title is available on Audible

Excellent explanation.

The Blind Watchmaker is a very thorough explanation of the ideas behind evolution. Very clearly explained.

Good book on evolution

Where does The Blind Watchmaker rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Near the top

What did you like best about this story?

(Not a story) A non fiction piece that was easy to listen to, and an excellent explanation of evolution,

Informative

Loved it, only the narrating feels a little like it's explained to a child.

Fantastic

Read all of this man’s books. Simple explanations of complex topics. A clearing up of common misconceptions. Humor, logic, adventure. A wonderful learning experience

great content great man

love that he reads his books, love that he adds a lot of material to the newer versions.

Very important concepts, please remember hahah

A Book for Specialists

Blind Watchmaker was read by the author and his spouse—wonderful readers both. The book appealed to me because I had enjoyed The God Delusion and hoped for a similarly enjoyable and educational experience. I had also read The Selfish Gene, which seemed to me harder to read than Delusion. Watchmaker turned out to more like Selfish than Delusion. All good books, but if you don’t come to Watchmaker and Selfish with a burning desire to understand Darwin, you may, by the end of your reading, grow numb, as I did, with the details.

By way of pointing out the elements I found most enjoyable in Watchmaker:

1) The author’s reasoning skills are impressive. He has thought and researched deeply about every subject presented. Dawkins plainly announces that he means to convince his reader that Darwinian evolution presents the only rational explanation of the world’s complexity. Dawkins is anything but dispassionate.
2) Dawkins often presents a view of things that seems to me non-intuitive, yet correct. A brief example: He states that cheetahs are the enemies of gazelles and that gazelles are the enemies of cheetahs. My reaction is, No they’re not. Gazelles don’t hunt cheetahs! Dawkins goes on to say that, from the point of view of the cheetah, if the gazelle can out run the cheetah, the cheetah starves to death. The success of the gazelle, therefore, brings about the extinction of the cheetah, which is the cheetah’s definition of “enemy.” Another: Are cows the enemy of grass? Well, yes, I suppose. In fact, no. Grass has a more formidable enemy than cows—weeds are that enemy. Cows eat grass, but also eat weeds. Voila. I hadn’t thought of that. And on and on.
3 The description of a bat’s ability to hunt and navigate is worth the price of the book. And then Dawkins postulates humans from the bat’s point of view. Almost laugh-out-loud funny.

I read Delusion when it was first published in 2008—the first of his books I had read. Perhaps it too had its more detailed elements, now not recalled, elements that I might have found tiresome—not that the fault was with Dawkins, but rather with a reader, not so interested in the details as he might or should be.

So, a very good book, although not one to be enjoyed in its entirety with a merely passing interest in evolution.

Great Information

I have read the God Delusion and The Greatest Show on Earth. Professor Dawkins referenced this book and I wanted to listen to it on my commutes to work to further my understanding of evolution. This work has great information and good flow. I usually don't like when there is more then one narrator but this works out very well as there are times he is quoting something and then the narrator switches. This makes it easier to know this is occurring when you hear the voice change. Both narrators are wonderful to listen to.

GREAT LOGICAL READ

For all the creationists out there and for smart people who want a good read, this should be mandatory in high school science classes.

Not his best, but it's up there

This book retreads a lot of The Selfish Gene's territory, but is still very good.