In Dawkins' view, human beings are vehicles of evolution--gene carriers whose primary purpose is propagation of their own genes. In this new book, he explains evolution as a flowing river of genes, demonstrating how genes meet, compete, unite, and sometimes separate to form new species.

In Dawkins' view, human beings are vehicles of evolution--gene carriers whose primary purpose is propagation of their own genes. In this new book, he explains evolution as a flowing river of genes, demonstrating how genes meet, compete, unite, and sometimes separate to form new species.

How did the replication bomb we call "life" begin and where in the world, or rather, in the universe, is it heading? Writing with characteristic wit and an ability to clarify complex phenomena (the New York Times described his style as "the sort of science writing that makes the reader feel like a genius"), Richard Dawkins confronts this ancient mystery.