The Selfish Gene

The Selfish Gene is a 1976 popular science book by Richard Dawkins that espouses the gene-centered view of evolution. It builds upon the thesis of George C. Williams's Adaptation and Natural Selection (1966) and W. D. Hamilton's work on kin selection. From the gene-centered view, it follows that the more genes two individuals share, the more sense it makes for them to cooperate.

The book also introduced the term meme for a unit of cultural evolution analogous to the gene. Memetics has become the subject of many studies since the publication of the book. In popularizing Hamilton's ideas, as well as making its own valuable contributions to the field, the book has also stimulated research on human inclusive fitness.

The "selfish gene" is a metaphor for the gene-centered view of evolution. As such, the book is not about a particular gene that causes selfish behaviour; in fact, much of it is devoted to explaining the evolution of altruism. Dawkins says of the title that he "can readily see that it might give an inadequate impression of its contents" and in retrospect wishes he had taken Tom Maschler's advice and titled it The Immortal Gene. He laments that “Too many people read it by title only.” In response, he expanded on the evolution of altruism in the BBC documentary Nice Guys Finish First.