The Selfish Gene — Richard Dawkins

Now reading: The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins. I took out the 30th anniversary edition of this book from the library. I’ve only read the first 80 pages and already it’s changing my view of evolution. Dawkins uses game theory and mathematical models to prove that many of the evolutionary advantages we might assume are conferred at the species level should actually be measured in terms of advantages to individuals within the species. Each animal, for example, is driven by the ‘selfish genes’ which contain the instructions to create it. Each gene, since the primordial soup that began life on earth, tries to survive indefinitely, despite the short lifespan of it’s (animal) hosts. More later…

Other reads:

My son is devouring the Captain Underpants series and the first Bone graphic novel.

Of course my big read right now is the Let’s Go Guide to France. I’m planning on starting with Americanna sublime: EuroDisney, Paris. Next, I go to see friends from Bayonne. I lived with them for three months when I did a grade-twelve French exchange. From Bayonne, I’m sure to go to the beach in Biarritz and investigate the Basque country. My Bayonne friends are also taking me, with my son and mother-in-law, to see the French Pyrenees and the Altamira cave in Santander, Spain. He will love the dinosaur fossils there.

A friend, whom I am visiting after all of this luxury travel, joked that my son will ‘think he’s in the third world,’ when he arrives in Marseille. Bayonne is picturesque, true, but I’ve been to Marseille. It’s lovely! Of course, meeting my friend’s two kids for the first time will be even better. Could I get much luckier?

Looking forward to doing more travelling and writing (and even less blogging.)

Next stop: South Carolina. I wonder what famous books were written about that area? I don’t know the names of famous South Carolina writers offhand, so I’m very open to reading suggestions…

Seriously Spoiled Cereal Girl