--- product_id: 5588045 title: "River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life (Science Masters Series)" price: "87.00 DT" currency: TND in_stock: true reviews_count: 8 url: https://www.desertcart.tn/products/5588045-river-out-of-eden-a-darwinian-view-of-life-science store_origin: TN region: Tunisia --- # River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life (Science Masters Series) **Price:** 87.00 DT **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life (Science Masters Series) - **How much does it cost?** 87.00 DT with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.tn](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/5588045-river-out-of-eden-a-darwinian-view-of-life-science) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Buy River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life (Science Masters Series) on desertcart.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders Review: It isn't YOU that's eternal! It's your DNA!!! - I finally get him!!! Guess what? Your DNA is eternal, not you. It flows like a river through us (and all creatures) and we are merely the banks (of the river) that house the DNA for its continuation into next generation, and the next (or not). I have read many of Dawkins' books and articles and this is a winner! If you're interested in learning exactly what Dawkins means by "The Selfish Gene" or the DNA river - this is the read & it's a quickie! The concepts are not as difficult in this book as in many others. Rather, it's a layman's explanation of our beginnings from the replication bombs in space to the biological zygote (or previous bacteria) and on to our own technological replication bombs. Now, I get why he was lead to the next step: memes. A fun read about the river of DNA that flows in all of us! And, it was particularly interesting to learn about Mitochondrial eve and the importance of the female line as it is always a pure line (no mixing of DNA there!), making it much easier for scientists to study. Review: An introduction to Dawkins' vision of evolution - This is my 6th Dawkins book. I think it would have made a better 1st. It weaves together some of the ideas of The Selfish Gene and The Blind Watchmaker with only the tiniest smattering of Extended Phenotype in a light introduction to the way Dawkins thinks about evolution. (I don't mean to draw a sharp distinction between Dawkins' view and the broader consensus of biologists - just that he has a particular way of talking about the subject.) Dawkins is an ethologist, meaning much of his own research/training is focused on animal behavior, and I think the best parts of this book reflect that specialty. For example, my favorite part of the book was a fascinating discussion about exactly how honeybees dance to reveal the direction and distance of pollen, along with some experiments conducted to get a feel for how that dance might have evolved. If I had a quibble with this book, it is that I thought the chapter on God's Utility Function was strange. The chapter invited the audience to consider the very line of thinking that Dawkins has argued against in The Blind Watchmaker: to see if we can determine what purpose a Designer would have by contemplating how nature functions. But what follows isn't any sort of slam-dunk rebuttal of that way of thinking. In fact, one could imagine this exercise as a success and decide that the Designer is most concerned about DNA spreading, so we should absolutely legislate against birth control and abortion because the will of the Designer is that we breed and breed abundantly. Further, we could conclude that the Designer wants us to compete for limited resources so that evolution continues, so we shouldn't worry about maintaining biodiversity or over population or rapid consumption of natural resources. Maybe my quibble is showing that 'natural theology' can lead to something every bit as bad as (indeed, indistinguishable from) a society built purely on Darwinian principles (something Dawkins has argued against), but I guess my point is that I don't think Dawkins made his point very strongly in this chapter (which nevertheless had some astute observations). I think there is a definite place in Dawkins' stable of writings for a simple book that just outlines, clearly, 'what evolution is', without focusing on lists of evidence (Greatest Show on Earth? haven't read that yet. Jerry Coyne's 'Why Evolution is True' falls in this category), overcoming objections (Blind Watchmaker, Climbing Mount Improbable) or advocating particular mechanical details (Selfish Gene, Extended Phenotype). But I'm not quite sure this book fills that slot. Nevertheless, it was a good read and I enjoyed many of the examples. Notes on the Kindle edition: The Kindle edition lacks a table of contents, even though the print edition has one. It would be nice if the responsible party would add that back in. The images at the start of each chapter are included at the end of the previous chapter, with the footnotes for that chapter appearing after the image for the next chapter. Seems like there must be some way to keep each chapter's illustration at the start of that chapter. When I finished reading this, Kindle recommended The Ancestor's Tale, which is by far my favorite Dawkins book. But it turns out, they would only let me download a sample or add the book to my wish list; I could not buy a copy. I hope desertcart or the publisher will sort things out so that this book is available to US Kindle customers (UK readers can already get it), as it was, I just felt taunted. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #106,826 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #58 in Genetics (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.4 out of 5 stars 739 Reviews | ## Images ![River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life (Science Masters Series) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71ujUju8vXL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ It isn't YOU that's eternal! It's your DNA!!! *by C***N on January 10, 2014* I finally get him!!! Guess what? Your DNA is eternal, not you. It flows like a river through us (and all creatures) and we are merely the banks (of the river) that house the DNA for its continuation into next generation, and the next (or not). I have read many of Dawkins' books and articles and this is a winner! If you're interested in learning exactly what Dawkins means by "The Selfish Gene" or the DNA river - this is the read & it's a quickie! The concepts are not as difficult in this book as in many others. Rather, it's a layman's explanation of our beginnings from the replication bombs in space to the biological zygote (or previous bacteria) and on to our own technological replication bombs. Now, I get why he was lead to the next step: memes. A fun read about the river of DNA that flows in all of us! And, it was particularly interesting to learn about Mitochondrial eve and the importance of the female line as it is always a pure line (no mixing of DNA there!), making it much easier for scientists to study. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ An introduction to Dawkins' vision of evolution *by Q***N on March 24, 2014* This is my 6th Dawkins book. I think it would have made a better 1st. It weaves together some of the ideas of The Selfish Gene and The Blind Watchmaker with only the tiniest smattering of Extended Phenotype in a light introduction to the way Dawkins thinks about evolution. (I don't mean to draw a sharp distinction between Dawkins' view and the broader consensus of biologists - just that he has a particular way of talking about the subject.) Dawkins is an ethologist, meaning much of his own research/training is focused on animal behavior, and I think the best parts of this book reflect that specialty. For example, my favorite part of the book was a fascinating discussion about exactly how honeybees dance to reveal the direction and distance of pollen, along with some experiments conducted to get a feel for how that dance might have evolved. If I had a quibble with this book, it is that I thought the chapter on God's Utility Function was strange. The chapter invited the audience to consider the very line of thinking that Dawkins has argued against in The Blind Watchmaker: to see if we can determine what purpose a Designer would have by contemplating how nature functions. But what follows isn't any sort of slam-dunk rebuttal of that way of thinking. In fact, one could imagine this exercise as a success and decide that the Designer is most concerned about DNA spreading, so we should absolutely legislate against birth control and abortion because the will of the Designer is that we breed and breed abundantly. Further, we could conclude that the Designer wants us to compete for limited resources so that evolution continues, so we shouldn't worry about maintaining biodiversity or over population or rapid consumption of natural resources. Maybe my quibble is showing that 'natural theology' can lead to something every bit as bad as (indeed, indistinguishable from) a society built purely on Darwinian principles (something Dawkins has argued against), but I guess my point is that I don't think Dawkins made his point very strongly in this chapter (which nevertheless had some astute observations). I think there is a definite place in Dawkins' stable of writings for a simple book that just outlines, clearly, 'what evolution is', without focusing on lists of evidence (Greatest Show on Earth? haven't read that yet. Jerry Coyne's 'Why Evolution is True' falls in this category), overcoming objections (Blind Watchmaker, Climbing Mount Improbable) or advocating particular mechanical details (Selfish Gene, Extended Phenotype). But I'm not quite sure this book fills that slot. Nevertheless, it was a good read and I enjoyed many of the examples. Notes on the Kindle edition: The Kindle edition lacks a table of contents, even though the print edition has one. It would be nice if the responsible party would add that back in. The images at the start of each chapter are included at the end of the previous chapter, with the footnotes for that chapter appearing after the image for the next chapter. Seems like there must be some way to keep each chapter's illustration at the start of that chapter. When I finished reading this, Kindle recommended The Ancestor's Tale, which is by far my favorite Dawkins book. But it turns out, they would only let me download a sample or add the book to my wish list; I could not buy a copy. I hope Amazon or the publisher will sort things out so that this book is available to US Kindle customers (UK readers can already get it), as it was, I just felt taunted. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The best short book on biology that you can buy *by D***H on September 21, 2014* This is a short little book that really explains how DNA and evolution work. It is aimed at a general audience, and it succeeds very well, in my opinion. I bought this book for my son in 1995, to help him in biology, and I was very pleased with it. It was my introduction to the works of Dawkins, and since then I have read "the Selfish Gene" and many others. So many people have borrowed my tattered old copy that I decided to buy this one for a loaner! It would make a nice gift to any high school student who has a lousy biology teacher! --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.tn/products/5588045-river-out-of-eden-a-darwinian-view-of-life-science](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/5588045-river-out-of-eden-a-darwinian-view-of-life-science) --- *Product available on Desertcart Tunisia* *Store origin: TN* *Last updated: 2026-08-21*