Richard Dawkins was born in Nairobi in 1941, the son of an English soldier. His father moved to Africa to fight with the allied forces during World War II. At age eight, Dawkins returned to England with his father. Once finished with prep school, Dawkins went on to Oxford University in 1959 to further his studies. He graduated from Oxford in 1962, but stayed at the university to further his education in the Biology Department. He received his Ph.D. from Oxford after studying under Niko Tinbergen. While studying under Tinbergen, Dawkins took part in Tinbergen’s experiment with chickens (Catalano).
Once Richard Dawkins was done with his schooling, he came to America to start his own career in zoology. His first job in America was at the University of California at Berkeley. He taught zoology at the university from 1967 to 1969 (Catalano). After teaching in America for two years, he moved back to England to start lecturing on zoology at Oxford. He published his first book, The Selfish Gene in 1976. Since his first book Dawkins has published many more books along with debating about human evolution with famous public people. Some of Dawkins other books include The Extended Phenotype, The Blind Watchmaker, River Out of Eden, Climbing Mount Improbable, and his last book published is Unweaving the Rainbow (Catalano). In The Selfish Gene, he gives credit of the selfish gene to Charles Darwin. In his book Dawkins wrote “The selfish gene theory is Darwin’s theory, expressed in a way that Darwin did not choose” (Dawkins).
Richard Dawkins is considered by many in the field of Biology as the leader of the Darwin movement that is going on today. Dawkins focus of study is how genes communicate with each other. He also argues that genes change over time to keep up with the advance in technology, which is occurring in the outer world. Dawkins is also interested in the nature of machines and machinery of nature (Catalano).
Dawkins no longer has students at Oxford, he has not taught since 1992. Now Dawkins gives money to people who can come up with answers to his questions and show proof that they have found evidence supporting their answer. He is giving financial support to people who are looking into artificial life. Richard Dawkins has received numerous government and university awards from England and America. Currently, Dawkins is the Vice President of the British Humanist Association.
Dawkins, Richard. The Selfish Gene. Oxford University Press. Oxford, England 1989.
Catalano, John. “The World of Richard Dawkins.” Former Link, http://www.world-of-dawkins.com/bio.htm. (2007)
Written by: Travis Fix, 2001