Nope.
If you don't get The Selfish Gene, read "River out of Eden". It's an amalgamation of The Selfish Gene, The Blind Watchmaker and The Extended Phenotype, but written for those without a biology background.

The Ancestors' Tale is really hard work. And The Greatest Show on Earth is just another religion basher, which I find quite sad. It's a terrible shame that such an intelligent man has become such a drum-banging preoccupied arsehole.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 28 Jun 2010, 11:33, 2 replies)

I don't think The Greatest Show ... is a 'religion basher', though it's purpose is to respond to Creationist issues with Evolution. Creationism isn't Christianity or any other religion, as most of the Christians I know see Genesis as a metaphor and don't deeply consider who exactly was mother of Cain's children etc.

The God Delusion is a Religion Basher, in the same way as the Bible is an 'Other Religion' Basher.
(sigismund, Mon 28 Jun 2010, 16:41, closed)

fair point.
Although my general point still applies. I don't know why he has the need to attack something so mindlessly irrelevant to his audience. It's not like he's going to get any creationists reading his book and going "you know what, now I'm convinced!" It's not a scientific debate between evolution and creationism - because only one of them is actually a theory. You don't need to debunk something that doesn't have any "bunk" to start off with.

In the same way that he's not converted one single religious person to atheism by writing the God Delusion. All he has done is alienated people, for nothing.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 28 Jun 2010, 16:49, closed)

I consider
myself to be modestly educated when it comes to biology and evolution. It's not that I don't understand it or I find it too advanced, I just get bored with it as it seems like a load of waffle to explain relatively simple concepts with a shit-load of analogies.
But like I said before, I'll just have to get into one of my "educate yourself" moods and plow through it.

Thanks for the other recommendation as well =)
(Jon_LTD Treat the world like a head!, Wed 30 Jun 2010, 21:58, closed)