Preface xvii of English pronouns.I may refer to the 'reader'as 'he',but I no more think of my readers as specifically male than a French speaker thinks of a table as female.As a matter of fact I believe I do,more often than not,think of my readers as female,but that is my personal affair and I'd hate to think that such considerations impinged on how I use my native language. Personal,too,are some of my reasons for gratitude.Those to whom I cannot do justice will understand.My publishers saw no reason to keep from me the identities of their referees (not 'reviewers'-true reviewers,pace many Americans under 40,criticize books only after they are published,when it is too late for the author to do anything about it),and I have benefited greatly from the suggestions of John Krebs (again),John Durant,Graham Cairns-Smith,leffrey Levinton, Michael Ruse,Anthony Hallam and David Pye.Richard Gregory kindly criticized Chapter 12,and the final version has benefited from its complete excision.Mark Ridley and Alan Grafen,now no longer even officially my students,are,together with Bill Hamilton,the leading lights of the group of colleagues with whom I discuss evolution and from whose ideas I benefit almost daily.They,Pamela Wells,Peter Atkins and John Dawkins have helpfully criticized various chapters for me.Sarah Bunney made numerous improvements,and John Cribbin corrected a major error.Alan Grafen and Will Atkinson advised on computing problems,and the Apple Macintosh Syndicate of the Zoology Department kindly allowed their laser printer to draw biomorphs. Once again I have benefited from the relentless dynamism with which Michael Rodgers,now of Longman,carries all before him.He, and Mary Cunnane of Norton,skilfully applied the accelerator (to my morale)and the brake(to my sense of humour)when each was needed. Part of the book was written during a sabbatical leave kindly granted by the Department of Zoology and New College.Finally-a debt I should have acknowledged in both my previous books-the Oxford tutorial system and my many tutorial pupils in zoology over the years have helped me to practise what few skills I may have in the difficult art of explaining. Richard Dawkins Oxford.1986Preface xvii of English pronouns. I may refer to the 'reader' as 'he', but I no more think of my readers as specifically male than a French speaker thinks of a table as female. As a matter of fact I believe I do, more often than not, think of my readers as female, but that is my personal affair and I'd hate to think that such considerations impinged on how I use my native language. Personal, too, are some of my reasons for gratitude. Those to whom I cannot do justice will understand. My publishers saw no reason to keep from me the identities of their referees (not 'reviewers' - true reviewers, pace many Americans under 40, criticize books only after they are published, when it is too late for the author to do anything about it), and I have benefited greatly from the suggestions of John Krebs (again), John Durant, Graham Cairns-Smith, leffrey Levinton, Michael Ruse, Anthony Hallam and David Pye. Richard Gregory kindly criticized Chapter 12, and the final version has benefited from its complete excision. Mark Ridley and Alan Grafen, now no longer even officially my students, are, together with Bill Hamilton, the leading lights of the group of colleagues with whom I discuss evolution and from whose ideas I benefit almost daily. They, Pamela Wells, Peter Atkins and John Dawkins have helpfully criticized various chapters for me. Sarah Bunney made numerous improvements, and John Cribbin corrected a major error. Alan Grafen and Will Atkinson advised on computing problems, and the Apple Macintosh Syndicate of the Zoology Department kindly allowed their laser printer to draw biomorphs. Once again I have benefited from the relentless dynamism with which Michael Rodgers, now of Longman, carries all before him. He, and Mary Cunnane of Norton, skilfully applied the accelerator (to my morale) and the brake (to my sense of humour) when each was needed. Part of the book was written during a sabbatical leave kindly granted by the Department of Zoology and New College. Finally - a debt I should have acknowledged in both my previous books - the Oxford tutorial system and my many tutorial pupils in zoology over the years have helped me to practise what few skills I may have in the difficult art of explaining. Richard Dawkins Oxford, 1986