Richard Dawkins

Life

• Born: March 26, 1941, in Nairobi, Kenya (British parents)
• Education:
• BA in Zoology from Balliol College, Oxford (1962)
• DPhil in Ethology under Nobel laureate Nikolaas Tinbergen (1966)
• Career Highlights:
• Professor of Zoology at Oxford University (1995-2008)
• Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science (1995-2008)
• Founded the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science (2006)
• Current Status: Active emeritus fellow at New College, Oxford

People Who Influenced Their Thought

• Charles Darwin: Evolutionary theory foundation
• W.D. Hamilton: Gene-centered view of evolution
• John Maynard Smith: Evolutionary game theory
• Daniel Dennett: Philosophical naturalism

Main Ideas and Publications

• The Selfish Gene (1976):
• Gene-centered evolution theory
• Introduced concept of "memes"
• The Extended Phenotype (1982):
• Genes affect environment beyond organism
• The God Delusion (2006):
• Case against supernatural belief
• New Atheism manifesto
• Conceptual Innovations:
• Memetics (theory of cultural evolution)
• Biological "arms races"

Controversies

• New Atheism: Criticism of religion as harmful
• Tone Debates: Accusations of militant anti-theism
• Group Selection: Ongoing evolutionary biology debates
• Public Statements: Frequent media controversies

Key People Influenced

• Steven Pinker: Evolutionary psychology
• Susan Blackmore: Memetics development
• Lawrence Krauss: Scientific atheism
• Sam Harris: New Atheism movement

Legacy

Dawkins revolutionized evolutionary biology with gene-centered theory and became the most prominent public intellectual of New Atheism, profoundly influencing both science and secular thought.