The Blind Watchmaker 
Dawkins, Richard. The Blind Watchmaker. New York, W.W. Norton, 
1986, 332 pages.

"We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe," 
begins Dawkins; this great complication and complexity calls for 
explanation; and only Darwinian natural selection--the "blind 
watchmaker"--is capable of doing the job. One of Dawkins's main 
goals with this book is frankly polemical, or persuasive:

   I want to persuade the reader, not just that the Darwinian 
   worldview happens to be true, but that it is the only known 
   theory that could, in principle, solve the mystery of our 
   existence.

These are strong claims, and they deserve a careful, critical 
response. Dawkins spars with creationists and theories of creation 
throughout this book, and we should answer him. For instance, what 
do his computer simulations (in chapters 3 and 4) really demonstrate?
Adaptation and evolution, or just clever but biologically meaning less
programming tricks? How did bats (his opening example) evolve, anyway?
Why does the chapter on the origin of life (no. 6) sound suspiciously
like special pleading? And so on. Dawkins writes with admirable clarity,
and is refreshingly, even bluntly, honest about his intentions. Get this
book, and be prepared to argue [foolishly].