In the 1960s and 1970s, something radically new began to emerge: new ways of understanding natural systems, new ways of thinking that challenge many of our fundamental assumptions. The biology of the mind, advances in evolutionary biology, physics, information technology, genetics, neurobiology, psychology, engineering, materials chemistry: all are vital topics in relation to what it means to be human. For the first time, we had both the tools and the will to engage in the scientific study of human nature.

No one stood out, influenced, or was more important to the revolution of scientific thought than the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, who, 50 years ago, changed our perception of our place in Nature with the publication of his book The Selfish Gene.

Dawkins is a man of ideas, those important ideas that genuinely influence and change people's lives—transforming the way other scientists think as well, pushing them to think in a different, constructive way. If you have not read The Selfish Gene, do it now. And if you once did, read it again now. This is the book that will be read throughout the 21st century.

The book was first published in 1976 by Oxford University Press. Its 30th anniversary edition was released in June 2006, and the 40th anniversary edition in June 2016. The 50th anniversary edition includes a new Epilogue, which discusses the continuing impact of the book's ideas today.