Darwin Day 2026

The Selfish Gene 50 years
Did it change how biologists think?
Is Dawkins' provocative book still relevant?

Samir Okasha
Professor of philosophy of science

Tuesday 24 March at 16:15 in Egget, Studentsenteret.
Coffee and refreshments will be served from 15:45.

It is now 50 years since Richard Dawkins published The Selfish Gene. The book popularized recent breakthroughs in evolutionary biology in a refreshing and accessible language and had immediate impact on how biologists thought and spoke about their discipline. The book also provoked many others, and it has been frequently criticized, often based on the title more than direct reference to its content. But is it still relevant today? Was Dawkins wrong or exaggerated? How has biology moved on?

 
 

Everyone is welcome! The lecture is intended for a wide audience, will be held in English, and is part of the Horizons seminar series of the Faculty of Science and Technology dedicated to big questions. Coffee and refreshments will be served from 15:45.
 

Portrait of Samir Okasha  
Samir Okasha is professor of philosophy of science and biology at University of Bristol, UK. He currently holds an ERC Advanced Grant on Representing evolution. He is the author of several books on evolutionary biology including Goals and agents in evolution, Evolution and the levels of selection, and the wonderfully concise A very short introduction to the philosphy of science that is used as curriculum in the first-semester intro course Ex. Phil. for students in Bergen.

 
 
Selskapet til Vitenskapenes Fremme - logo   Darwin Day 2026 receives
economic support from
Selskapet til Vitenskapenes Fremme.
 

 

Why is the Darwin Day celebrated?
Who is behind the Darwin Day in Bergen?
The Darwin Day 2026 in Oslo will take place in September.
 
 
Earlier events:
2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2020, 2019,
2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013,
2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007.

 
  
    UNIVERSITETET I BERGEN
Institutt for biovitenskap