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Omolara Atinuke Mosaic 852, Section 84 Professor Jamal Benin Makeup Test River out of Eden, written by Richard Dawkins, and Good Natured: the Origins of Right and Wrong in Humans and Other Animals, written by Frans de Waal, are two works that delve into the world of biology, specifically, evolution and the origins of life. These books however diverge in their discussion, and tackle two different aspects of Darwin s evolutionary theory. Their purpose of writing their works and main argument are also dissimilar, though they have the same kind of audiences. Whether they were successful or not depends on the author s ability to thoroughly discuss and verify their claims with substantial evidence and examples in biology. River out of Eden is a book that focuses on Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The theory of evolution or Darwinism states that all past and present species are related by descent from a common ancestor. In addition, there is the notion that the species have changed over a course of time due to a process called natural selection. Dawkins attempts to minimize the complicated specifics of evolution and genetics by utilizing metaphors, relating life to being a river of genes that flows through time and where branching off occurs because of mutations and geological events. Very early in the book, Dawkins states that his purpose of writing River out of Eden was to accord due recognition to the inspirational quality of our modern understanding of Darwinian life (Dawkins, xi-xii) and to discredit the Adam and Eve philosophy as a mere myth. Reviewing his purpose of writing his book, it is quite obvious that Dawkins is addressing Creationists and others who hold anti-Darwin views. In conjunction with Darwin s theory, one of the first claims Dawkins makes is that every organism that has ever lived can look back at their ancestors and know that not a single one of their ancestors died in infancy. Another claim Dawkins makes is that all living organisms in nature have inherited good genes from successful ancestors. He is going on the theory that success of an organism is measured by its ability to survive and reproduce. Each generation can be thought of as a sieve that filters out all of the bad genes that have been replicated or mutated. Good genes fall through the sieve into the next generation of organisms, and the bad genes are filtered out. This theory can explain why organisms become better at the everyday tasks that are required to succeed in life. There is a fallacy in this argument however, because the theory that bad genes are filtered out during replication is separating from Darwin s original theory: there are no bad or good genes, just traits heritable that increase the fitness of an organism in a specific environment. Meaning, a good gene may have a better survival in on atmosphere but a sudden change in the ecosystem may allow a bad gene to survive better than the good gene. Overall, Dawkins success in proving his points is insecure because there are some points inconsistent with his original theory. Good Natured takes a different approach to conveying his views across to the reader. de Waal is a keen primatologist who observes and seems to gather substantiate evidence before actually drawing conclusions. He also relies heavily on the teachings and writings of other scientists to build his arguments. One argument that de Waal makes against some sociobiologists and others, concerns the nature of altruism. Some people suggest, for example, that most people do things for others in order to get something in return, but de Waal points out that there is difference between this contention and the fact that animals have a mutualistic relationship and do not need to operate on the basis of quick impressions of one another (de Waal, 135) . De Waal also discusses the fact that all humans are capable of natural behaviors, but do not engage in all of them. He reasons that our behaviors are not genetically determined by DNA, but is only enabled by it. De Waal seems to wants us to understand that the relationship between genetics and complex behaviors is that evolution develops genes that code for different anatomical features but do not determine that all behaviors are expressed. Ultimately, de Waal believes that the individual and collective members of the species learn behaviors through cultural developments and previous generations. Comparing the overall concepts of both books, River out of Eden and Good Natured support Darwin s evolutionary theory. Their audiences were similar, in that they are writing to the critics that disagree with their beliefs. Though the general topic is the same, de Waal and Dawkins cover different topics in the evolutionary sense. De Waal focuses on the relationship between primate and human behavior, while Dawkins concentrates on DNA and the theory that every organism stemmed from a common descendant. The style of writing and mode of explanation were distinctive also. De Waal took the validity approach; dressing his arguments with various experiments that were quantitatively and qualitatively recorded but Dawkins enclosed his claims with long, drawn out metaphoric explanations. Equally, these works may be hard to thoroughly understand without having prior knowledge to the subject but both authors attempt to provide a background to introduce their opinion.

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