The first chapter does some of the work of a Preface, in explaining what the book does and
does not set out to accomplish, so I can be brief here. It is not a textbook, nor an introduction
to an established field. It is a personal look at the evolution of life, and in particular at the
logic of natural selection and the level in the hierarchy of life at which natural selection can
be said to act. I happen to be an ethologist, but I hope preoccupations with animal behaviour
will not be too noticeable. The intended scope of the book is wider. The readers for whom I …