Richard Dawkins writes books.
Clinton Richard Dawkins ( born 26 March 1941 ) is an English ethologist , evolutionary biologist and author . Dawkins first came to prominence with his 1976 book The Selfish Gene , which popularised the gene-centred view of evolution and introduced the term meme . With his book The Extended Phenotype ( 1982 ) , he introduced into evolutionary biology the influential concept that the phenotypic effects of a gene are not necessarily limited to an organism 's body , but can stretch far into the environment . In The Blind Watchmaker ( 1986 ) , he argues against the watchmaker analogy , an argument for the existence of a supernatural creator based upon the complexity of living organisms . Dawkins has been awarded many prestigious academic and writing awards and he makes regular television , radio and Internet appearances , predominantly discussing his books , his atheism , and his ideas and opinions as a public intellectual .