Richard Dawkins

About the author: Richard Dawkins is the author of the widely acclaimed book, The Blind Watchmaker. A resident of Oxford, England, he holds the first Charles Simonyi chair of Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University.

Opponents of evolution typically cite the eye in an effort to discredit the concept of evolution; the intricacy of the eye and its complex relationship to other parts of the anatomy can only be explained by intelligent design, opponents argue, not evolutionary happenstance. However, given the enormity of the geological time scale, time favors the gradual evolution of any anatomical part, including the eye. Studies have been conducted in which computer models have simulated the evolution of the eye in gradual increments. The success of these studies underscores the premise that chance and gradualism can and do account...