Books and Authors question: Consider the pair The Selfish Gene and The Extended Phenotype. Which author is associated with both works?

The verified answer to “Books and Authors question: Consider the pair The Selfish Gene and The Extended Phenotype. The source-backed, question-specific record explains: The Selfish Gene is correctly associated with Richard Dawkins. The work’s first publication is conventionally dated to 1976, and its original language is English. These three details—title, author, and language—form the decisive bibliographical combination required here. Richard Dawkins, a major British literary figure, is also associated with The Extended Phenotype; that companion title helps confirm the authorship independently rather than through guesswork. The distractor set (Carl Sagan; Edward Gibbon; Jean-Jacques Rousseau) must therefore be tested as complete statements: one true fragment cannot make an entire option correct. A candidate should first lock the title to its writer, then check the language, and finally use 1976 as a chronological cross-check. A common examination trap is to confuse an author’s nationality with the language of composition, or a translation date with first publication. Revision takeaway: remember the compact chain “The Selfish Gene — Richard Dawkins — English — 1976,” and connect it with The Extended Phenotype for stronger recall. This evidence establishes the bibliographic relationship required in this Books and Authors item. A correct solution must preserve the exact title, author, publication context, language, award or comparison requested by the stem. Similar periods, genres or national traditions do not make two book–author pairs interchangeable. Option D gives Richard Dawkins and satisfies the wording of the question. The remaining choices—Carl Sagan, Edward Gibbon and Jean-Jacques Rousseau—do not satisfy the complete requirement. Depending on the stem, a distractor may name a real writer but attach the wrong title, use a related work by another author, reverse a correct association, or present a correct pair when the question specifically asks.