In this absorbing work, the author's principal theme - that human beings are merely the temporary vessels for DNA bent only on its own survival - isn't entirely new. Several texts have advanced this proposition and the concept is slowly taking hold.

The second, tangential, concept - that of selfish 'memes' - likewise covers familiar territory. Stanovich posits that cultural programs spread and multiply themselves using human hosts, so that people are organic robots, mindlessly running genetic and cultural software for their genes and memes.

Where Stanovich breaks new ground is in attempting to measure why people behave irrationally, applying principles of cognitive science within a Darwinian framework. It's a bit like trying to distil an equation that explores the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything. Fascinating for those so inclined and with time to kill but, hey, don't we know the answer is 42? The author examines in detail how we humans - the only self-aware biological machines - should be able to place our individual goals, aspirations and values ahead of the selfish programs running on our flesh-and-blood hardware. The quest for the realisation of humans as gene/meme 'robots', is the robot rebellion mooted in the title.

The author also engages in the age-old battle between science and religion, arguing that the essential randomness of all life proves the non-existence of God, which ignores the default religious position that God moves in mysterious ways.

Stanovich cites a wealth of references to substantiate his assertions but he is less clear about how the robots can effect the revolution for which he argues.

And the highly academic nature of his prose doesn't help his case, making this otherwise interesting and provocative book a tough read.