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W.D.Hamilton (1936-2000) was responsible for a revolution in thinking about evolutionary biology - a revolution that changed our understanding of life itself. He played a central role in the realization that what matters in evolution is not the survival of the individual but of the survival of its genes. This provided the solution to the long standing problem of animal altruism that vexed even Darwin himself, and in due course resulted in terms like selfish genes, kin selection, and sociobiology becoming familiar to a wider public. Hamilton went on to solve many more major problems, and open up ever new fields - he shaped much of our current understanding of central problems including the ev...
W. D. Hamilton (1936-2000) has been described by Richard Dawkins as 'a good candidate for the title of most distinguished Darwinian since Darwin'. His work on evolutionary biology continues to influence scientists working across a wide variety of disciplines, including evolution, population genetics, animal behaviour, genetics, anthropology, and ecology. This third and final volume of Narrow Roads of Gene Land contains Hamilton's key papers published between 1990 and 2000, a period in which he covered a great diversity of topics, often in collaboration with other scientists. Many of the papers in this volume continue his work on sex, and particularly its relation to parasitic disease, but ot...
Science need not be dull and bogged down by jargon, as Richard Dawkins proves in this entertaining look at evolution. The themes he takes up are the concepts of altruistic and selfish behaviour; the genetical definition of selfish interest; the evolution of aggressive behaviour; kinshiptheory; sex ratio theory; reciprocal altruism; deceit; and the natural selection of sex differences. 'Should be read, can be read by almost anyone. It describes with great skill a new face of the theory of evolution.' W.D. Hamilton, Science
W.D. Hamilton is considered by many the most important theoretical biologist of the 20th century. He has made major discoveries in evolutionary biology, genetics, and social behavior, and his essays continue to exert tremendous influence throughout the discipline. This second volume of his collected papers focuses on his groundbreaking work on sex and sexual selection. It contains the 18 papers he published between 1980 and 1991, many of them examining the role of parasites and disease in promoting genetic diversity. For each paper, Hamilton has written an accessible introduction describing why the work was done, how the paper came to be written, and its eventual fate. An invaluable collection for biologists, this book also provides general readers with deep insights into the sometimes surprising mechanics of evolutionary processes.
A famed political scientist's classic argument for a more cooperative world We assume that, in a world ruled by natural selection, selfishness pays. So why cooperate? In The Evolution of Cooperation, political scientist Robert Axelrod seeks to answer this question. In 1980, he organized the famed Computer Prisoners Dilemma Tournament, which sought to find the optimal strategy for survival in a particular game. Over and over, the simplest strategy, a cooperative program called Tit for Tat, shut out the competition. In other words, cooperation, not unfettered competition, turns out to be our best chance for survival. A vital book for leaders and decision makers, The Evolution of Cooperation reveals how cooperative principles help us think better about everything from military strategy, to political elections, to family dynamics.
Why is `blood thicker than water'? Are we innately violent or pacific? Why are plants and animals sexual? Why do we grow old and die? Such questions have motivated the life-work of W.D. Hamilton, widely acknowledged as the most important theoretical biologist of the 20th century. His papers continue to exert an enormous influence and they are now being republished for the first time. This first volume contains all of Hamilton's publications prior to 1981, a set especially relevant to social behavior, kinship theory, sociobiology, and the notion of `selfish genes'. Each paper is introduced by an autobiographical essay written especially for this collection. Accessible to non-specialists, this fascinating volume features several of the most read and famous papers of modern biology.
The third volume of the collected papers of W.D. Hamilton continues his work on sex, and particularly its relation to parasitic disease, also including the Gaia theory, the colours of autumn leaves, and the controversial hypothesis that the AIDS pandemic accidentally originated in a polio vaccination campaign in Africa.
The second volume of the collected papers of W D Hamilton, the most important theoretical biologist of the 20th century. Volume 1, The Evolution of Social Behaviour (OUP, still in print), was devoted to the first half of Hamilton's life's work; Volume 2 is devoted to the other half, on sex and sexual selection. Each paper is accompanied by a specially-written autobiographical introduction.
Contextualizes the "Science Wars" from interdisciplinary sociological, historical, scientific, political, and cultural perspectives.
W.D.Hamilton was responsible for one of the major revolutions in evolutionary thought since Darwin - that of the 'gene's eye view of life'. He was a scientific pioneer, a misunderstood genius: risk-taker, jungle explorer, and uncompromising truth-seeker. This illuminating and moving biography documents Hamilton's extraordinary life and science.