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Narrow Roads of Gene Land #1
Narrow Roads of Gene Land: The Collected Papers of W. D. HamiltonVolume 1: Evolution of Social Behaviour
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.
566 pages, Paperback
First published January 8, 1997
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November 23, 2015
The author, W.D. "Bill" Hamilton FRS (1936-2000) was a British evolutionary biologist.
Wikipedia of course has a biographical sketch, but it's also worth referencing Alan Grafen's obituary for the Royal Society. For an in-depth discussion see the book Nature's Oracle: The Life and Work of W. D. Hamilton by Ullica Segerstrale.
There is a story here. Partly inspired by R.A. Fisher's book The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection , Hamilton started work on his doctoral thesis trying to answer questions that no-one had really thought of.
Each paper is accompanied by a memoir essay by the author, which are eminently readable even if the papers are a bit too technical (The 1964 kin selection paper managed to confuse John Maynard Smith (see web of stories video)).
We also get his meeting a collaboration with George Price before Price's untimely death. Price's life is covered in more detail elsewhere in Oren Harman's book The Price of Altruism: George Price and the Search for the Origins of Kindness .
(First draft review).
Wikipedia of course has a biographical sketch, but it's also worth referencing Alan Grafen's obituary for the Royal Society. For an in-depth discussion see the book Nature's Oracle: The Life and Work of W. D. Hamilton by Ullica Segerstrale.
There is a story here. Partly inspired by R.A. Fisher's book The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection , Hamilton started work on his doctoral thesis trying to answer questions that no-one had really thought of.
Each paper is accompanied by a memoir essay by the author, which are eminently readable even if the papers are a bit too technical (The 1964 kin selection paper managed to confuse John Maynard Smith (see web of stories video)).
We also get his meeting a collaboration with George Price before Price's untimely death. Price's life is covered in more detail elsewhere in Oren Harman's book The Price of Altruism: George Price and the Search for the Origins of Kindness .
(First draft review).
Displaying 1 of 1 review