Narrow Roads of Gene Land: The Collected Papers of W. D. Hamilton Volume 1: Evolution of Social Behaviour

By W.D. Hamilton

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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0716745305
• ISBN13: 9780716745303
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Spektrum Academic Publishers
• Length: 568 Pages
• Weight: 1.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A real gem!

This is an outstanding collection of some of the most important papers in evolutionary ecology, and when one can get them with Hamilton's wry, insightful, and occasionally extremely funny commentary, all I can say is "BUY IT!" No, Hamilton's mathematics is not for the faint of heart, but even if the thought of equations gives you the willies, you will find valuable stuff about the nature of science and scientists in the "interlinear" that links each of the stand-alone papers. I look forward to Volume 2 with great excitement!