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Adaptation and Natural Selection
A Critique of Some Current Evolutionary Thought
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George Christopher Williams
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Preface by:
Richard Dawkins
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2019
About this book
Biological evolution is a fact—but the many conflicting theories of evolution remain controversial even today. When Adaptation and Natural Selection was first published in 1966, it struck a powerful blow against those who argued for the concept of group selection—the idea that evolution acts to select entire species rather than individuals. Williams’s famous work in favor of simple Darwinism over group selection has become a classic of science literature, valued for its thorough and convincing argument and its relevance to many fields outside of biology. Now with a new foreword by Richard Dawkins, Adaptation and Natural Selection is an essential text for understanding the nature of scientific debate.
Author / Editor information
George C. Williams (1926–2010) was professor emeritus of ecology and evolution at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Richard Dawkins is professor emeritus at the University of Oxford. An evolutionary biologist, he is the bestselling author of many books, including The Selfish Gene, The God Delusion, and The Extended Phenotype.
Reviews
“A beautifully written and excellently reasoned essay in defense of Darwinian selection as a sufficient theory to explain evolution without the necessity of group selection, population adaptation, or progress.”—R. C. Lewontin, Science
“This is an exciting, significant, and important work…. On the whole it will have a very beneficial influence on biology with a rich supply of subjects and targets for some years to come…. This is a carefully constructed, carefully written scholarly work, in the best sense of these words.”—L. B. Slobodkin, Quarterly Review of Biology
“This is an exciting, significant, and important work…. On the whole it will have a very beneficial influence on biology with a rich supply of subjects and targets for some years to come…. This is a carefully constructed, carefully written scholarly work, in the best sense of these words.”—L. B. Slobodkin, Quarterly Review of Biology
Topics
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Frontmatter
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Contents
v -
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Foreword
ix -
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Preface (1996)
xvii -
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CHAPTER 1. Introduction
1 -
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CHAPTER 2. Natural Selection, Adaptation, and Progress
20 -
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CHAPTER 3. Natural Selection, Ecology, and Morphogenesis
56 -
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CHAPTER 4. Group Selection
92 -
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CHAPTER 5. Adaptations of the Genetic System
125 -
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CHAPTER 6. Reproductive Physiology and Behavior
158 -
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CHAPTER 7. Social Adaptations
193 -
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CHAPTER 8. Other Supposedly Group-Related Adaptations
221 -
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CHAPTER 9. The Scientific Study of Adaptation
251 -
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Literature Cited
275 -
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Index
291 -
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Princeton Science Library
308
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
October 30, 2018
eBook ISBN:
9780691185507
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Main content:
328
eBook ISBN:
9780691185507
Keywords for this book
Natural selection; Organism; Group selection; Adaptation; Evolution; Biologist; Gene; Reproduction; Allele; Biology; Genotype; Mendelian inheritance; Fecundity; Female; Eusociality; Mammal; Competition; Predation; Population size; Sex ratio; Reproductive success; Zygote; Sexual reproduction; Effectiveness; Courtship; Senescence; Phenotype; Germ plasm; Suggestion; Analogy; Mutation rate; Adaptation and Natural Selection; Fitness (biology); Evolutionary progress; Insect; Larva; Explanation; Behavior; Territory (animal); Mutation; Obligate; Darwinism; Functional organization; Adaptive radiation; Vertebrate; Selection coefficient; Niles Eldredge; Shoaling and schooling; Mortality rate; Gamete; Meiosis; Reader (academic rank); Sexual conflict; Evolutionary developmental biology; Physiology; Parthenogenesis; The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection; Germ cell; Bird; Ecology; Charles Darwin; Aposematism; Genetic diversity; Invertebrate; Nutrition; Population genetics; Inclusive fitness; Gene pool; Student (magazine); Heredity
Audience(s) for this book
College/higher education;Professional and scholarly;
