Research Catalog

Details

Description

1. viii, 441 pages, [8] pages of plates : illustrations; 24 cm

Summary

1. In this illuminating and moving biography, Ullica Segerstrale captures Hamilton's extraordinary life and work, revealing a man of immense intellectual curiosity, an uncompromising truth-seeker, a naturalist and jungle explorer. Segerstrale's detailed research reveals the internal tensions and conflicts behind Hamilton's creative genius, and the narrative is peppered with personal anecdotes of this eccentric yet brilliant scientist. The book shows how Hamilton throughout his life was a man against the grain, whose iconoclastic views challenged the scientific and medical establishment--and even caused controversy at the Vatican. In fact, Hamilton was so against the grain that his early career was a classic case of misunderstood genius, whose work was invariably attacked upon publication and only later proclaimed a major breakthrough. Among his insights was that what matters in evolution is not the survival of the individual but of the survival of its genes, an idea that solved the longstanding problem of animal altruism that vexed even Darwin himself. He also proposed the well-known Red Queen theory of the evolution of sex and he helped open up many new fields (including sociobiology), shaping much of our current understanding of evolution.

Alternative title

1. Life and work of W.D. Hamilton

Subject

1. Naturalists
2. Evolution (Biology)
3. Evolution (Biology) > History
4. Hamilton, W. D (William Donald), 1936-2000
5. History
6. Biography
7. Natural Science Disciplines > Great Britain > Biography
8. Natural Science Disciplines > Great Britain > history
9. Biological Evolution > Great Britain > Biography
10. Naturalists > Great Britain > Biography
11. History, 20th Century > Great Britain
12. Great Britain

Genre/Form

1. Biography.
2. History.

Contents

1. Growing up at Oaldea -- Finding life's pattern -- Schoolboy at Tonbridge -- Fisher found and lost -- The struggle for altruism -- Altruism through the looking glass -- Brazilian break -- Sex and death -- Challenges of social life -- The price effect -- Creativity in a tight spot -- Priority matters -- When leaving is better than staying -- Encounters with sociobiology -- The parasite paradigm -- Cooperation without kinship -- The Oxford move -- Defending the queen -- In tune with nature -- Truth at any price -- Creative strategies -- Through a glass darkly -- The final defiance -- The edge of creativity.

Call number

1. JSE 15-126

Bibliography (note)

1. Includes bibliographical references (pages 423-431) and index.

Author

1. Segerstråle, Ullica Christina Olofsdotter.

Title

1. Nature's oracle : the life and work of W.D. Hamilton / Ullica Segerstrale.

Imprint

1. Oxford, U.K. : Oxford University Press, 2013.

Edition

1. 1st ed.

Type of content

1. text

Type of medium

1. unmediated

Type of carrier

1. volume

Bibliography

1. Includes bibliographical references (pages 423-431) and index.

LCCN

1. 2012554279

Other standard identifier

1. 40022115002

ISBN

1. 9780198607274 (hbk.)
2. 019860727X (hbk.)
3. 9780198607281 (pbk.)
4. 0198607288 (pbk.)

Research call number

1. JSE 15-126
2. JFE 13-560