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Now in paperback, Did Darwin Get It Right discusses some of the hottest issues in biology today. Its author, the eminently quotable John Maynard Smith, discusses such fascinating conundrums as how life began, whether the brain works like a computer, why most animals and plants reproduce sexually, and how social behavior evolved out of the context of natural selection--a process which would seem to favor selfishness. A humorous and insightful writer, John Maynard Smith has the special ability to convey the excitement of science, its complexity and fascination, without baffling or boring his readers. In these 28 brief and accessible essays, Maynard ranges widely over such issues as science and the media, the birth of sociobiology, the evolution of animal intelligence and the limitations of evolutionary theory. For his work on the evolution of sex, Smith won the Darwin medal from the Royal Society, and he has pioneered the application of game theory to animal behavior.
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Pid Parwin -get it Rig6t7 By the same author The Theory of Evolution (Penguin Books, 1956) The Evolution of Sex (Cambridge University Press, 1 978) Evolution and the Theory of Games (Cambridge University Press, 1 982) The Problems of Biology (Oxford University Press, 1 9 86) Piti Parwin -get it Rig6t7 tssa�s on-games, Sex and tvolutlon J0611 Maynard Smit6 Professor of Biology University of Sussex Chapman and Hall New·York First published in 1989 by Chapman & Hall an imprint of Routledge, Chapman & Hall, Inc. 29 West 35 Street New York, NY 10001 © 1988 John Maynard Smith Printed in Great Britain All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Contents Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Maynard Smith, John, 1920Did Darwin get it right : essays on games, sex, and evolution / John Maynard Smith. em. p. Includes index. ISBN 0-412-01911-6 : $22.50 1. Evolution. 2. Sex (Biology). QH371.M298 1989 575--dcl9 3. Game theory. 1. Title. 89-21809 eIP Part 1 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Science, Ideology and Myth How to win the Nobel Prize Storming the Fortress Symbolism and Cha� ce Science and the MedIa Molecules are not Enough Science, Ideology and Myth Part 2 v On Human Nature 1 3 8 15 22 30 39 51 53 7. The Birth of Sociob iology en (writt ge 8 . Mode ls of Cultural and Genetic Chan 61 with N. Warren) 81 9. Constraints on Huma n Behaviour 86 1 0 . Biology and the Behaviour of Man 93 1 1 . Tinkering 98 12. Boy or Girl 1 05 1 3 . Genes and Memes 1 14 1 4. Natural Selection of Culture ? v Contents VI Part 3 Did Darwin get it Right? 123 Part 4 Games, Sex and Evolution 163 15. Palaeontology at the High Table 16 . Current Controversies in Evolutionary Biology 17. Did Darwin get it Right? 18. Do we need a new Evolutionary Paradigm? 19. Why Sex? 20. The Limitations of Evolution Theory 2l. The Evolution of Animal Intelligence 22. Evolution and the Theory of Games 23 . 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. Part 5 The Laws of the Game The Counting Problem Understanding Science Matchsticks, Brains and Curtain Rings H ypercycles and the Origin of Life Popper's WorId Rottenness is All Acknowledgements Index 125 13 1 148 157 165 180 192 202 PART 1 217 219 225 23 1 237 244 250 258 261 SCIENCE, IDEOLOGY AND MYTH I