The Ant and the Peacock: Altruism and Sexual Selection from Darwin to Today [Hardcover]

Helena Cronin (Author), John Maynard Smith (Foreword)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 052132937X | ISBN-13: 978-0521329378 | Publication Date: February 28, 1992

The "ant" and the "peacock" stand for two puzzles in Darwinism--altruism and sexual selection. How can natural selection favor those, such as the worker ant, that renounce tooth and claw in favor of the public-spirited ways of the commune? And how can "peacocks"--flamboyant, ornamental and apparently useless--be tolerated by the grimly economical Darwinian reaper? Helena Cronin has a deep understanding of today's answers to these riddles and their roots in the nineteenth century; the analysis is new and exciting and the explanations lucid and compelling.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book is witty and well-informed; it will certainly raise some hackles, but it will not bore. I think this book is an important achievement in evolution biology." Michael J. Ryan, Cell

"The Ant and the Peacock is a beautiful book, fascinating to scientists and historians alike, and elegantly written. I had forgotten what a pleasure it is to find an academically serious and important book that is genuinely gripping, so that you feel compelled to go on reading as if it were a good novel." Richard Dawkins

"In her racy and provocative way, Dr. Cronin tells a story that sums up the essence of neo-Darwinism....Part detective story and part philosophical enquiry, The Ant and the Peacock offers a paradox in every paragraph." J.G. Ballard, Weekend Telegraph

"This is a book about the evolution of beauty, goodness and intelligence, three things that especially puzzled Charles Darwin. It is part history, part science-reporting, part philosophy, and though it is footnoted like an academic book it reads much too well to be left to the professionals. Nobody with an interest in how the human mind has come to work the way it does can fail to be gripped by it." The Economist

"The Ant and the Peacock is both erudite and fun, authoritative but, by and large, an easy read." John Gribbin, The Times Educational Supplement

"Cronin's book is a mixture of careful, perceptive history and enthusiastic advocacy....she succeeds in keeping the past and present separate when she needs to and in illuminating past controversies by introducing current thoughts on the subject. In her exposition, the light of understanding shines in both directions." David L. Hull, Nature

"...should be lauded for its ambition and its impressive control of some of the most recent literature in the field of evolutionary theory and behavioral ecology." Vassiliki Betty Smocovitis, ISIS

"As a look at the history and philosophy of Darwinism, it is a valuable reference..." James Williams, New Scientist

"...brings the intellectual world of Darwin and Wallace to life--even mavens of darwiniana will find new material and new insights--while effectively communicating some of the most recent evolutionary thinking. I heartliy recommend that everyone read this book." M. Wilson, TREE

"Almost anyone interested in evolution will learn something new from working through the easy-to-read arguments in The Ant and the Peacock....[I]t's arguments are especially worthwhile in helping one understand the darwinian and wallacean views of the same subject." William T. Weislo, Annals of the Entomological Society of America

Book Description

How can natural selection favor the ant that "renounces tooth and claw" or tolerate the ornamental and apparently useless peacock? Contemporary answers to these riddles and their nineteenth century roots are analyzed in a text geared to the general reader as well as the professional.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 504 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (February 28, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 052132937X
• ISBN-13: 978-0521329378
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,032,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gentle detonator, September 2, 2002

By 

Stephen A. Haines (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ant and the Peacock: Altruism and Sexual Selection from Darwin to Today (Paperback)

This comprehensive and engrossing study examines two major elements of evolution: the role of ornamenation in various species, and the presence of altruism in a nature deemed "red in tooth and claw." Cronin focuses throughout the book on the contrasting views of Charles Darwin and his co-founder of evolution by natural selection, Albert Russell Wallace. Darwin appended his earlier ideas outlined in The Origin of Species in The Descent of Man. In that later work, he enalrged on the idea of "sexual selection." He postulated that many evolutionary traits which appear as maladaptive to survival are actually derived from reproductive pressures. The issue of female choice among many species was a difficult idea to sell - Wallace never accepted it. He retained what Cronin deems "natural selection by
good sense," devoid of esthetics.

Cronin chronicles the history of sexual selection with craft and precision. Her writing is unambiguous, providing excellent insights into many aspects of evolutionary thinking. As she develops her theme, she aknowledges her debt to Dawkin's work on the influence of genes manifesting as guides to adaptation. Cronin adds a new term in describing the merging of Mendelian genetics and Darwin's gradualist concept - "modern Darwism". She carefully explains how natural selection operates at the genetic level to achieve a "trade-off" of costs and benefits to arrive at selected traits. In this analysis, Cronin gently but firmly applies Darwinian implements to show how critics of modern Darwinism have misled themselves in seeking "alternative" answers to adapation. The have been asking the wrong questions!

This view was hotly challenged by paleontologist Stephen Gould in a now-famous essay. He viewed with horror Cronin's application of gene selection as a definitive evolutionary process. He made a wide-ranging critique which attempted to refute applying any facets of animal behaviour to humans. The review touched off the [mostly] trans-Atlantic dispute over how adaptation actually works. It was the Sarajevo of the "Darwin Wars" between Gould and Dawkins, perhaps best summarized by Daniel Dennet. Cronin's use of evidence should have forestalled that conflict. Cronin's skills in applying essentials to explain adaptations are unimpeachable and her skillful prose only enhances the value of this work. It will stand for a long time as a landmark work in evolutionary studies.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting History of Two Troublesome Issues in Darwinism, June 4, 2000

By 

Gunnar Ohrwall - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ant and the Peacock: Altruism and Sexual Selection from Darwin to Today (Paperback)

Dr. Cronin presents a philosophical history of the questions of sexual selection (as exemplified by the peacock in the title) and altruism (the ant), from the time of Darwin until today. She explains the background to the debate (or lack thereof) among Darwin's contemporaries and successors, which is sometimes difficult to understand with the gene based view of natural selection we have today. It is fascinating reading for the informed person, but the academic tone may be off putting to the casual reader. Dr. Cronin presupposes a fairly detailed knowledge of modern evolutionary theory, and the layperson may want to read some introduction such as Dawkins' books first.

2 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Most Beautiful Rule the Bird World, Can That Be in Humans?, September 19, 2005

By 

Betty Burks "Betty Burks" (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ant and the Peacock: Altruism and Sexual Selection from Darwin to Today (Hardcover)

Peacocks are the most flamboyand and ornamental birds. The male peacock's tail is an extravanganza: bizarre, and exaggerated, while the white felame is less beautiful and mores 'sensibly dressed.' For a special occasion, I purchased a bright blue and white whirt with the appearance of peacock feathers. It was lovely but, after two wearing, I went back to the mall and also purchased the 'dull' brown, yellow and green identical skirt in the muted colors. Can you imagine, it was appreciated more by the viewers than the brighter one? Darwin had it right with his theroy that females prefer to mate with the best-ornamental males. Over evolutionary time, males develop ever-more exaggerated, immoderate flamboyance. All male birds are the brighter ones, even ducks.

What was the selective force that had brought such fine-tuning of choosing a mate, if not the visual discrimination of birds? He conceived the idea of the peacock's tail as a product of female choise was 'an awful stretcher.' But his prediction proved true; thus, a happy ending to the peacock's tale.

One thing about ants are they don't have to worry about appearances. They aren't very pretty so who can tell the difference; they are busy, hard workers who live in communes, and have multiple partners to propetuate the species.

Ms. Cronin's thesis on humans is that women choose men who can give them handsome sons to propugate the theory of selective evolution. In my case, it's always been the male who did the choosing, and the beautiful females (no matter how dumb) have the advantage over the not-so-pretty girls. For some reason, however, the most important men tend to have plainer wifes first, the younger beauties in their old age.

She discusses human altruism by comparing Wallace, Huxley, Spenser and othre with Darwin and his moral views as to natural history. Nature can be most cruel to the kindest, most compassionate humans and bless the selfish, arrogant maco men as they do the choosing in today's world. Can you call it really 'mating' or power of lust to allow today's attractive men to make the overtures?

Young girls are certainly advertising their wares with their middles and belly buttons showing and the see-through camisoles they wear in public is a form of indecency. At the rodeo, some girls showed their rear sections with the short shorts and midriff tops and didn't have good-looking bodies, but t he men looked anyway. This in-depth study of Darwinism and its antagonists is done in an intellectual way by Ms. Cronin who has a Ph.D and taught at University of Oxford and the Philosophy Department at the London School of Economics.

The cover picture is "Peacock and Peahen with a Red Cardinal in a Classical Landscape" by Tobias Stranover which hangs in the London Gallery and the Bridgeman Art Library.