Narrow Roads of Gene Land: The Collected Papers of W. D. Hamilton Volume 1: Evolution of Social Behaviour (Narrow Roads of Gene Land Vol. 1) [Paperback]

W. D. Hamilton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 8, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0716745305 | ISBN-13: 978-0716745303

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.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

W. D. Hamilton is a Royal Society Research Professor in the Department of Zoology at the University of Oxford. He is known throughout the world for his work on social evolution and sexual selection. He is a fellow of the Royal Society and a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. W.D. Hamilton, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS. Tel. [phone].

Product Details

• Paperback: 568 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (January 8, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0716745305
• ISBN-13: 978-0716745303
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,432,032 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real gem!, July 8, 2000

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John Anderson (Bar Harbor, ME USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Narrow Roads of Gene Land: The Collected Papers of W. D. Hamilton Volume 1: Evolution of Social Behaviour (Narrow Roads of Gene Land Vol. 1) (Paperback)

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!