Research Catalog

Nature's oracle : the life and work of W.D. Hamilton

Title: Nature's oracle : the life and work of W.D. Hamilton / Ullica Segerstrale.
Author: Segerstråle, Ullica Christina Olofsdotter.
Publication: Oxford, U.K. : Oxford University Press, 2013.

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Request for On-site Use Request Scan How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?	Text	Request in advance	JSE 15-126	Offsite
Request for On-site Use Request Scan Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schwarzman Building to submit a request in person.	Text	Use in library	JFE 13-560	Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315

Details

Description

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

Summary

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

Life and work of W.D. Hamilton

Subjects

Genre/Form

Biography.
History.

Bibliography (note)

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

Contents

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

JSE 15-126

ISBN

9780198607274
019860727X
9780198607281
0198607288

LCCN

2012554279
40022115002

OCLC

829172879

Author

Segerstråle, Ullica Christina Olofsdotter.

Title

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

Imprint

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

Edition

1st ed.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

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

Other Standard Identifier

40022115002

Research Call Number

JSE 15-126

JFE 13-560

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