The Ant and the Peacock
The Ant and the Peacock
John Maynard Smith , University of Sussex
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GBPThis book is a success story. It explains two long-running puzzles of the theory of natural selection. How can natural selection favour those, like the ant, that renounce tooth and claw in favour of the public-spirited ways of the commune? How can it explain the peacock's tail, flamboyant and a burden to its bearer; surely selection would act against useless ornamentation? Helena Cronin's enthralling account blends history, science and philosophy in a gripping tale that is scholarly, entertaining and eminently readable. The hardback edition was selected by Nature as one of the best scientific books in 1992. Also the New York Times chose it as one of their best books of 1992. The author divides her time between the Philosophy Department at the London School of Economics and the Zoology Department at Oxford.
- Written in an accessible and attractive style
- Deals with topics of great current interest
- Enthusiastically reviewed by other eminent scientists (foreword by Maynard Smith, the leading figure in modern evolutionary biology)
- Chosen by the New York Times and Nature as one of the 'Best Books of 1992'
Reviews & endorsements
'Part detective story and part philosophical enquiry, The Ant and the Peacock offers a paradox in every paragraph.' J. G. Ballard, Weekend Telegraph
'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
'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 …' Weekend Telegraph
'The finest study of the evolution of Darwinian thought that we have to date … Cronin's special understanding of the sexual force in evolution's drive adds a most important dynamic to this work.' The New England Review of Books
Product details
October 1993Paperback
9780521457651
508 pages
236 × 155 × 32 mm
0.83kg
12 b/w illus. 2 tables
Available
Table of Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- Part I. Darwinism, Its Rivals and Its Renegades:
- 1. Walking archives
- 2. A world without Darwin
- 3. Darwinism old and new
- Part II. The Peacock:
- 4. The sting in the peacock's tail
- 5. Nothing but natural selection?
- 6. Can females shape males?
- 7. Do sensible females prefer sexy males?
- 8. 'Until careful experiments are made …'
- 9. Ghosts of Darwinism surpassed
- Part III. The Ant:
- 10. Altruism now
- 11. Altruism then
- 12. The social insects: kind kin
- 13. Make dove, not war: conventional forces
- 14. Human altruism: a natural kind?
- 15. Breeding between the lines
- Epilogue
- Notes on the letters of Darwin and Wallace
- Bibliography
- Index.
