Oren Harman: The Price of Altruism. George Price and the Search for the Origins of Kindness

Abstract

Thirty-five years after his death by suicide, many human geneticists may never have heard of George Price or known of his work. Those interested or working in evolutionary genetics will be familiar with his contributions, notably the 'Price equation', but are still unlikely to know much of his life, unless they have read William Hamilton's Narrow Roads of Gene Land (Hamilton 1995). But now, with Oren Harman's biography, they and others outside the immediate field have the chance to appreciate fully Price's remarkable work and his even more remarkable and tragic life.The Price of Altruism is more than a scientific biography; it is an account of the thinking about, and increasingly the understanding of the evolution and hereditary basis of altruism, a topic that has engaged and puzzled a long series of outstanding scientific minds for over a century, starting with Darwin. How can adaptations and behaviour that seem harmful to the individual, yet which may benefit the wider group, be reco... Language: en