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The Genial Gene - by Joan Roughgarden (Paperback)

The Genial Gene - by  Joan Roughgarden (Paperback)
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Last Price: 26.95 USD

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<p/><br></br><p><b> About the Book </b></p></br></br>"Roughgarden's unique and forceful vision issues a timely, cogent challenge to the predominant world view that selfishness and conflict are the norm in adaptive evolution."--Michael J. Wade, coauthor of "Mating Systems and Strategies" <BR>"No other book offers such a sustained argument against sexual selection theory and provides such a compelling alternative--substantively important and exciting."--Jonathan Kaplan, coauthor of "Making Sense of Evolution" <BR>"This may be the most important book, philosophically speaking, on evolutionary theory in a decade. If Roughgarden is right, males and females evolved as allies, not enemies, and evolutionary theory needs a rethink because competition evolves in a cooperative world, not the other way around."--James Griesemer, President of the International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br>Are selfishness and individuality-rather than kindness and cooperation-basic to biological nature? Does a "selfish gene" create universal sexual conflict? In <i>The Genial Gene, </i>Joan Roughgarden forcefully rejects these and other ideas that have come to dominate the study of animal evolution. Building on her brilliant and innovative book <i>Evolution's Rainbow, </i>in which she challenged accepted wisdom about gender identity and sexual orientation, Roughgarden upends the notion of the selfish gene and the theory of sexual selection and develops a compelling and controversial alternative theory called social selection. This scientifically rigorous, model-based challenge to an important tenet of neo-Darwinian theory emphasizes cooperation, elucidates the factors that contribute to evolutionary success in a gene pool or animal social system, and vigorously demonstrates that to identify Darwinism with selfishness and individuality misrepresents the facts of life as we now know them.<p/><br></br><p><b> From the Back Cover </b></p></br></br>Roughgarden's unique and forceful vision issues a timely, cogent challenge to the predominant world view that selfishness and conflict are the norm in adaptive evolution.--Michael J. Wade, coauthor of <i>Mating Systems and Strategies</i><br /><br />No other book offers such a sustained argument against sexual selection theory and provides such a compelling alternative--substantively important and exciting.--Jonathan Kaplan, coauthor of <i>Making Sense of Evolution</i><br /><br />This may be the most important book, philosophically speaking, on evolutionary theory in a decade. If Roughgarden is right, males and females evolved as allies, not enemies, and evolutionary theory needs a rethink because competition evolves in a cooperative world, not the other way around.--James Griesemer, President of the International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology<p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br>"Argues that. . . . sexual selection as a form of self-seeking improvement on the part of each beast is a myth."-- "New Yorker" (5/11/2009 12:00:00 AM)<br><br>"Roughgarden's new theory is likely to end up an important extension to existing thought."-- "New Scientist" (4/29/2009 12:00:00 AM)<br><br>"Succeeds in re-opening issues long thought closed.. . . .(Challenging) what we thought we already know."-- "Nature" (4/30/2009 12:00:00 AM)<br><br>"The arguments and counterarguments will most certainly generate a good deal of heat, but also, let's hope, . . . . even more light."-- "The American Scholar" (3/5/2009 12:00:00 AM)<br><p/><br></br><p><b> About the Author </b></p></br></br><b>Joan Roughgarden </b>is Professor of Biology at Stanford University. She is the author of <i>Evolution's Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People </i>(UC Press), <i>Evolution and Christian Faith, </i>and <i>Primer of Ecological Theory. </i>

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