The Ant and the Peacock
Altruism and Sexual Selection from Darwin to Today

An enthralling account of the arguments about altruism and sexual selection raging since Darwin's day.

Helena Cronin (Author), John Maynard Smith (Foreword by)

9780521457651, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 24 September 1993

508 pages, 12 b/w illus. 2 tables
23.2 x 15.2 x 3 cm, 0.75 kg

'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

This 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.

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.

Subject Areas: Evolution [PSAJ]