While writing a recent short note on Richard Dawkins and kin selection, I looked through my previous posts on the subject, and found what I thought was a blunder in an old post from 2004. To avoid misleading anyone who came across it in a search, I deleted it from the archive. But on further […]

The BBC have just finished a short (3-part) series of documentaries by Adam Curtis, under the general heading ‘All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace’. It’s impossible to describe them briefly, so I won’t try; suffice to say I found them fascinating but often exasperating with their wild leaps of logic. For GNXP readers […]

This concludes a series of posts on the work of George Price. For the most recent one, with links to the others, see here*. This final post covers the subject of group selection. Price and Group Selection The application of Price’s Equation to group selection, and the related problem of biological altruism, is largely responsible […]

Back in 2004 I wrote a summary of Richard Dawkins’s oft-cited article ‘Twelve Misunderstandings of Kin Selection’. At that time the article was not, as far as I could see, available on the internet or in any easily accessible reprint. However, I have found that a free online pdf is now available, and anyone interested […]

There is one last loose end to tie up before concluding my series on George Price. In a previous post I discussed the meaning of altruism in biology, and the distinction between strong and weak altruism. With strong altruism the altruist obtains no benefit from its own actions, whereas with weak altruism it does, though […]

I am writing a series of posts on the work of George Price. For the most recent one, with links to the others, see here I was planning next to cover Price’s treatment of group selection, but this raises side issues more conveniently dealt with separately. A previous post here considered what is meant by […]

I am writing a series of posts on the work of George Price. For the most recent one, with links to the others, see here. I was planning next to cover Price’s treatment of group selection, but this raises side issues more conveniently dealt with separately. This post considers what is meant by ‘group selection’. […]

A while ago I pointed out a discussion in R. A. Fisher’s Genetical Theory of Natural Selection which showed a pretty clear understanding of the concept of inclusive fitness, and shortly after that I mentioned a passage in his published correspondence that seemed equally clear. While consulting GTNS for another purpose I have noticed another […]

I have previously written several posts on the work of George Price. This one contained general reflections on Price’s reputation; this one attempted to explain how he arrived at the first (1970) form of his famous equation; this one did the same for the later (1972) version of the equation; and this one one attempted […]

In previous posts here and here I have discussed how George Price arrived at his eponymous Equation. I said that there would be one more post of comment and criticism, but it will take at least two posts to cover the points I want to make. The present post is aimed at getting a better […]

In a previous post I discussed what I called Price’s First Equation, as contained in George Price’s 1970 paper ‘Selection and covariance’. The present post deals with the 1972 paper ‘Extension of covariance selection mathematics’ (so far as I know, not currently available free online.) The main result of the 1972 paper is often known […]

In a recent post I said I would write again about the work of George Price. My main aim will be to help people read Price’s own papers. There are various ‘Price guides’ in existence, some of which are very good in their way, but I have not seen any that follow Price’s own treatment […]

I haven’t posted here for some time, but Razib’s recent review of a book by Oren Harman about George Price prompted me to read the book, and I think I will have a few things worth saying about Price. Harman’s book itself is a good biography, but is sketchy on the mathematical details of Price’s […]

There has been much discussion in the blogosphere (for example by Olivia Judson here) of the current libel case between the science writer Simon Singh and the British Chiropractic Association. Most of the comments have supported Singh and criticised both the BCA and the trial Judge, Sir David Eady. Science writers complain that the libel […]

This is the seventh and last in a series of posts about Charles Darwin’s view of evolution. Previous posts were: 1: The Pattern of Evolution. 2: Mechanisms of Evolution. 3: Heredity. 4: Speciation 5. Gradualism (A) , which dealt with Darwin’s views on gradualism in the rate of evolutionary change. 6. Gradualism (B), about the […]

This is the sixth in a series of posts about Charles Darwin’s view of evolution. Previous posts were: 1: The Pattern of Evolution. 2: Mechanisms of Evolution. 3: Heredity. 4: Speciation. 5. Gradualism (A) , which dealt with Darwin’s views on gradualism in the rate of evolutionary change. The present part deals with another aspect […]

Having recently posted on the subject of Charles Darwin’s ‘gradualism’, I was pleased to see a news report on research showing the gradual evolution of the distinctive head of flatfish, which, like many of Picasso’s portraits, have both eyes on the same side of the face. In Darwin’s time this case was raised, especially by […]

Exciting news for Anglo-Saxonists here.

This is the fifth in a series of posts about Charles Darwin’s view of evolution. Previous posts were: 1: The Pattern of Evolution. 2: Mechanisms of Evolution. 3: Heredity. 4: Speciation The present part deals with the subject of gradualism. Gradualism is contrasted with views of evolution as a sudden, discontinuous or even instantaneous process. […]

This is the fourth in a series of posts about Charles Darwin’s view of evolution. Previous posts were: 1: The Pattern of Evolution. 2: Mechanisms of Evolution. 3: Heredity. The present part deals with the subject of speciation, that is, the formation of new species. Modern commentators often regard this as one of the weaker […]