The Genial Gene

The Genial Gene

Deconstructing Darwinian Selfishness

$44.95

Publication Date: 20th April 2009

Are selfishness and individuality—rather than kindness and cooperation—basic to biological nature? Does a "selfish gene" create universal sexual conflict? In The Genial Gene, Joan Roughgarden forcefully... Read More
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Are selfishness and individuality—rather than kindness and cooperation—basic to biological nature? Does a "selfish gene" create universal sexual conflict? In The Genial Gene, Joan Roughgarden forcefully... Read More
Description
Are selfishness and individuality—rather than kindness and cooperation—basic to biological nature? Does a "selfish gene" create universal sexual conflict? In The Genial Gene, 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 Evolution's Rainbow, 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.
Details
  • Price: $44.95
  • Pages: 272
  • Carton Quantity: 22
  • Publisher: University of California Press
  • Imprint: University of California Press
  • Publication Date: 20th April 2009
  • Trim Size: 6 x 9 in
  • Illustration Note: 20 tables
  • ISBN: 9780520258266
  • Format: Hardcover
  • BISACs:
    SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Zoology / General
    SOCIAL SCIENCE / Gender Studies
    SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Evolution
Reviews
“The arguments and counterarguments will most certainly generate a good deal of heat, but also, let’s hope,. . . . even more light.”
- The American Scholar
“Succeeds in re-opening issues long thought closed.. . . .(Challenging) what we thought we already know.”
- Nature
“Roughgarden's new theory is likely to end up an important extension to existing thought.”
- New Scientist
“Argues that. . . . sexual selection as a form of self-seeking improvement on the part of each beast is a myth.”
- New Yorker
Author Bio
Joan Roughgarden is Professor of Biology at Stanford University. She is the author of Evolution's Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People (UC Press), Evolution and Christian Faith, and Primer of Ecological Theory.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments 
Introduction: Is Nature Selfish? 
COOPERATION AND TEAMWORK
1. Sexual Selection Defined 
2. The Case against Sexual Selection 
3. Social Selection Defined 
THE GENETIC SYSTEM FOR SEX
4. The Gene: Recombination 
5. The Cell: Sperm and Egg 
6. The Body: Male, Female, and Hermaphrodite 
THE SOCIAL SYSTEM FOR SEX
7. The Behavioral Tier 
8. The Evolutionary Tier 
9. Family Harmony and Discord 
10. Sharing Offspring with Neighbors 
Conclusion: Social versus Sexual Selection 
Index
Are selfishness and individuality—rather than kindness and cooperation—basic to biological nature? Does a "selfish gene" create universal sexual conflict? In The Genial Gene, 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 Evolution's Rainbow, 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.
  • Price: $44.95
  • Pages: 272
  • Carton Quantity: 22
  • Publisher: University of California Press
  • Imprint: University of California Press
  • Publication Date: 20th April 2009
  • Trim Size: 6 x 9 in
  • Illustrations Note: 20 tables
  • ISBN: 9780520258266
  • Format: Hardcover
  • BISACs:
    SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Zoology / General
    SOCIAL SCIENCE / Gender Studies
    SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Evolution
“The arguments and counterarguments will most certainly generate a good deal of heat, but also, let’s hope,. . . . even more light.”
– The American Scholar
“Succeeds in re-opening issues long thought closed.. . . .(Challenging) what we thought we already know.”
– Nature
“Roughgarden's new theory is likely to end up an important extension to existing thought.”
– New Scientist
“Argues that. . . . sexual selection as a form of self-seeking improvement on the part of each beast is a myth.”
– New Yorker
Joan Roughgarden is Professor of Biology at Stanford University. She is the author of Evolution's Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People (UC Press), Evolution and Christian Faith, and Primer of Ecological Theory.
Acknowledgments 
Introduction: Is Nature Selfish? 
COOPERATION AND TEAMWORK
1. Sexual Selection Defined 
2. The Case against Sexual Selection 
3. Social Selection Defined 
THE GENETIC SYSTEM FOR SEX
4. The Gene: Recombination 
5. The Cell: Sperm and Egg 
6. The Body: Male, Female, and Hermaphrodite 
THE SOCIAL SYSTEM FOR SEX
7. The Behavioral Tier 
8. The Evolutionary Tier 
9. Family Harmony and Discord 
10. Sharing Offspring with Neighbors 
Conclusion: Social versus Sexual Selection 
Index