The Price of Altruism – George Price and the Search for the Origins of Kindness - Couverture rigide

Harman, Oren

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0393067785 ISBN 13 : 9780393067781

Editeur : W. W. Norton & Co., 2010

Synopsis

The Price of Altruism Since the dawn of time, human beings have contemplated the mysteries of altruism - but it was Darwin who posed the question most starkly. This title follows the story of the eccentric American genius, George Price, as he strives to answer evolution's greatest riddle. Full description

A propos du livre

Quatrième de couverture :

'A brilliant biography of a brilliant man. A powerful page-turner' Daniel Kevles, Stanley Woodward Professor of History at Yale University

'I stayed up all night reading... Fascinating' Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind

'A fascinating story, and an important one...it is full of complex and deeply interesting ideas, as well - finally - as being rather moving' Spectator

When George Price died in January 1975, his funeral in London was attended by five homeless men. Alongside them were Bill Hamilton and John Maynard Smith, two distinguished British evolutionary biologists. All seven men had come to mourn an eccentric American genius who helped to unpick the riddle of how altruism, or unselfish concern for the welfare of others, could exist in a world driven by survival of the fittest and who committed suicide aged just 52.

In The Price of Altruism Price's personal and professional journey is intricately woven into a sweeping arc of modern politics and science that takes us from Darwin's Beagle to the court of the Russian Tsar, from Marxist manifestos to Nazi heresies, and from First World War trenches to Vietnam demonstrations. Featuring some of the most brilliant minds of the modern age, it is the riveting tale of mankind's search for the origins of kindness.

'Uncommonly brilliant and deeply stimulating...almost cinematically satisfying. Harman has a rare gift for being ideas and thinkers to life' Leon Wieseltier, Literary Editor of The New Republic

Présentation de l'éditeur :

Survival of the fittest or survival of the nicest? Since the dawn of time, human beings have contemplated the mysteries of altruism - but it was Darwin who posed the question most starkly. From the selfless ant to the stinging bee to the man laying down his life for a stranger, evolution has yielded a goodness that in theory should never exist.

The Price of Altruism follows the incredible story of the eccentric American genius, George Price, as he strives to answer evolution's greatest riddle. From the heights of the Manhattan Project to the inspired equation that explains altruism, to the depths of homelessness and despair in London, his life and death embody the paradoxes of Darwin's enigma.

Price's personal and professional journey are intricately woven into the sweeping arc of modern politics and science. From the Beagle in the southern seas to the court of the Russian Tsar to the chambers of London's Royal Society; from Brazilian jungles to Jamaican mountains; from Marxist manifestos to Nazi heresies and from First World War trenches to Vietnam demonstrations. The scientific quest to fathom the mysteries of altruism encompasses sneaky amoebas and Russian anarchists, sentry gazelles and tyrannical despots, brain imaging, Game Theory, the Bomb and the Holy Bible. Featuring some of the most brilliant minds of the modern age, it is the riveting tale of mankind's search for the origins of kindness.

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: W. W. Norton & Co.
• Date d'édition: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0393067785
• ISBN 13: 9780393067781
• Reliure: Relié
• Numéro d'édition: 1
• Nombre de pages: 464