The Selfish Gene

Charles Darwin is considered the father of evolution. He developed the theory from his observations of animals. Dawkins often refers to Darwin.

John Maynard Smith developed the theory of evolutionarily stable strategies. This game theory can explain aggression in animals. Dawkins also applies the ideas extensively to explain how genes evolve.

Wynne-Edwards is a proponent of group selection. According to this theory of evolution, organisms such as animals can develop for the “common good” (3) of the species, rather than for the gene or individual. Dawkins often disagrees with Wynne-Edwards, arguing for alternative explanations on the basis of the selfish gene.

Lack proposes a theoretical explanation for why certain birds have the number of offspring that they do. It has a genetic rather than group selection basis and forms the template for further arguments. Dawkins claims that a generalization can refute group selectionist arguments for any aspect of reproduction.

Trivers develops evolutionary theory. Dawkins mentions Trivers for the development of the Parental Investment theory. This theory measures how much effort a parent puts into each child at the expense of siblings. Trivers illustrates how selfish genes can evolve different strategies for males versus females. For example, because females have to commit more resources to their offspring, females are less likely than males to abandon mate and baby.

Fisher is an influential biologist. He contributed to evolutionary theory in the twentieth century. Dawkins mentions Fisher’s explanation of the one to one sex ratio as deriving from the selfish gene.

Zahavi is an evolutionary biologist. He proposes counter-intuitive theories. For example, sexual selection may favor males with weak traits, to signal that these males are strong enough to survive anyway.

Hamilton is a biologist. He describes how animals herd to protect their selfish genes. Along with Robert Axelrod, Hamilton wrote an important paper that showed the relevance of game theory such as evolutionarily stable strategies for biology.