To see accurate pricing, please choose your delivery country.
 
 
United States
£ GBP
All Shops

British Wildlife

8 issues per year 84 pages per issue Subscription only

British Wildlife is the leading natural history magazine in the UK, providing essential reading for both enthusiast and professional naturalists and wildlife conservationists. Published eight times a year, British Wildlife bridges the gap between popular writing and scientific literature through a combination of long-form articles, regular columns and reports, book reviews and letters.

Subscriptions from £33 per year

Conservation Land Management

4 issues per year 44 pages per issue Subscription only

Conservation Land Management (CLM) is a quarterly magazine that is widely regarded as essential reading for all who are involved in land management for nature conservation, across the British Isles. CLM includes long-form articles, events listings, publication reviews, new product information and updates, reports of conferences and letters.

Subscriptions from £26 per year
Academic & Professional Books  Evolutionary Biology  Evolution

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

By: H Cronin
504 pages, B/w photos, figs, 2 tabs
The Ant and the Peacock
Click to have a closer look
Select version
  • The Ant and the Peacock ISBN: 9780521457651 Paperback Sep 1993 Not in stock: Usually dispatched within 1-2 weeks
    £30.99
    #27021
  • The Ant and the Peacock ISBN: 9780521329378 Hardback Feb 1992 Out of Print #11230
Selected version: £30.99
About this book Contents Customer reviews Related titles

About this book

The theory of natural selection is one of the foremost achievements of science, yet until recently two major issues remained unresolved. 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 the theory explain the peacock's tail, a flamboyant burden to its bearer: surely selection would act against ornamentation with no obvious value? The author blends history, science and philosophy into a scholarly and entertaining account.

Contents

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.

Customer Reviews

By: H Cronin
504 pages, B/w photos, figs, 2 tabs
Media reviews
'Part detective story and part philosophical enquiry, The Ant and the Peacock offers a paradox in every paragraph.' J. G. Ballard, Weekend Telegraph 'Nobody with an interest in how the human mind has come to work the way it does can fail to be gripped by it.' The Economist 'In her racy and provocative way, Dr Cronin tells a story that sums up the essence of neo-Darwinism ... Part detective story and part philosophical enquiry, The Ant and the Peacock offers a paradox in every paragraph ...' Weekend Telegraph '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
Current promotions
New and Forthcoming BooksBest of WinterNHBS Moth TrapBuyers Guides