Williams, George C. (George Christopher) 1926-2010

Adaptation and natural selection; a critique of some current evolutionary thought by George C Williams( )

74 editions published between 1966 and 2018 in English and held by 3,115 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Biological evolution is a fact--but the many conflicting theories of evolution remain controversial even today. In 1966, simple Darwinism, which holds that evolution functions primarily at the level of the individual organism, was threatened by opposing concepts such as group selection, a popular idea stating that evolution acts to select entire species rather than individuals. George Williams's famous argument in favor of the Darwinists struck a powerful blow to those in opposing camps. His Adaptation and Natural Selection, now a classic of science literature, is a thorough and convincing ess

Natural selection : domains, levels, and challenges by George C Williams( )

23 editions published between 1992 and 1993 in English and held by 2,026 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

In this work, George C. Williams--one of evolutionary biology's most distinguished scholars--examines the mechanisms and meaning of natural selection in evolution. Williams offers his own perspective on modern evolutionary theory, including discussions of the gene as the unit of selection, clade selection and macroevolution, diversity within and among populations, stasis, and other timely and provocative topics. In dealing with the levels-of-selection controversy, he urges a pervasive form of the replicator-vehicle distinction. Natural selection, he argues, takes place in the separate domains

Why we get sick : the new science of Darwinian medicine by Randolph M Nesse( Book )

42 editions published between 1994 and 2013 in 11 languages and held by 1,306 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

"We can cure hundreds of ailments, but we understand remarkably little about why diseases exist at all. Why do we crave the very things that make us sick? Why, after thousands of generations, hasn't natural selection eliminated cancer, schizophrenia, and other scourges and evolved us into perfect human beings?"--BOOK JACKET. "Such questions are at the heart of the new discipline called Darwinian medicine, which applies the principles of evolutionary biology to the problems of medicine. The result of a unique collaboration between the chief architects of this new science - a groundbreaking Darwinian physician and one of the pioneers of modern evolutionary theory - Why We Get Sick offers a whole new set of scientific questions and suggests new ways of understanding illness."--BOOK JACKET. "Finding evolutionary explanations for why we get sick - infectious agents that evolve faster than we do, environmental novelties, genes that are selected despite the fact that they cause disease, defenses, design compromises, evolutionary legacies - can help us uncover new, more effective methods of treatment. It can help resolve medical quandaries - for example, when is it best to let a fever run its course and when best to bring it down with medication? It offers a new view of disease that changes the relationship between our bodies and ourselves."--BOOK JACKET. "Why We Get Sick takes the first major step toward reconceiving medicine as we approach the twenty-first century. Incorporating an evolutionary perspective into our understanding of illness will revolutionize the art and science of medicine and enable its practitioners to come close to achieving its ancient goals: To cure, sometimes. To help, often. To console, always."--BOOK JACKET

Sex and evolution by George C Williams( Book )

23 editions published between 1974 and 1977 in English and held by 976 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Evolution & ethics : T.H. Huxley's "Evolution and ethics" with new essays on its Victorian and sociobiological context by Thomas Henry Huxley( Book )

21 editions published between 1989 and 2014 in English and held by 958 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

T.H. Huxley (1825-1895) was not only an active protagonist in the religious and scientific upheaval that followed the publication of Darwin's theory of evolution but also a harbinger of the sociobiological debates about the implications of evolution that are now going on. His seminal lecture Evolution and Ethics, reprinted here with its introductory Prolegomena, argues that the human psyche is at war with itself, that humans are alienated in a cosmos that has no special reference to their needs, and that moral societies are of necessity in conflict with the natural conditions of their existence. Seen in the light of current understanding of the mechanisms of evolution, these claims remain as controversial today as they were when Huxley proposed them. In this volume George Williams, one of the best-known evolutionary biologists of our time, asserts that recent biological ideas and data justify a more extreme condemnation of the "cosmic process" than Huxley advocated and more extreme denial that the forces that got us here are capable of maintaining a viable world. James Paradis, an expert in Victorian studies, has written an introduction that sets the celebrated lecture in the context of cultural history, revealing it to be an impressive synthesis of Victorian thinking, as well as a challenge to eighteenth-century assumptions about the harmony of of nature. With Huxley's lecture as a focal point, the three parts of this book unite philosophy and science in a shared quest that recalls their common origins as systems of knowledge. Originally published in 1989. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905

The pony fish's glow : and other clues to plan and purpose in nature by George C Williams( Book )

10 editions published in 1997 in English and Undetermined and held by 671 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Williams (Ecology and Evolution/SUNY, Stony Brook) explores how organisms have evolved in nature to 'solve the problems of life.' Williams accepts the so-called 'adaptationist program' of 'plan and purpose' in biology: that is, the idea that each attribute of an organism relates in some way to its efforts to survive and pass on its genes. The fish referred to in the book's title possesses light-generating cells that glow through its belly. The point of this uncanny quality, Williams suggests, has to do with the fish's habitat: It lives in deep ocean waters, and the light cells in its belly will match whatever faint sunlight penetrates the water, rendering the fish invisible to potential predators lurking below. There are also some teacherly essays on Darwinism in nature, rehearsing the old vitalism versus mechanism debates, describing with clarity and skill how natural selection operates to keep what has proven to be adaptive and cull the extremes. Williams uses as his examples such disparate events as the long evolution leading to the right size egg for a given species or the process leading to establishing the right number in a litter of young. He considers such essential matters as sex, pregnancy, aging, and death in a series of chapters exhibiting a fascination with the art of conflict and compromise in nature. Among the topics: why we have sex, why sperm are so small and eggs, in comparison, so big, why women get morning sickness and sometimes develop high blood pressure or diabetes while pregnant. Considering the evolution of body parts, Williams makes clear that we are flawed creations, demonstrating both 'the power and the limitations of the evolutionary process.' In sum, some old, some new variations on the question of design (or the lack of it) in nature, by an old hand, who, if he hasn't quite the style of Stephen Jay Gould, is nonetheless well worth reading. ; 192 pp.-

Group selection by George C Williams( Book )

13 editions published between 1971 and 2017 in English and Undetermined and held by 416 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

"Living things are constantly engaged in a struggle for existence, and ingenious devices for the purpose of self-preservation can be seen in all types of animal and plant life. However, nature also displays phenomena that are not related to survival or that seem clearly to violate the principle of self-preservation - particularly when organisms interact with one another. Darwin investigated these apparent contradictions and proposed that both mechanisms of self preservation and those of reproduction are explained by a more basic principle of "natural selection"--The reproductive survival of the fittest. George C. Williams in "Group Selection" challenges the adequacy of this process of selection at the individual level. Williams has here collected the work of the chief partisans with opposed viewpoints on the theory of selection at the group level to state their arguments and rebuttals. A minority of modern biologists offer evidence to show that groups of living things are organized to assure their collective survival; they are not merely collections of individuals designed for their own survival and reproduction. In opposition, defenders of the traditional point of view charge that mechanisms of group survival are based on illusion and misinterpretation. Because of the wide range of opinion expressed in "Group Selection", the reader is exposed to all sides of the dispute and encouraged to form his or her own views. In addition, as a source book on current evolutionary issues or for research or reference material, "Group Selection" remains a valuable addition to every personal and institutional library in the biological sciences."--Provided by publisher

Plan and purpose in nature by George C Williams( Book )

12 editions published between 1996 and 2013 in English and Dutch and held by 217 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

This book contrasts the human engineering of such instruments as a camera or a fish-hook with natural instruments such as an eye or a hand, and considers the implications of natural selection for human sexuality, ageing, ethics, racism and disease

Evolution and healing by Randolph M Nesse( Book )

16 editions published between 1994 and 2003 in English and held by 164 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Public lands in New-Hampshire : report of George C. Williams, W.A. Sanborn and John M. Whipple commissioned by his excellency agreeably to a Joint Resolution of the Legislature to make examination of the public lands and report a bill to the legislature. With accompanying bill by New Hampshire( )

3 editions published in 1859 in English and held by 118 WorldCat member libraries worldwide