Bokus
Oren Harman - Price of Altruism, Häftad

Häftad, Engelska, 2011

Price of Altruism

George Price and the Search for the Origins of Kindness

Av Oren Harman

312 kr

Tillfälligt slut

Fler format och utgåvor

Beskrivning
Survival of the fittest or survival of the nicest? Since the dawn of time man has contemplated the mystery 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 be.Set against the sweeping tale of 150 years of scientific attempts to explain kindness, The Price of Altruism tells for the first time the moving story of the eccentric American genius George Price (1922–1975), as he strives to answer evolution's greatest riddle. An original and penetrating picture of twentieth century thought, it is also a deeply personal journey. From the heights of the Manhattan Project to the inspired equation that explains altruism to the depths of homelessness and despair, Price's life embodies the paradoxes of Darwin’s enigma. His tragic suicide in a squatter’s flat, among the vagabonds to whom he gave all his possessions, provides the ultimate contemplation on the possibility of genuine benevolence.
Produktinformation
  • Utgivningsdatum: 2011-06-20
  • Mått: 139 x 210 x 37 mm
  • Vikt: 381 g
  • Format: Häftad
  • Språk: Engelska
  • Antal sidor: 462
  • Förlag: WW Norton & Co
  • ISBN: 9780393339994
  • Utmärkelser: Winner of Los Angeles Times Book Prize 2010
Utforska kategorier
Mer om författaren

Oren Harman, who has a doctorate from Oxford University, is the Chair of the Graduate Program in Science Technology and Society at Bar Ilan University and a professor of the history of science. He is the author of The Man Who Invented the Chromosome, a documentary film maker, and a frequent contributor to The New Republic. He lives in Tel Aviv and New York.

Recensioner i media

"[E]nthralling…Extremely well researched and written with great love of the subject, The Price of Altruism reveals all sorts of personal details of momentous events in the history of science…This is a book for anyone interested in the question, first posed by Darwin himself, of how we ended up with so much kindness in a natural world customarily depicted as 'red in tooth and claw.' Price struggled with it on an intensely personal level. His story is highly relevant at a time when greed as the basis of society has lost much of its appeal."

Betyg & recensioner

1 recensioner, genomsnitt 4/5

  1. 4/5 Jan P