The Theory of Evolution

Description

All living plants and animals, including man, are the modified descendants of one or a few simple living things. A hundred years ago Darwin and Wallace in their theory of natural selection, or the survival of the fittest, explained how evolution could have happened, in terms of processes known to take place today. In this book John Maynard Smith describes how their theory has been confirmed, but at the same time transformed, by recent research, and in particular by the discovery of the laws of inheritance.

'Few people in the world are better qualified than John Maynard Smith to explain evolution to us, and no subject more than evolution deserves such a talented teacher. Like Darwin himself, Maynard Smith knows that his story if intrinsically interesting and important enough to need no more than clear, patient, honest exposition. The new Introduction is an elegant essay which can be recommended in its own right as a summary of important recent developments in evolutionary theory. This book is the best general introduction to the subject now available.' Richard Dawkins, from the Foreword to the Canto edition