Evolutionary Genetics

by John Maynard Smith

The first edition of Maynard Smith's Evolutionary Genetics (first published in 1989) was welcomed as the first comprehensive introduction to the molecular and population aspects of evolutionary genetics, and has now become one of the definitive textbooks in the field. Aimed at advanced undergraduates in the biological sciences, the book covers basic population and quantitative genetics, evolutionary game theory, behavioral evolution, sexual selection and mating systems, speciation, and macroevolution. Theory and mathematics are clearly explained, with the aid of problems at the ends of the chapters, and the author takes care to place these within the context of questions central to current research in evolutionary biology. This Second Edition has been revised and updated throughout to reflect new findings and research interests. In the chapter on phenotypic evolution, the author incorporates new research on game theory. The discussions of sex and host-parasite interactions have
been extensively revised and the author has added a new chapter on molecular genetics and the reconstruction of evolutionary history. Evolutionary Genetics remains the essential textbook for advanced undergraduates seeking a clear, comprehensive, and up-to-date account of the theory of evolutionary biology.

Genres: Science, Evolution, Genetics, Biology, Nonfiction, Textbooks

348 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

John Maynard Smith FRS was a British theoretical and mathematical evolutionary biologist and geneticist. Originally an aeronautical engineer during the Second World War, he took a second degree in genetics under the well-known biologist J. B. S. Haldane

Reviews

[Alex Zakharov · Rating 5 out of 5]

A friend and I took Coursera’s “Genetics and Evolution” MOOC and we used this textbook to get a better understanding of the material. It is authored by a giant in the field, who also happens to be a clear writer. It is hard to overstate how consequential such clarity is for communicating scientific concepts, suffices to say that both of the “recommended” textbooks are utterly incomprehensible. After genuinely suffering with Griffith’s and Freeman’s textbooks for the first two weeks, we discovered J.M. Smith by accident and the light bulb just went off. The contrast was so great, I started to think that environment actually matters :)

Notes to self – 4-page handwritten summary of the course:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/x77XahvpmEU...

[Ni Hi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Concepts explained easily. Perfect for students

[DrosoPHila]

This was written as an MSc-level textbook by the late great John Maynard Smith, and is fairly mathematical/statistical.