A Primer of Population Biology

by Edward O. Wilson

Designed to be self-teaching, A Primer of Population Biology shows how to apply simple mathematical models in population biology, shows how to construct such models, and provides a sense of the creative work in this field. Numerical problems throughout the text enable readers to test their growing mastery of the subject.

The major topics are population genetics, population and community ecology, and species equilibrium theory. Building from basic principles to advanced topics, the Primer fills a gap between introductory biology texts and advanced works in population biology. It can serve as a primary textbook for elementary courses in population biology. Or, in courses on genetics, evolution and ecology--where there is a need for all students to start at a reasonably high level of competence--it can serve as a supplementary text.

The Primer introduces many advanced topics at the elementary level without loss of genetic drift, measurement of rates of evolution, competition theory, reproductive value, and the theory of species equilibrium.

Genres: Science, Biology, Nonfiction, Evolution

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Edward Osborne Wilson, sometimes credited as E.O. Wilson, was an American biologist, researcher, theorist, and author. His biological specialty is myrmecology, a branch of entomology. A two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction, Wilson is known for his career as a scientist, his advocacy for environmentalism, and his secular-humanist ideas pertaining to religious and ethical matters. He was the Pellegrino University Research Professor in Entomology for the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He is a Humanist Laureate of the International Academy of Humanism.

Reviews

[John]

A Concise, Still Important Introduction to the Mathematical Foundations of Population Biology

Still in print, unchanged, after forty years, Edward O. Wilson and William H. Bossert’s “A Primer of Population Biology” is still a basic, important introduction to the mathematical foundations of population biology. It is replete with many examples of mathematical equations, including derivations of important equations such as the differential equation for equilibrium in the MacArthur – Wilson Theory of Island Biogeography. More than half of the book is devoted to basic concepts of population genetics, another third to basic concepts of ecology from elementary population growth to calculating r and k selection, and finally, a concluding chapter devoted to island biogeography, especially as seen through the MacArthur – Wilson Theory. Complicated concepts are explained simply via their concise prose, though potential readers should realize that this is a book that will be of interest primarily to students and scientists in population genetics, population ecology, conservation biology and related aspects of biology, including epidemiology and evolutionary paleobiology.

[Melissa]

Not sure I'd understand it all now, but a basic text in population bio.

[Olymar]

good