Editing Adaptation and Natural Selection

{{short description|1966 book by George C. Williams}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox book
| name          = Adaptation and Natural Selection: A Critique of Some Current Evolutionary Thought
| image         = File:Adaptation and Natural Selection, first edition.jpg
| caption       = Cover of the first edition
| author        = [[George C. Williams (biologist)|George C. Williams]]
| country       = United States
| language      = English
| series        =
| subject       = [[Evolution]]
| publisher     = [[Princeton University Press]]
| release_date  = 1966
| media_type    = Print
| pages         = 307
| isbn          = 0-691-02615-7
| oclc= 35230452
| preceded_by   =
| followed_by   = [[Group Selection (book)|Group Selection]] (1971)
}}
'''''Adaptation and Natural Selection: A Critique of Some Current Evolutionary Thought''''' is a 1966 book by the American evolutionary biologist [[George C. Williams (biologist)|George C. Williams]]. Williams, in what is now considered a classic by evolutionary biologists,<ref>Pinker, S. (1994). The Language Instinct. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 1994, ch.9, p. 294: "In a book on evolutionary theory often considered to be one of the most important since Darwin's, the biologist George Williams speculates..."</ref> outlines a [[gene-centered view of evolution]],<ref>{{Cite book|last = Williams|first = George C.|title = 28 September 1996|publisher = Princeton University Press|year = 1966|pages = 307|url = http://www.librarything.com/work/192870|isbn = 0-691-02615-7}}</ref> disputes notions of [[evolutionary progress]], and criticizes contemporary models of [[group selection]], including the theories of [[Alfred E. Emerson|Alfred Emerson]], [[A. H. Sturtevant]], and to a smaller extent, the work of [[V. C. Wynne-Edwards]]. The book takes its title from a lecture by [[George Gaylord Simpson]] in January 1947 at [[Princeton University]]. Aspects of the book were popularised by [[Richard Dawkins]] in his 1976 book ''[[The Selfish Gene]]''.

The aim of the book is to "clarify certain issues in the study of [[adaptation]] and the underlying evolutionary processes."<ref name = "Preface">''Adaptation and Natural Selection'', preface</ref> Though more technical than a [[popular science]] book, its target audience is not specialists but [[biologist]]s in general and the more advanced students of the topic. It was mostly written in the summer of 1963 when Williams utilized the [[University of California, Berkeley]]'s library.<ref name =Preface />

==Contents==
Williams argues that [[adaptation]] is "a special and [[wikt:onerous|onerous]] concept that should not be used unnecessarily".<ref>This synopsis is based mainly on the chapter summaries provided in the book's contents, pp. vii-x.</ref><ref name = "vii">''Adaptation and Natural Selection'', p. vii</ref> He writes that something should not be assigned a [[function (biology)|function]] unless it is uncontroversially the result of design<ref>i.e. natural selection; Williams supports the use of [[teleology in biology|teleological language in biology]], at least when referring to adaptations.</ref> rather than chance. For instance he considers [[mutation]]s to be errors only, not a process that has persisted to provide variation and evolutionary potential. If something is considered (after critical appraisal) to be an adaptation, then we should assume the [[unit of selection]] in the process was as simple as possible, provided it is compatible with the evidence. For example, selection between individuals should be preferred to [[group selection]] as an explanation if both seem plausible. Williams writes that the only way adaptations can come into existence or persist is by [[natural selection]].

Dealing with the idea of [[evolutionary progress]], Williams argues that for natural selection to work, there have to be "certain quantitative relationships among [[sampling error]]s, [[selection coefficient]]s, and [[mutation rate|rates of random change]]."<ref name = "vii"/> It is put forward that [[Mendelian]] selection of [[allele]]s (alternative versions of a [[gene]]) is the only kind of [[Selection (biology)|selection]] imaginable that satisfies these requirements. Elaborating on the nature of selection, he writes that it only works on the basis of whether alleles are better or worse than others in the population, in terms of their immediate [[fitness (biology)|fitness]] effects. Survival of the [[population]] is beside the point, e.g. populations don't take any measures to avoid impending [[extinction]]. Finally he evaluates various ideas about progress in evolution, denying that selection will bring about the kind of progress that some have suggested. The author concludes that his view on the topic is similar to that of most of his colleagues, but worries that it is misrepresented to the public "when biologists become self-consciously philosophical".<ref>''Adaptation and Natural Selection, p. 55.''</ref>

==See also==
* [[Antagonistic pleiotropy hypothesis]]
* [[Ecology]]
* [[Genetic anthropomorphism]]
* [[Morphogenesis]]
* [[Reproduction]]
* [[Scientific method]]
* [[Social animal]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050402044816/http://pup.princeton.edu/titles/558.html ''Adaptation and Natural Selection''] – [[Princeton University Press]] (on [[Internet Archive]])

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adaptation And Natural Selection}}
[[Category:1966 in biology]]
[[Category:1966 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:American non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Books about evolution]]
[[Category:Books by George C. Williams]]
[[Category:English-language non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Modern synthesis (20th century)]]
[[Category:Princeton University Press books]]
[[Category:Selection]]