The Ant and the Peacock: Altruism and Sexual Selection from Darwin to Today

Book Description

The "ant" and the "peacock" stand for two puzzles in Darwinism--altruism and sexual selection. How can natural selection favor those, such as the worker ant, that renounce tooth and claw in favor of the public-spirited ways of the commune? And how can "peacocks"--flamboyant, ornamental and apparently useless--be tolerated by the grimly economical Darwinian reaper? Helena Cronin has a deep understanding of today's answers to these riddles and their roots in the nineteenth century; the analysis is new and exciting and the explanations lucid and compelling.

Customer Reviews:

The Most Beautiful Rule the Bird World, Can That Be in Humans?.......2005-09-19

Peacocks are the most flamboyand and ornamental birds. The male peacock's tail is an extravanganza: bizarre, and exaggerated, while the white felame is less beautiful and mores 'sensibly dressed.' For a special occasion, I purchased a bright blue and white whirt with the appearance of peacock feathers. It was lovely but, after two wearing, I went back to the mall and also purchased the 'dull' brown, yellow and green identical skirt in the muted colors. Can you imagine, it was appreciated more by the viewers than the brighter one? Darwin had it right with his theroy that females prefer to mate with the best-ornamental males. Over evolutionary time, males develop ever-more exaggerated, immoderate flamboyance. All male birds are the brighter ones, even ducks.

What was the selective force that had brought such fine-tuning of choosing a mate, if not the visual discrimination of birds? He conceived the idea of the peacock's tail as a product of female choise was 'an awful stretcher.' But his prediction proved true; thus, a happy ending to the peacock's tale.

One thing about ants are they don't have to worry about appearances. They aren't very pretty so who can tell the difference; they are busy, hard workers who live in communes, and have multiple partners to propetuate the species.

Ms. Cronin's thesis on humans is that women choose men who can give them handsome sons to propugate the theory of selective evolution. In my case, it's always been the male who did the choosing, and the beautiful females (no matter how dumb) have the advantage over the not-so-pretty girls. For some reason, however, the most important men tend to have plainer wifes first, the younger beauties in their old age.

She discusses human altruism by comparing Wallace, Huxley, Spenser and othre with Darwin and his moral views as to natural history. Nature can be most cruel to the kindest, most compassionate humans and bless the selfish, arrogant maco men as they do the choosing in today's world. Can you call it really 'mating' or power of lust to allow today's attractive men to make the overtures?

Young girls are certainly advertising their wares with their middles and belly buttons showing and the see-through camisoles they wear in public is a form of indecency. At the rodeo, some girls showed their rear sections with the short shorts and midriff tops and didn't have good-looking bodies, but t he men looked anyway. This in-depth study of Darwinism and its antagonists is done in an intellectual way by Ms. Cronin who has a Ph.D and taught at University of Oxford and the Philosophy Department at the London School of Economics.

The cover picture is "Peacock and Peahen with a Red Cardinal in a Classical Landscape" by Tobias Stranover which hangs in the London Gallery and the Bridgeman Art Library.

A gentle detonator.......2002-09-02

This comprehensive and engrossing study examines two major elements of evolution: the role of ornamenation in various species, and the presence of altruism in a nature deemed "red in tooth and claw." Cronin focuses throughout the book on the contrasting views of Charles Darwin and his co-founder of evolution by natural selection, Albert Russell Wallace. Darwin appended his earlier ideas outlined in The Origin of Species in The Descent of Man. In that later work, he enalrged on the idea of "sexual selection." He postulated that many evolutionary traits which appear as maladaptive to survival are actually derived from reproductive pressures. The issue of female choice among many species was a difficult idea to sell - Wallace never accepted it. He retained what Cronin deems "natural selection by
good sense," devoid of esthetics.

Cronin chronicles the history of sexual selection with craft and precision. Her writing is unambiguous, providing excellent insights into many aspects of evolutionary thinking. As she develops her theme, she aknowledges her debt to Dawkin's work on the influence of genes manifesting as guides to adaptation. Cronin adds a new term in describing the merging of Mendelian genetics and Darwin's gradualist concept - "modern Darwism". She carefully explains how natural selection operates at the genetic level to achieve a "trade-off" of costs and benefits to arrive at selected traits. In this analysis, Cronin gently but firmly applies Darwinian implements to show how critics of modern Darwinism have misled themselves in seeking "alternative" answers to adapation. The have been asking the wrong questions!

This view was hotly challenged by paleontologist Stephen Gould in a now-famous essay. He viewed with horror Cronin's application of gene selection as a definitive evolutionary process. He made a wide-ranging critique which attempted to refute applying any facets of animal behaviour to humans. The review touched off the [mostly] trans-Atlantic dispute over how adaptation actually works. It was the Sarajevo of the "Darwin Wars" between Gould and Dawkins, perhaps best summarized by Daniel Dennet. Cronin's use of evidence should have forestalled that conflict. Cronin's skills in applying essentials to explain adaptations are unimpeachable and her skillful prose only enhances the value of this work. It will stand for a long time as a landmark work in evolutionary studies.

Interesting History of Two Troublesome Issues in Darwinism.......2000-06-04

Dr. Cronin presents a philosophical history of the questions of sexual selection (as exemplified by the peacock in the title) and altruism (the ant), from the time of Darwin until today. She explains the background to the debate (or lack thereof) among Darwin's contemporaries and successors, which is sometimes difficult to understand with the gene based view of natural selection we have today. It is fascinating reading for the informed person, but the academic tone may be off putting to the casual reader. Dr. Cronin presupposes a fairly detailed knowledge of modern evolutionary theory, and the layperson may want to read some introduction such as Dawkins' books first.

Book Description

"Based on papers presented at a recent international conference on algebra and algebraic geometry held jointly in Antwerp and Brussels, Belgium. Presents both survey and research articles featuring new results from the intersection of algebra and geometry. "

Book Description

An Italian-American major in World War II wins the love and admiration of the local townspeople when he searches for a replacement for the 700 year-old town bell that had been melted down for bullets by the fascists.

Customer Reviews:

Thoroughly Enjoyable.......2007-06-25

A great story and great dialogue. This is a well constructed book that has great characters and great imagery but also manages to keep the story moving along. While i am sure my enjoyment was enhanced because i read it while in Italy, I would have enjoyed reading this anywhere. It is a great portrait of small town Italy and of people.
It is also interesting in this story of the US liberation of Italy, that it was written in the mid-1940s and has a thinly-veiled very negative portrayl of General Patton.

Great Read.......2007-05-02

I read this back in High School in the sixties. I recently saw the movie and remarked how I did not remember much of anything about it, so I got the book and read it. It is an easy read and quite entertaining. The movie is excellent but the book is outstanding. It is charming, warm and real. It demonstrates that in this world we have bureaucrats and politicians out for themselves (like Gen. Marvin.) We have people who want to do better but cannot because they are jaded(Borth, Purvis). And fortunately we have some Jopollos who are kind and caring. Too bad there are not many of them in leadership. They are lacking even in the church but there are notable exceptions. I recommend this to anyone looking to read soemthing inspirational to life them out of the doldrums. I had read Hiroshima and that seems to get more attention than this work. This is a thoroughly worthwhile read.

Decency wins out over adversity.......2006-08-11

This is John Hersey's wonderful "feel good" novel set in Italy during WW II. Major Victor Joppolo has been assigned senior civil affairs officer of the allied occupied town of Adano. Joppolo, an Italian-American, is a good man who only wants to do what is best for the town. He befriends the town's citizens, determines their needs, and tries to accommodate them. In addition to the major concern of getting the people fed, he learns that the town once had a bell that was rung every quarter-hour until Mussolini had it removed to be melted down for ammunition. Joppolo goes on a mission to get the bell back or replaced somehow.

Of course there must be a black hat countering Joppolo's every good move, and that person is General Marvin, the dictatorial, self-important, and ultimately destructive Commander-in-Chief - obviously based on Gen. George Patton. Joppolo is willing to bend and even subvert orders to accomplish what he perceives his task to be: to bring order, decency, and democracy to the war-torn and defeated town. He succeeds marvelously, despite Marvin's interference, and receives the praises of all the Italian civilians he deals with (sometimes this is overdone just a wee bit). Hersey's Italian characters are warm and very human; especially good are the proud fisherman Tomasino and Joppolo's interpreter Giuseppe. Hersey based his novel on a short article he'd written for LIFE magazine, which told of a visit he'd made to the American military governor at Licata, Italy, in 1943. The book is entertaining and life-affirming - interesting for a war novel.

A fun book for an airplane ride.......2006-04-09

which is when I read it between Toronto and Rome. This is a fun, slight book which gives a few unique insights into Italy, the war and the U.S. Army. I kind of wished it was more hard hitting but the author was writing in the 40s a more innocent, less critical time.

Head: No way. Heart: Yes, yes!.......2004-04-26

My head read this book and said: "If only Iraq were this easy. The Americans invade Sicily in World War II and Major Joppolo is put in charge of the small town of Adano. Despite the grisly casualties in the taking of the town, the whole place falls instantly in love with the American major. And what about those ethnic stereotypes? The Sicilians all seem like goodhearted but slightly retarded children, an impression reinforced by their comical dialogue, both when they speak English ("Okay, a boss, you're a not a kid Giuseppe") and in literal translation, when they speak their native language (so "Viva il Signor Capitano!" becomes "Live the Mr. Captain!"). Sicilians who were there during the war say it was not this way at all: the Americans installed members of the mafia as mayors to keep the Sicilians under control."

My heart, who also read the book, replied: "You just don't understand. This is a beautiful tale about how a single individual can make a difference. Two vastly different worlds collide, but the result is pure magic because Major Joppolo throws the rule book away and reaches out to the town with his heart, inventing novel solutions to problems, trying to get a replacement for the bell that the Germans stole, and, above all, connecting with the people. The humor is marvelous: The scene in which the priest holds an interminable church service waiting for the major, who promised to attend but who has lost track of the time, will guarantee at least one chuckle. And Hersey choreographed the poignant scene when the Italian prisoners of war come home to their women as pure ballet."

In the end my heart prevailed when my head remembered that Aristotle said that the purpose of drama was not to represent reality, but to effect "a catharsis of pity and fear." This book will do more than that: it will make you smile, and it will make you feel a little better about the human race.

Average customer rating:
A Bell For Adano
John Hersey
Manufacturer: Franklin Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Leather Bound
ASIN: B000NUVL4Q

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A Bell for Adano
John Hersey
Manufacturer: Alfred A Knopf, NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000O6925O

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A Bell for Adano

Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000FCDA2S

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A Bell for Adano

Manufacturer: Alfred Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000FABKJ0

Product Description

Wartime first edition of work by important writer. Fiction

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A Bell Fo Adano
John Hersey
Manufacturer: Alfred a. Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000LL3BZO

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A Bell For Adano
John Hersey
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000PF6KKY

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Bell for Adano
John Hersey
Manufacturer: AVON BOOKS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000TXNAFK

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A Bell for Adano
John Hersey
Manufacturer: Franklin Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Leather Bound
ASIN: B000GULEMC

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A Bell for Adano
John Hersey
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000NPVXKS

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