Robert Trivers is one of the leading figures pioneering the field of sociobiology. For Natural Selection and Social Theory, he has selected eleven of his most influential papers, including several classic papers from the early 1970s on the evolution of reciprocal altruism, parent-offspring conflicts and asymmetry in sexual selection, which helped to establish the centrality of sociobiology, as well as some of his later on deceit in signalling, sex antagonistic genes, and imprinting. Trivers introduces each paper, setting them in their contemporary context, and critical evaluating them in the light of subsequent work and further developments. The result is a unique portrait of the intellectual development of sociobiology, with valuable insights of interest to evolutionary biology, anthropology, and psychology.

Natural Selection and Social Theory: Selected Papers of Robert Trivers (Evolution and Cognition Series)

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Trivers, Robert

Psychology & Counseling

Oxford University Press

Robert Trivers is a pioneering figure in the field of sociobiology. For Natural Selection and Social Theory, he has selected eleven of his most influential papers, including several classic papers from the early 1970s on the evolution of reciprocal altruism, parent-offspring conflicts, and asymmetry in sexual selection, which helped to establish the centrality of sociobiology, as well as some of his later work on deceit in signalling, sex antagonistic genes, and imprinting. Trivers introduces each paper, setting them in their contemporary context, and critically evaluating them in the light of subsequent work and further developments. The result is a unique portrait of the intellectual development of sociobiology, with valuable insights for evolutionary biology, anthropology, and psychology.

Natural Selection and Social Theory: Selected Papers of Robert Trivers (Evolution and Cognition)

Politics & Social Sciences

Anthropology

A New York Times Notable Book of 2012 Whether it’s in a cockpit at takeoff or the planning of an offensive war, a romantic relationship or a dispute at the office, there are many opportunities to lie and self-deceive—but deceit and self-deception carry the costs of being alienated from reality and can lead to disaster. So why does deception play such a prominent role in our everyday lives? In short, why do we deceive? In his bold new work, prominent biological theorist Robert Trivers unflinchingly argues that self-deception evolved in the service of deceit—the better to fool others. We do it for biological reasons—in order to help us survive and procreate. From viruses mimicking host behavior to humans misremembering (sometimes intentionally) the details of a quarrel, science has proven that the deceptive one can always outwit the masses. But we undertake this deception at our own peril.Trivers has written an ambitious investigation into the evolutionary logic of lying and the costs of leaving it unchecked.

The Folly of Fools: The Logic of Deceit and Self-Deception in Human Life

Reference

Basic Books

The Folly Of Fools

In evolution, most genes survive and spread within populations because they increase the ability of their hosts (or their close relatives) to survive and reproduce. But some genes spread in spite of being harmful to the host organism—by distorting their own transmission to the next generation, or by changing how the host behaves toward relatives. As a consequence, different genes in a single organism can have diametrically opposed interests and adaptations. 
 Covering all species from yeast to humans, Genes in Conflict is the first book to tell the story of selfish genetic elements, those continually appearing stretches of DNA that act narrowly to advance their own replication at the expense of the larger organism. As Austin Burt and Robert Trivers show, these selfish genes are a universal feature of life with pervasive effects, including numerous counter-adaptations. Their spread has created a whole world of socio-genetic interactions within individuals, usually completely hidden from sight. 
 Genes in Conflict introduces the subject of selfish genetic elements in all its aspects, from molecular and genetic to behavioral and evolutionary. Burt and Trivers give us access for the first time to a crucial area of research—now developing at an explosive rate—that is cohering as a unitary whole, with its own logic and interconnected questions, a subject certain to be of enduring importance to our understanding of genetics and evolution.

Genes in Conflict: The Biology of Selfish Genetic Elements

Science & Math

Burt, Austin

Biological Sciences

Belknap Press of Harvard University Press

In evolution, most genes survive and spread within populations because they increase the ability of their hosts (or their close relatives) to survive and reproduce. But some genes spread in spite of being harmful to the host organism―by distorting their own transmission to the next generation, or by changing how the host behaves toward relatives. As a consequence, different genes in a single organism can have diametrically opposed interests and adaptations. Covering all species from yeast to humans, Genes in Conflict is the first book to tell the story of selfish genetic elements, those continually appearing stretches of DNA that act narrowly to advance their own replication at the expense of the larger organism. As Austin Burt and Robert Trivers show, these selfish genes are a universal feature of life with pervasive effects, including numerous counter-adaptations. Their spread has created a whole world of socio-genetic interactions within individuals, usually completely hidden from sight. Genes in Conflict introduces the subject of selfish genetic elements in all its aspects, from molecular and genetic to behavioral and evolutionary. Burt and Trivers give us access for the first time to a crucial area of research―now developing at an explosive rate―that is cohering as a unitary whole, with its own logic and interconnected questions, a subject certain to be of enduring importance to our understanding of genetics and evolution.

Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press

Pp. xviii, 462; 200+ black-and-white photos and line-drawings. Original color pictorial stiff wrappers, sm 4to. Social Evolution offers a clear and up-to-date introduction to the growing field of sociobiology. The book emphasizes topics especially relevant to human behavior, including kindship, parent-offspring relations, parental investment, sexual selection, mate choice, cooperation, and deceit and self-deception (from the rear cover blurb). Warmly inscribed by the author, Bob Trivers to the late Mike Newcomer, an expert on whale behavior on the title page.

Social Evolution

Benjamin/Cummings Pub. Co.

Robert Trivers is a living legend in biology and the social sciences, a man the Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker calls ''one of the great thinkers in the history of Western thought" and Time magazine named one of the greatest scientists and thinkers of the 20th Century. His theories on the evolutionary tensions between parent and offspring, sibling and sibling, man and woman, friend and friend, and a person and himself or herself have not only revolutionized genetics and evolutionary biology but have influenced disciplines from medicine and the social sciences to history, economics, and literary studies. But unlike other renowned scientists, Trivers has spent time behind bars, drove a getaway car for Huey P. Newton, and founded an armed group in Jamaica to protect gay men from mob violence. Now, in the entertaining tradition of Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman, Trivers tell us in his inimitable voice about the inimitable life behind the revolutionary science. He comments with irreverent wit and penetrating insight on everything from American racism to the history of psychiatry to who killed Peter Tosh, musical heir to Bob Marley. Sprinkled with anecdotes about such luminaries as Richard Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould, and with photographs throughout, this volume is sure to enlighten and entertain anyone with an interest in science, the human condition, or the nature of creative genius.

Wild Life: Adventures of an Evolutionary Biologist

Biographies & Memoirs

Professionals & Academics

Plympton

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Trivers, Robert. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Trivers, Robert

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Trivers, Robert. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Natural Selection and Social Theory: Selected Papers of Robert Trivers (Evolution and Cognition Series)

Natural Selection and Social Theory: Selected Papers of Robert Trivers (Evolution and Cognition)

The Folly of Fools: The Logic of Deceit and Self-Deception in Human Life

The Folly Of Fools

Genes in Conflict: The Biology of Selfish Genetic Elements

Genes in Conflict: The Biology of Selfish Genetic Elements

Social Evolution

Wild Life: Adventures of an Evolutionary Biologist