The Price of Altruism: George Price and the Search for the Origins of Kindness
Oren HarmanSale price:$23.76
Regular price:
$27.95
Survival of the fittest or survival of the nicest?
Since the dawn of time man has contemplated the mystery of altruism, but it was Darwin who posed the question most starkly. From the selfless ant to the stinging bee to the man laying down his life for a stranger, evolution has yielded a goodness that in theory should never be.
Set against the sweeping tale of 150 years of scientific attempts to explain kindness, The Price of Altruism tells for the first time the moving story of the eccentric American genius George Price (1922-1975), as he strives to answer evolution's greatest riddle. An original and penetrating picture of twentieth century thought, it is also a deeply personal journey. From the heights of the Manhattan Project to the inspired equation that explains altruism to the depths of homelessness and despair, Price's life embodies the paradoxes of Darwin's enigma. His tragic suicide in a squatter's flat, among the vagabonds to whom he gave all his possessions, provides the ultimate contemplation on the possibility of genuine benevolence.
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 06/07/2010
ISBN: 9780393067781
Pages: 464
Weight: 1.71lbs
Size: 9.68h x 6.34w x 1.28d
Award: L.A. Times Book Prize - Winner
Award: ALA Notable Books - Winner
Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 04/01/2010
Library Journal 04/15/2010 pg. 104
New York Times Book Review 07/11/2010 pg. 18
Publishers Weekly 07/26/2010
New York Times Book Review 10/14/2010 pg. 32
Choice 01/01/2011
NY Times Notable Bks of Year 12/05/2010 pg. 30
Since the dawn of time man has contemplated the mystery of altruism, but it was Darwin who posed the question most starkly. From the selfless ant to the stinging bee to the man laying down his life for a stranger, evolution has yielded a goodness that in theory should never be.
Set against the sweeping tale of 150 years of scientific attempts to explain kindness, The Price of Altruism tells for the first time the moving story of the eccentric American genius George Price (1922-1975), as he strives to answer evolution's greatest riddle. An original and penetrating picture of twentieth century thought, it is also a deeply personal journey. From the heights of the Manhattan Project to the inspired equation that explains altruism to the depths of homelessness and despair, Price's life embodies the paradoxes of Darwin's enigma. His tragic suicide in a squatter's flat, among the vagabonds to whom he gave all his possessions, provides the ultimate contemplation on the possibility of genuine benevolence.
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 06/07/2010
ISBN: 9780393067781
Pages: 464
Weight: 1.71lbs
Size: 9.68h x 6.34w x 1.28d
Award: L.A. Times Book Prize - Winner
Award: ALA Notable Books - Winner
Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 04/01/2010
Library Journal 04/15/2010 pg. 104
New York Times Book Review 07/11/2010 pg. 18
Publishers Weekly 07/26/2010
New York Times Book Review 10/14/2010 pg. 32
Choice 01/01/2011
NY Times Notable Bks of Year 12/05/2010 pg. 30