Book description
When George Price died in January 1975, his funeral in London was
attended by five homeless men. Alongside them were Bill Hamilton and
John Maynard Smith, two distinguished British evolutionary biologists.
All seven men had come to mourn an eccentric American genius who
helped to unpick the riddle of how altruism, or unselfish concern for
the welfare of others, could exist in a world driven by survival of
the fittest and who committed suicide aged just 52.
In The Price of Altruism Price's personal and professional
journey is intricately woven into a sweeping arc of modern politics
and science that takes us from Darwin's Beagle to the court of
the Russian Tsar, from Marxist manifestos to Nazi heresies, and from
First World War trenches to Vietnam demonstrations. Featuring some of
the most brilliant minds of the modern age, it is the riveting tale of
mankind's search for the origins of kindness.
Oren Harman obtained a D. Phil in the History of Science from Oxford
University in 2001.
He is the Chair of the Graduate Program in Science, Technology and
Society at Bar Ilan University, the author of The Man Who Invented
the Chromosome,
a documentary film maker, and a frequent contributor to The New Republic
. He lives in Tel Aviv.
