Evolution and the Theory of Games

Professor John Maynard Smith has written an account of a new way of thinking about evolution which has been developed in the last ten years. The theory of games, first developed to analyse economic behaviour, is modified so that it can be applied to evolving populations. John Maynard Smith’s concept of an evolutionarily stable strategy is relevant whenever the best thing for an animal or plant to do depends on what others are doing. The theory leads to testable predictions about the evolution of behaviour, of sex and genetic systems, and of growth and life history patterns. This book contains the first full account of the theory, and of the data relevant to it.

The account is aimed an senior undergraduate and graduate students, teachers and research workers in animal behaviour, population genetics and evolutionary biology. the book will also be of interest to mathematicians and game theorists. the mathematics has been largely confined to appendices so that the main text may be easily followed by biologists.

By applying game theory to the problems of population biology, the author has succeeded in inventing new and interesting ways of looking at populations and has developed a theory leading to testable predictions.