Routledge Sociobiology: Beyond Nature/nurture?: Reports, Definitions And Debate

To most biologists, sociobiology represents the concept of strict Darwinian individual selection married to an analytical application of ecological principles and brought to bear on social behavior in an unusually exciting and productive way. Joining the biologists are a small number of social scientists. But there are radically divergent views as to how the field should be delimited, and sociobiology is one of the most widely discussed fields in biology and anthropology today. The symposium on which this book is based was arranged by a biologist and an anthropologist. The participants, leaders in their fields, ably present contrasting and responsible views on current issues. This is the first collection of essays on sociobiology in which opposing views are aired. It is an exciting, timely book and an important historical document. About the Author George W. Barlow is professor of zoology at the University of California-Berkeley. His most recent work has focused on the social and mating behavior of Cichlid fishes, and on life-history strategies of coral-reef fishes. He has published more than 80 articles in his field. He is president of the Animal Behavior Society of North America, a former chairman of the Ecology Division of the American Society of Zoologists, and a former member of the National Science Foundation's Panel on Psychobiology. He currently serves on the editorial boards of Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology and Behavior and Brain Sciences. James Silverberg is professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He has done field research in India, Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela. He has written many papers in his field; has written or edited three films; and is the editor of and a contributor to several books, including The Mode of Production: Method and Theory ( Queen's College Press, in press). He has served on the executive board of the Society for Applied Anthropology, and has been a representative to Section H and a member of Council, American Association for the Advancement of Science.