George C Williams
September 10, 2010 7:38 AM   Subscribe

Influential evolutionary biologist George C. Williams (1926-2010) has passed away.

Williams was a professor emeritus of biology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He wrote the hugely influential book Adaptation and Natural Selection in which he outlined the gene-centered view of evolution later popularized by Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene. He was also important in the development of the field of evolutionary medicine.
posted by AceRock (10 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
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posted by cnanderson at 7:59 AM on September 10, 2010


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posted by roll truck roll at 8:05 AM on September 10, 2010


Margulis v. Williams. George Williams, looking like Abraham Lincoln, and ever the gentleman, backed up against a wall being harangued by Lynn Margulis at midnight after my dinner in the 90s in Boston at AAAS.

Priceless. It's unfortunate that it makes Dr. Margulis sound a bit like a harpy, especially compared to Williams being "ever the gentleman," but I can definitely see the two of them getting into a hot debate at the AAAS meeting.

(Margulis is responsible for the endosymbiotic theory of cell organelles origin, which involved a high level of cooperation between different species--something Williams would have been adamantly critical of.)

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posted by Made of Star Stuff at 9:00 AM on September 10, 2010


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posted by orthogonality at 10:25 AM on September 10, 2010


Hugely important figure. Never famous, but very important.

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posted by MarshallPoe at 10:47 AM on September 10, 2010


I wonder what his final inclusive fitness was...?
posted by gameguy at 11:53 AM on September 10, 2010 [1 favorite]


Another article from the Chronicle of Higher Education.
posted by pemberkins at 12:00 PM on September 10, 2010


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posted by pemberkins at 12:05 PM on September 10, 2010


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posted by benzenedream at 2:22 PM on September 10, 2010


And a more recent article in the NYT.
posted by pemberkins at 7:05 AM on September 14, 2010


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