Sociobiology: The New Synthesis
Sociobiology: The New Synthesis is a book by the biologist E. O. Wilson. It helped start the sociobiology debate, one of the great scientific controversies in biology of the 20th century and part of the wider debate about evolutionary psychology and the modern synthesis of evolutionary biology. Wilson popularized the term "sociobiology" as an attempt to explain the evolutionary mechanics behind social behaviour such as altruism, aggression, and the nurturing of the young. It formed a position within the long-running nature versus nurture debate. The fundamental principle guiding sociobiology is that an organism's evolutionary success is measured by the extent to which its genes are represented in the next generation.
Cover of the first edition
Social evolution: ant societies have evolved elaborate caste structures, in this species, Atta cephalotes, widely different in size and function.
Social mechanisms: aggressive display of an Australian magpie
Animals such as elephants have complex societies. Here, two males struggle for dominance.
Edward Osborne Wilson was an American biologist, naturalist, ecologist, and entomologist known for developing the field of sociobiology.
Wilson in 2007
Wilson in 2003
Wilson at the Peabody Museum of Natural History, 2007
Wilson at a "fireside chat" during which he received the Addison Emery Verrill Medal in 2007