TY - CHAP

T1 - My Touchstone Puzzles. W.D. Hamilton work on Social Wasps in the 1960s

AU - Caniglia, Guido

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - W.D. Hamilton, one of the most influential evolutionary biologists of the twentieth century, was fascinated and puzzled by social wasps. Towards the end of his academic career, Hamilton openly admitted that: “... it was to social life that wasps were providing my touchstone puzzles” (Hamilton 1996, vi). This article deals with Hamilton’s attempts to understand social life in wasps mostly in the 1960s. First, it provides an overview of the reasons why Hamilton thought social wasps constituted a puzzle. Second, it shows how Hamilton tried to deal with this puzzle, by performing experiments, conducting observations and eventually modifying his theory by including factors, most notably inbreeding, that he had not clearly considered in its first formulation.

AB - W.D. Hamilton, one of the most influential evolutionary biologists of the twentieth century, was fascinated and puzzled by social wasps. Towards the end of his academic career, Hamilton openly admitted that: “... it was to social life that wasps were providing my touchstone puzzles” (Hamilton 1996, vi). This article deals with Hamilton’s attempts to understand social life in wasps mostly in the 1960s. First, it provides an overview of the reasons why Hamilton thought social wasps constituted a puzzle. Second, it shows how Hamilton tried to deal with this puzzle, by performing experiments, conducting observations and eventually modifying his theory by including factors, most notably inbreeding, that he had not clearly considered in its first formulation.

KW - Philosophy

KW - Social Insect

KW - Multiple Mating

KW - Inclusive Fitness

KW - Altruistic Behavior

KW - Social Wasp

U2 - 10.1007/978-3-319-53258-5_3

DO - 10.1007/978-3-319-53258-5_3

M3 - Contributions to collected editions/anthologies

SN - 978-3-319-53257-8

T3 - Vienna Circle Institute Yearbook

SP - 31

EP - 42

BT - Integrated history and philosophy of science

A2 - Stadler, Friedrich

PB - Springer

CY - Cham

ER -