Talk:George Christopher Williams

message: I've already noted this on the talk page for "Williams Revolution", but this term seems to be a strictly Wikipedia term, invented for Wikipedia.  All the references I can find to it online, including in chat groups, seem traceable to the Wikipedia entry.  I've never encountered it in the literature of evolutionary biology, or anywhere else in print. It's also not a terribly appropriate term.  I have nothing but the greatest admiration and appreciation for Williams' contributions, most notably his Adaptation and Natural Selection, but his critique of group selection and advocacy of gene-level selection were much more a "restoration" than a revolution (Darwin clearly rejected group selection, with the clear exception that he contemplated it as a possibility in social insects); furthermore, a number of others at about the same time (e.g. W.D. Hamilton) and slightly later (e.g. Richard Dawkins) had as much or more to do with the elaboration of a strictly gene-centered view (especially as opposed to an individual selection view) as did Williams, so it doesn't seem as if it should bear his name, or at least not his alone.But, regardless, Wikipedia should not be in the business of inventing terms.24.209.173.129 08:34, 8 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I can see that this is not a good situation; however, whatever you do - do not credit Dawkins with the gene-centric view! He is merely a populariser. That would be like crediting "Darwin's bulldog" Huxley with the theory of evolution! - Samsara 14:13, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

text: I agree that Dawkins' role has been more that of a conceptual clarifier and popularizer.  I'm not in a position to carefully analyze and evaluate the contributions of the various people involved (that would be original research, anyway), but part of my point about appropriateness of the term "Williams Revolution" was that more people than Williams were involved, which is clear enough without doing historical research. So, don't worry, I won't be apportioning credit! (PS: I'm the same person as 24.209.173.129)-- MayerG 04:58, 9 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: From what I've read of other scientists, Dawkins didn't just serve to popularize the view but also theorized a logical manner in which it could occur ("The Replicators" chapter in The Selfish Gene), which no other scientist had done at that point. He did contribute original scientific argument to the gene-centered discussion.--Gloriamarie (talk) 14:36, 16 June 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: The "Williams Revolution" is a Wiki-original term

message: Getting a photo of him seems like a difficult task. There are no free ones on the internet, and only a few non-free ones, none of which have a clearly identified copyright holder. Richard001 (talk) 04:42, 7 March 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Photo 

message: Briefly.... this man was a significant contributor to 20th century evolutionary biological thought.  "Adaptation and Natural Selection" is one of the most influential books in the field.  This article should be expanded to include more of his thought.  He has more disciples than Gould and deserves more attention than this article provides.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Antigrandiose (talk • contribs) 11:39, 4 December 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Needs to be expanded. 

message: Hi,
can anybody provide a list of the articles being included in the collection of papers edited by Williams as "Group selection: a controversy in biology"?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.116.50.99 (talk) 14:55, 6 March 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Contents of "Group selection: a controversy in biology" 

message: The first clear discussion of senescence as adjusted by evolution was: Medawar P.B. 1952. An Unsolved problem of biology. An inaugural lecture delivered at University College London, 6 December, 1951. London: H.K. Lewis. Alex Comfort's Ageing – the biology of senescence incorporated some of Medawar's ideas. John Maynard Smith was a lecturer in the same department at that time. All things considered, I think the Williams biog gives him undue precedence, and should be toned down. Macdonald-ross (talk) 13:33, 2 February 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Senescence 

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