John Maynard Smith

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John Maynard Smith

Evolutionary biologist and geneticist
InstitutionsUniversity College London, University of Sussex
Doctoral advisorJ. B. S. Haldane
Doctoral studentsSean Nee
Andrew Pomiankowski

John Maynard Smith

evolution of sex and signalling theory
.

Biography

Early years

John Maynard Smith was born in London, the son of the surgeon Sidney Maynard Smith, but following his father's death in 1928, the family moved to Exmoor, where he became interested in natural history. Quite unhappy with the lack of formal science education at Eton College, Maynard Smith took it upon himself to develop an interest in Darwinian evolutionary theory and mathematics, after having read the work of old Etonian J. B. S. Haldane, whose books were in the school's library despite the bad reputation Haldane had at Eton for his communism. He became an atheist at age 14.[2]

On leaving school, Maynard Smith joined the

Julian). Between 1942 and 1947, he applied his degree to military aircraft
design.

Second degree

Maynard Smith, having decided that aircraft were "noisy and old-fashioned",[4] then took a change of career, entering University College London to study fruit fly genetics under Haldane.[3] After graduating he became a lecturer in zoology at his alma mater between 1952 and 1965, where he directed the Drosophila lab and conducted research on population genetics. He published a popular Penguin book, The Theory of Evolution, in 1958 (with subsequent editions in 1966, 1975, 1993).

He became gradually less attracted to communism and became a less active member, finally leaving the party in 1956

Hungarian Revolution (Haldane had left the party in 1950 after becoming similarly disillusioned). He also admitted that a research program in evolutionary biology explicitly informed by Marxism seemed to bear little fruit.[6]

University of Sussex

In 1962 he was one of the founding members of the

professor emeritus
. Prior to his death the building housing much of life sciences at Sussex was renamed the John Maynard Smith Building in his honour.

Evolution and the Theory of Games

In 1973 Maynard Smith formalised a central concept in

Hawk-Dove game
is arguably his single most influential game theoretical model.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1977. In 1986 he was awarded the Darwin Medal.

Evolution of sex and other major transitions in evolution

Maynard Smith published a book titled The Evolution of Sex which explored in mathematical terms, the notion of the "

evolutionary transitions in individuality (ETIs) and worked with the evolutionary biologist Eörs Szathmáry.[3] Together they wrote an influential 1995 book The Major Transitions in Evolution, a seminal work which continues to contribute to ongoing issues in evolutionary biology.[8][9]
A popular science version of the book, The Origins of Life: From the birth of life to the origin of language, was published in 1999.

In 1991 he was awarded the

George C. Williams. In 2001 he was awarded the Kyoto Prize
.

In his honour the European Society for Evolutionary Biology has an award for extraordinary young evolutionary biology researchers named The John Maynard Smith Prize.

Animal Signals

His final book, Animal Signals, co-authored with David Harper, on signalling theory was published in 2003.[3]

Death

He died on 19 April 2004 sitting in a chair at home, surrounded by books. He was survived by his wife Sheila and their children.

Controversy

Another evolutionary biologist, William Donald Hamilton, harboured a grievance against Maynard Smith for his handling of an article that Hamilton submitted to The Journal of Theoretical Biology in 1963, which was eventually published as two papers in July 1964.[10][11] Maynard Smith acted as a reviewer of the paper after two other reviewers had been unable to understand it, and requested that Hamilton revise it into two parts due to concerns about its accessibility, later describing it as "deeply obscure".[11][12] In March 1964, Maynard Smith published the article "Group Selection and Kin selection" in Nature, which covered concepts from Hamilton's article.[13] Although Maynard Smith cited an earlier paper by Hamilton published in the American Naturalist, Hamilton felt Maynard Smith had not given him sufficient credit.[10][11] Hamilton also objected to an anecdote included by Maynard Smith in a review published in the New Scientist in 1976 which implied Maynard Smith's mentor Haldane had understood the concept of Hamilton's inclusive fitness in the 1950s.[11][12] Hamilton replied to the review suggesting that the anecdote was false, but later apologised to Maynard Smith for having doubted it.[10][11]

Legacy

The John Maynard Smith Archive is housed at the British Library (Add MS 86569-86840). The papers can be accessed through the British Library catalogue.[14]

Awards and fellowships

Publications

Notes

  1. ^ His surname was Maynard Smith, not Smith, and it was not hyphenated.

References

  1. S2CID 85622626
    .
  2. ^ "John Maynard Smith". British Humanist Association. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  3. ^
    PMID 16285849
    . Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  4. .
  5. .
  6. ^ Ullica Segerstrale (2000). Defenders of the Truth.
  7. S2CID 82303195
    .
  8. .
  9. ^ .
  10. ^ a b c d e Piel, Helen (July 2019). John Maynard Smith and the Fact(s) of Evolution. A Study of Scientific Working Life in Post War Britain (phd thesis). University of Leeds.
  11. ^ a b John Maynard Smith - Bill Hamilton (36/102), retrieved 7 April 2023
  12. S2CID 4177102
    .
  13. ^ John Maynard Smith Archive[permanent dead link], archives and manuscripts catalogue, the British Library. Retrieved 15 May 2020
  14. ^ "John Maynard-Smith". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  15. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  16. ^ "John Maynard Smith". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  17. .
  18. .

External links

University of Sussex

Media

Obituaries