A mathematician and scientist. His views about evolution make a profound impact on Dawkins, who leverages Maynard Smith’s ideas often to support his own argument. Maynard Smith believes, like Dawkins, Trivers, Williams, Fisher, and Hamilton, that evolution happens to genes, and not species. Dawkins references Maynard Smith when discussing evolutionarily stable strategies and behavior strategies in risky situations (also known as “game theory”).
Get the entire The Selfish Gene LitChart as a printable PDF.
John Maynard Smith Character Timeline in The Selfish Gene
The timeline below shows where the character John Maynard Smith appears in The Selfish Gene. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Preface to the First Edition
...genes, and not species, that evolve. These “gene’s eye view” scientists are George C. Williams, John Maynard Smith , William D. Hamilton, and Robert L. Trivers.
(full context)
Chapter 5: Aggression
Dawkins thinks that Maynard Smith has a good way of explaining behavior strategies in animals from an evolutionary perspective. Maynard...
(full context)
Maynard Smith says there are three factors affecting behaviors that will become evolutionarily stable strategies. The first...
(full context)
Chapter 9: Battle of the Sexes
Dawkins draws on Maynard Smith to work out the likelihood of females being “coy” (require a lot of courting) versus...
(full context)
Epilogue to 40th Anniversary Edition
...he’s defining “gene.” He uses the definition of “gene” created by Williams (also used by Maynard Smith and Hamilton). Williams defines the gene as “any portion of chromosomal material that potentially lasts...
(full context)
