The Problems of Biology by John Maynard Smith





an ideal companion for introductory biology

---

This
little book is the ideal companion for a student beginning a tertiary biology
course. Its structure around topics such as heredity, sex and recombination,
metabolism, behaviour and life origins follows a pattern evident in most good
courses. The book touches on the major aspects of biology by presenting the
science and then an appraisal of where the next developments in the field will
be, or need to be, directed. These more general elements of biology have not
changed that much since its date of publication in 1986 and, even where they
have, the thinking of a foremost theoretician such as John Maynard Smith is on
the mark about new directions. Recent developments in neuroscience have been
major, but nevertheless Maynard Smith defines the evolving state of the science
in a relatively timeless way. Importantly, Maynard Smith is a gifted explainer
and can clarify complex concepts simply and with humour.