Hamilton

William Donald Hamilton and Evolution

By DanaDangerfield

  • Birth

    William Donald Hamilton was born August 1, 1936 in Cairo, Egypt.

  • Cambridge

    Wanting to study Genetics and Natural Selection, Hamilton went to St. John's College, Cambridge. Hamilton was frustrated at Cambridge because the course wasn't as evolved with its approach to Natural Selection. He found a book in the library "The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection" that paved his course into studying this.

  • Bachelor Degree

    Hamilton earned his Bachelor of Art defree from Cambridge University in 1960.

  • The Genetical Evolution of Social Behaviour

    Hamilton published a paper in 1964 called "The Genetical Evolution of Social Behaviour". This paper outlines the foundation for Population Genetics. The main concept in this paper is inclusive fitness, which is the theory that suggests an organisms genetic success comes from cooperation and social interactions . He called this "Altruism" . Altruism is one member of a species' selfless behaviour that could save other members of the species and therefore help them survive and evolve.

  • Hamilton's Rule

    Hamilton also published in 1964 a paper that discribed "Kin Selection." Kin Selection is an evolutionary strategy. In this strategy, and organism will help its relatives to survive in order to let them reproduce and evolve their species, even if it hurts the organism's own survival or health.

  • Marriage

    In 1966, William Donald Hamilton got married to Christine Anne Friess who was being trained as a dentist.

  • Doctorate at University of London

    Following his Bachelor of Arts Degree, Hamilton moved to London to earn his doctorate at the Univesity of London in Genetics which he recieved in 1968.

  • Science Medal

    Hamilton was awarded the Science Medal from the Zoological Society of London.

  • University of Michegan

    Around 1977, in the late 1970's Hamilton was the Museum Proffesor at the University of Michegan.

  • Royal Society

    In 1980, Hamilton became part of the Royal Society and later moved to England in 1984 to take the position of "Royal Society Research Professor" at Oxford University.

  • Darwin Medal

    Hamilton was awarded the Darwin Medal of the Royal Society in 1988.

  • Crafoord Prize

    Hamilton was awarded the Crafoord Prize in 1993.

  • Death

    William Donald Hamilton died March 7th, 2000 in London England.