Adaptation and Natural Selection
E644388
Adaptation and Natural Selection is a landmark 1966 evolutionary biology book by George C. Williams that rigorously defends natural selection at the gene level and critiques group-selectionist explanations of adaptation.
All labels observed (3)
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T7129924 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Adaptation and Natural Selection Context triple: [George C. Williams, notableWork, Adaptation and Natural Selection]
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A.
The Causes of Evolution
The Causes of Evolution is a foundational 1932 book by geneticist J. B. S. Haldane that helped establish the modern synthesis by mathematically integrating Mendelian genetics with Darwinian natural selection.
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B.
Evolution and Adaptation
"Evolution and Adaptation" is a scientific work by geneticist Thomas Hunt Morgan that examines how evolutionary processes shape organisms’ traits and their capacity to adjust to changing environments.
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C.
What Evolution Is
What Evolution Is is a comprehensive book by evolutionary biologist Ernst Mayr that explains the mechanisms, evidence, and implications of biological evolution for a general audience.
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D.
Genetics of the Evolutionary Process
Genetics of the Evolutionary Process is a seminal work in evolutionary biology that synthesizes genetic principles with natural selection to explain how evolutionary change occurs within and between populations.
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E.
The Meaning of Evolution
The Meaning of Evolution is a landmark 1949 book by paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson that helped synthesize evolutionary theory with the fossil record and popularize modern evolutionary biology.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Adaptation and Natural Selection Target entity description: Adaptation and Natural Selection is a landmark 1966 evolutionary biology book by George C. Williams that rigorously defends natural selection at the gene level and critiques group-selectionist explanations of adaptation.
-
A.
The Causes of Evolution
The Causes of Evolution is a foundational 1932 book by geneticist J. B. S. Haldane that helped establish the modern synthesis by mathematically integrating Mendelian genetics with Darwinian natural selection.
-
B.
Evolution and Adaptation
"Evolution and Adaptation" is a scientific work by geneticist Thomas Hunt Morgan that examines how evolutionary processes shape organisms’ traits and their capacity to adjust to changing environments.
-
C.
What Evolution Is
What Evolution Is is a comprehensive book by evolutionary biologist Ernst Mayr that explains the mechanisms, evidence, and implications of biological evolution for a general audience.
-
D.
Genetics of the Evolutionary Process
Genetics of the Evolutionary Process is a seminal work in evolutionary biology that synthesizes genetic principles with natural selection to explain how evolutionary change occurs within and between populations.
-
E.
The Meaning of Evolution
The Meaning of Evolution is a landmark 1949 book by paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson that helped synthesize evolutionary theory with the fossil record and popularize modern evolutionary biology.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (44)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
book
ⓘ
evolutionary biology book ⓘ |
| addresses |
altruism in evolutionary biology
ⓘ
fitness ⓘ reproductive success ⓘ |
| arguesAgainst | group selection as a primary evolutionary force ⓘ |
| author | George C. Williams ⓘ |
| citedBy | evolutionary biologists ⓘ |
| citedFor |
analysis of selection units
ⓘ
clarification of adaptation as a concept ⓘ |
| contributesTo |
debate on levels of selection
ⓘ
gene-centered view of evolution ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin |
United States
ⓘ
linked to:
United States of America
|
| critiques | group-selectionist explanations of adaptation ⓘ |
| describedAs |
classic of the modern synthesis
ⓘ
landmark work in evolutionary biology ⓘ |
| emphasizes |
cost-benefit analysis of traits in evolutionary terms
ⓘ
gene-level explanation of adaptive traits ⓘ stringent criteria for identifying adaptations ⓘ |
| field |
evolutionary biology
ⓘ
population genetics ⓘ |
| focusesOn | natural selection at the gene level ⓘ |
| hasReputation |
rigorous theoretical analysis of adaptation
ⓘ
strong critique of naive group selectionism ⓘ |
| influenced |
Richard Dawkins
ⓘ
modern evolutionary theory ⓘ selfish gene concept ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| mainTopic |
adaptation
ⓘ
evolutionary biology ⓘ gene-centered view of evolution ⓘ group selection ⓘ levels of selection ⓘ natural selection ⓘ |
| publicationYear | 1966 ⓘ |
| publisher | Princeton University Press ⓘ |
| relatedConcept |
group selection controversy
ⓘ
inclusive fitness ⓘ individual selection ⓘ kin selection ⓘ |
| relatedWork | The Selfish Gene ⓘ |
| supports | selection at the level of genes and individuals ⓘ |
| timePeriodContext | modern evolutionary synthesis ⓘ |
| usedIn | university courses on evolution ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Adaptation and Natural Selection Description of subject: Adaptation and Natural Selection is a landmark 1966 evolutionary biology book by George C. Williams that rigorously defends natural selection at the gene level and critiques group-selectionist explanations of adaptation.
Referenced by (4)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
subject linked to:
George Christopher Williams
linked to: Adaptation and Natural Selection
George C. Williams
→
publication
→
"Adaptation and Natural Selection: A Critique of Some Current Evolutionary Thought"
ⓘ
subject linked to:
George Christopher Williams
linked to: Adaptation and Natural Selection