12 thinkers, books, and ideas connected to this field.
Arthur C. Clarke's 1968 science fiction novel — written simultaneously with Stanley Kubrick's film — about humanity's evolutionary encounter with alien intelligence through the monolith — the most philosophically ambitious science fiction novel.
English naturalist who developed the theory of evolution by natural selection — publishing On the Origin of Species (1859) — after a five-year voyage on HMS Beagle and 20 years of research — demonstrating that all life descends from common ancestors through a process of variation, inheritance, and selection.
British science writer and businessman — Viscount Ridley — author of The Red Queen, The Origins of Virtue, Genome, The Rational Optimist, and How Innovation Works — one of the most influential popular science writers on evolution, genetics, and innovation.
American biochemist at Lehigh University — author of Darwin's Black Box and The Edge of Evolution — the most prominent scientific advocate of intelligent design — who argues that irreducible complexity in biochemical systems cannot be explained by Darwinian evolution.
British biochemist at UCL — author of Life Ascending, The Vital Question, Power, Sex, Suicide — who writes on the biochemical origins of life and the evolution of complex life with unusual depth and ambition.
British-American evolutionary biologist — curator at the Field Museum — author of How We Do It (on human reproduction and evolution) — a primate biologist who writes on the evolution of human reproductive biology.
Yuval Noah Harari's 2011 (English 2014) grand history of Homo sapiens — tracing the cognitive, agricultural, and scientific revolutions in a single accessible narrative — the best-selling popular history of the last decade.
Richard Dawkins's 1986 book arguing that natural selection is sufficient to explain biological complexity — no designer required — using the analogy that a watchmaker (designer) who never sees the final product is effectively blind, while evolution builds complexity through accumulated small improvements.
Robert Wright's 1994 introduction to evolutionary psychology — using Charles Darwin's life as a case study — the most widely read popular account of evolutionary psychology and its implications for human behavior.
Charles Darwin's 1859 masterwork arguing for evolution by natural selection — the most consequential scientific book ever published — demonstrating through accumulated evidence that all species share common ancestors and that adaptation arises through differential reproductive success without design.
Eric Beinhocker's 2006 argument that the economy is a complex adaptive system (not an equilibrium system) and that wealth is created through evolution of business 'plans' competing in the fitness landscape of the market.
Will Storr's 2021 argument — that status-seeking is the fundamental human motivation, operating through three types of games (dominance, virtue, and success), and that understanding this explains tribalism, extremism, cancel culture, and everyday social behavior.