I like biography and at some points while reading The Price of Altruism, I found it hard to put the book down. As the book progressed it became harder to continue following Price's path of self-destruction. The science in the book is fascinating but very challenging. I wish I had kept short notes from the beginning on the various scientist and their theories so I could map out the history of genetic research and cobble together a better understanding of progress in the field. While the author Harman is pretty good at explaining evolutionary theory and Price's contributions there were so many scientists working in both game theory, genetics and evolution discussed I had a hard time remembering them all.

I'd recommend this book to anyone interested is both the history of science especially evolution or genetics who also enjoys biography. Harman includes several books on the history of evolutionary theory in his bibliography. I imagine it would be useful to have read those titles before tackling this one if you really want to understand the significants of Price's scientific contributions. However the book can also be read as a psychological biography of a tragic figure in science. ( )

This is an intriguing biography of George Price, a little-known population geneticist, interwoven with an intellectual history of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. While the story of Price's life is diverting and compelling in its own right, the real thrill of this book is that it unveils some very contemporary improvements in the science of group selection and, as the subtitle suggests, the origins of kindness. Oren Harmen does a great job picking through the advanced statistics and elements of game theory that led to Price's most substantial breakthrough, giving the reader a good commonsense understanding of how individual and group behaviors can both be perpetuated through evolutionarily stable strategies.

Yes, Price did end his life after a rather spectacular descent into homelessness and futile ministrations to a community of destitute alcoholics, but the attempts that Harmen makes to link the body of Price's professional work to his personal life are a bit of a stretch. While there is an appealing symmetry to the study of altruism and the surrendering of one's autonomy to the idea of Jesus Christ, there seems to be little indication that Price's late-life fundamentalism and erratic behavior correlated meaningfully with his relatively passionless theorizing. What make it a good story is that it comes together in meaningful ways in the imagination of the reader, rather than in the life of the subject. ( )