Evolutionary Game Theory, Natural Selection, and Darwinian Dynamics

Download or read book Evolutionary Game Theory, Natural Selection, and Darwinian Dynamics written by Thomas L. Vincent and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-05-23 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All of life is a game, and evolution by natural selection is no exception. The evolutionary game theory developed in this 2005 book provides the tools necessary for understanding many of nature's mysteries, including co-evolution, speciation, extinction and the major biological questions regarding fit of form and function, diversity, procession, and the distribution and abundance of life. Mathematics for the evolutionary game are developed based on Darwin's postulates leading to the concept of a fitness generating function (G-function). G-function is a tool that simplifies notation and plays an important role developing Darwinian dynamics that drive natural selection. Natural selection may result in special outcomes such as the evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS). An ESS maximum principle is formulated and its graphical representation as an adaptive landscape illuminates concepts such as adaptation, Fisher's Fundamental Theorem of Natural Selection, and the nature of life's evolutionary game.