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The Price Of Altruism: George Price And The Search For The Origins Of Kindness (2010)

by Oren Harman(Favorite Author)

3.63 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0393067785 (ISBN13: 9780393067781)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

W.W. Norton

review 1: Harman undertakes an impressive quest in trying to completely ground the life and scientific work of George Price in its historical context. He tackles the problem by reaching far (in the case of mini biographies of influential scientists that predate Price by generations) and very near (geographically speaking, in that he relates relevant historical information about various locales important to Price's life), and succeeds in compiling a thorough frame of reference through which to view an extraordinarily unique individual. Whether this abundance of information actually helps the reader understand the man and his contributions is questionable. With a decent background in evolutionary theory, I still found the presentation of scientific development unclear. Mostly, thi... mores came as a product of Harman's non-linear structure; I can understand why he chose to insert excerpts of historical context opportunistically, but the disjointed forays into the hard science never left me with a solid understanding of the ideas. The effects of the structure are exaggerated when I try to think specifically about the many named scientists in the book. I can appreciate that Harman attempted to reinforce each contributor's influence by returning regularly to each, but as a person who doesn't normally excel with names, I often found myself consulting the index trying to place each reference.This is definitely a case where one's prior familiarity with the ideas and individuals contained within will largely determine what one gets out of the book. But even to a relative layperson, it will be impossible to miss the incredible effort made to show the complex relationships of influence that govern an eventful life like that of George Price. It is as impossible to understand the factors that led up to George's last few days as it is to understand what was going through his mind in those days. But the worthiness of biographies is in trying to do just that, and Harman has given us as much as we could ask for in terms of material to work with.
review 2: I expected to be blown away. I heard the book reviewed on some podcast, and it, and Price himself, sounded incredibly interesting. Now... I don't know if it's the author's fault or Price's, but I was most definitely not blown away.First of all, the book is very uneven. Harman moves erratically between decades, back and forth, in a very exhausting and hard-to-follow attempt to cover both the history of altruism and the birth of Price at the same time. Why-oh-why?Then he continues this confusing dance, throwing various scientists and theories into the mix - but again, along a very confusing timeline. It straightens out towards the end, when things become simple and the Harman has made his (dubious) point.Which brings me to the second complaint - after reading this book, I am unconvinced that Price's contribution was such a great deal. I must have missed some essential bit of maths or biology, but it just sounds like he threw in an equation and an idea, and that was pretty much it.Which finally brings me to Price himself. With all due respect, he comes off as a bit of a loser and a bit of a jerk. I'd say he was one of the countless people who are very smart and yet unable to focus their smarts. He drifted here and there, possibly thought himself a lot smarter than he was, and failed to pin anything down. Emotionally he was either autistic or very much a jerk, and in the end his turn to Jesus sounds like a very moronic surrender to the impossibility of succeeding on his own. The "coincidences" that led him to faith are so strained they make your head hurt, and his second conversion to the good life, despite at least one affair with a married woman, left me questioning whether this guy, like I said, might have just been a jerk.Anyhow, the author fails to explain how Price's increasing mental instability has anything to do with altruism or even kindness. I see no connection. And I'm sorely disappointed. less

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