John Maynard Smith facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John Maynard Smith
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Maynard Smith in 1997
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| Born | 6 January 1920 London, England
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| Died | 19 April 2004 (aged 84) Lewes, England
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| Nationality | British |
| Education | Eton College |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge University College London |
| Known for | Game theory Signalling theory |
| Awards | Mendel Medal (1985) Frink Medal (1990) Balzan Prize (1991) Sewall Wright Award (1995) Linnean Medal (1995) Royal Medal (1997) Weldon Memorial Prize (1998) Copley Medal (1999) Crafoord Prize (1999) Kyoto Prize (2001) Linnean Society of London's Darwin–Wallace Medal – NB: awarded posthumously (2008) Fellow of the Royal Society (1977) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Evolutionary biologist and geneticist |
| Institutions | University of Sussex |
| Doctoral advisor | J. B. S. Haldane |
| Doctoral students | Sean Nee Andrew Pomiankowski |
John Maynard Smith (born January 6, 1920 – died April 19, 2004) was a British scientist. He was an evolutionary biologist and geneticist who used mathematics to study how living things change over time.
Before becoming a biologist, he was an aeronautical engineer during World War II. He later studied genetics under a famous biologist named J. B. S. Haldane. John Maynard Smith was very important in using game theory to understand evolution. He also developed ideas about signalling theory, which looks at how animals communicate.
Contents
About John Maynard Smith
His Early Life and Interests
John Maynard Smith was born in London, England. When he was eight, his father passed away, and his family moved to Exmoor. There, he became very interested in natural history, which is the study of animals, plants, and nature.
He went to Eton College for school. He wasn't happy with how little science was taught there. So, he taught himself about Darwinian evolutionary theory and mathematics. He read books by J. B. S. Haldane, who would later become his teacher. By age 14, he decided he didn't believe in God.
Becoming an Engineer and a Scientist
After school, John Maynard Smith joined a political group called the Communist Party of Great Britain. He then went to Trinity College, Cambridge to study engineering.
When World War II started in 1939, he wanted to join the military. However, he was not allowed to because of his poor eyesight. He finished his engineering degree in 1941. He later joked that his bad eyesight actually helped him, as it kept him out of danger. In 1941, he married Sheila Matthew. They had two sons and one daughter. From 1942 to 1947, he worked on designing military aircraft.
Maynard Smith eventually decided that airplanes were "noisy and old-fashioned." He wanted a different career. So, he went to University College London to study genetics. He focused on fruit flies with his former inspiration, J. B. S. Haldane.
After graduating, he became a teacher of zoology at University College London from 1952 to 1965. He led the Drosophila (fruit fly) lab and studied population genetics. This is the study of how genes change within groups of living things. In 1958, he published a popular book called The Theory of Evolution.
He became less interested in the Communist Party over time. He left the group in 1956, like many other thinkers. This happened after the Soviet Union used force to stop the Hungarian Revolution. He also realized that trying to mix his political beliefs with his science wasn't very helpful for his research.
Work at the University of Sussex
In 1962, John Maynard Smith helped start the University of Sussex. He was a dean there from 1965 to 1985. After that, he became a professor emeritus, which means he was a retired professor who still kept his title. Before he passed away, a building at the University of Sussex was named the John Maynard Smith Building in his honor.
His Big Ideas in Evolution
Evolution and Game Theory
In 1973, John Maynard Smith developed an important idea in evolutionary game theory. This idea is called the evolutionarily stable strategy. It describes a behavior or strategy that, once common in a population, cannot be easily beaten by other strategies. He wrote a book about this in 1982 called Evolution and the Theory of Games. One of his most famous ideas in game theory is the Hawk-Dove game. This model helps explain how animals might choose to fight or share resources.
In 1977, he was chosen to be a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very high honor for scientists in the UK.
Major Transitions in Evolution
In the late 1980s, Maynard Smith became interested in how living things changed to become more complex. He worked with another evolutionary biologist named Eörs Szathmáry. Together, they wrote an important book in 1995 called The Major Transitions in Evolution. This book explored big steps in evolution, like how single cells became multi-celled organisms. They also wrote a simpler version of the book for everyone to read, called The Origins of Life: From the birth of life to the origin of language, in 1999.
He received many awards for his work. In 1991, he won the Balzan Prize for his deep understanding of evolution and how sexual reproduction helps species survive. He also won the Crafoord Prize in 1999 and the Kyoto Prize in 2001.
To honor him, the European Society for Evolutionary Biology has an award for young evolutionary biologists called The John Maynard Smith Prize.
How Animals Communicate
His last book, Animal Signals, was published in 2003. He wrote it with David Harper. This book was about signalling theory, which explains how animals use signals to communicate with each other.
His Passing
John Maynard Smith passed away on April 19, 2004, at his home. He was surrounded by his books. He was survived by his wife, Sheila, and their children.
His Legacy
John Maynard Smith's important papers and writings are kept at the British Library. They are available for people to study.
Awards and Honors
- Fellow, Royal Society (1977)
- Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1977)
- Member, American Philosophical Society (1980)
- Member, United States National Academy of Sciences (1982)
- Darwin Medal (1986)
- Frink Medal (1990)
- Balzan Prize (1991)
- Linnean Medal (1995)
- Royal Medal (1997)
- Crafoord Prize (1999)
- Copley Medal (1999)
- Kyoto Prize (2001)
- Darwin–Wallace Award (2008) - This award was given to him after his death.
See also
In Spanish: John Maynard Smith para niños
