William (Bill) D. Hamilton Character Analysis

A biologist who believes, like Dawkins, Maynard Smith, Trivers, Fisher, and Williams, that evolution happens to genes, and not species. Dawkins borrows from Hamilton, the rhetorical device of personifying the gene to explain its behavior. Both scientists imagine that genes act as if on purpose, meaning genes can be described with metaphors like “selfish” or “cooperating,” when in reality genes are not conscious in that way. This rhetorical device enables Dawkins to explain evolution from a hypothetical “gene’s eye view.” Dawkins also borrows Hamilton’s method of calculating the genetic relatedness between two individuals.