People (Births)

• 1936 – W. D. Hamilton, Egyptian born British biologist, psychologist, and academic (d. 2000).

W.D. Hamilton

William Donald Hamilton FRS (01 August 1936 to 07 March 2000) was an Egyptian-born British evolutionary biologist, widely recognised as one of the most significant evolutionary theorists of the 20th century.

Hamilton became famous through his theoretical work expounding a rigorous genetic basis for the existence of altruism, an insight that was a key part of the development of the gene-centred view of evolution. He is considered one of the forerunners of sociobiology. Hamilton also published important work on sex ratios and the evolution of sex. From 1984 to his death in 2000, he was a Royal Society Research Professor at Oxford University.