Richard D. Alexander published 125 papers that he considered to be professional works. All of these are listed here in chronological order. Each work is associated with a scanned PDF to the left of the entry. RDA had a broad conception of what constituted a professional work, including for instance some letters to newspapers, entries in society newsletters and encyclopedias, and administrative reports. See the menu above for book-length works, unpublished works, and other categories of writings.

 

1950s

[PDF] 1955. Capturing the melodies of insect singers. Magnetic Film and Tape Recording Magazine 2(5A): 34-37. [The entire issue is included in this file].

[PDF] 1957. Sound production and associated behavior in insects. Ohio Journal of Science 57(2): 101-113.

[PDF] 1957. The taxonomy of the field crickets of the eastern United States (Orthoptera: Gryllidae: Acheta). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 50(6): 584-602.
Reprinted in P. Barbosa and T. M.. Peters (eds.), Readings in Entomology, W. E.. Saunders Co., 1972.

[PDF] 1957. Nemobius melodius, a new species of cricket from Ohio (Orthoptera: Gryllidae). Ohio Journal of Science 57(3): 148-152. (E. S. Thomas and R.D. Alexander).

[PDF] 1957. The song relationships of four species of ground crickets (Orthoptera: Gryllidae: Nemobius). Ohio Journal of Science 57(3): 153-163.

[PDF] 1957. The periodical cicadas. Wheaton Club Bulletin 2(2): 23-26.

[PDF] 1958. Studies on the acoustical behavior of seventeen-year cicadas (Homoptera: Cicadidae: Magicicada). Ohio Journal of Science 58(2): 107-127. (R.D. Alexander and T. E. Moore).

[PDF] 1958. The periodical cicada complex. Proceedings of the Tenth International Congress of Entomology 1: 349-356 (T. E. Moore and R. D. Alexander).

[PDF] 1959. The courtship and copulation of Pasimachus punctulatus (Haldemann) (Coleoptera: Carabidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 52(4): 485.

[PDF] 1959. Systematic and behavioral studies on the crickets of the Nemobius fasciatus group (Orthoptera: Gryllidae: Nemobiinae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 52(5): 591-605. (R. D. Alexander and E. S. Thomas).

 

1960s

[PDF] 1960. Communicative mandible-snapping in Acrididae (Orthoptera). Science 132 (3240): 152-153.

[PDF] 1960. Sound communication in Orthoptera and Cicadidae. In: Lanyon WE and Tavolga WN (eds.) Animal Sounds and Communication. Washington D.C.: American Institute of Biological Sciences, p 38-92. [Original version included 5 sets of songs on a phonograph record.]

[PDF] 1960. Allochronic speciation in field crickets, and a new species, Acheta veletis. Evolution 14(3): 334-336. (R.D. Alexander and R. Bigelow).
Reprinted in Papers on Evolution, Ehrlich, Holm and Raven (eds.) 1969. Little, Brown Publ.

[PDF] 1961. Aggressiveness, territoriality, and sexual behavior in field crickets (Orthoptera: Gryllidae). Behaviour 17: 130-223, 63 figs., 31 tab.
Reprinted in part, in Territoriality: Landmark Papers in Animal Behavior, A. W. Stokes (ed.), Dowden, Hutchinson, and Ross, Pub. 1974, p. 364.

[PDF] 1962. Two introduced field crickets new to eastern United States (Orthoptera: Gryllidae).Annals of the Entomological Society of America 55(1): 90-94 (R.D. Alexander and T. J.. Walker).

[PDF] 1962. The role of behavioral study in cricket classification. Systematic Zoology 11(2): 53-72.

[PDF] 1962. The evolutionary relationships of 17-year and 13-year cicadas, and three new species (Homoptera: Cicadidae: Magicicada). Miscellaneous Publications of the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology 121: 1- 59. (R. D. Alexander and T. E. Moore).

[PDF] 1962. Invertebrate bio-acoustics: 1961. Bio-Acoustics Bulletin 2(2 & 3): 7-10.

[PDF] 1962. Evolutionary change in cricket acoustical communication. Evolution 16(4): 443-467.

[PDF] 1962. Systematic and behavioral studies on the meadow grasshoppers of the Orchelimum concinnum group (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae). Occasional Papers of the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology 626: 1-31. (E.S. Thomas and R.D. Alexander).

[PDF] 1963. The evolutionary differentiation of stridulatory signals in beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera). Animal Behaviour 11(1): 115. (R. D. Alexander, T. E. Moore, and R. E.. Woodruff).

[PDF] 1963. Sub-social behavior in a burrowing cricket, Anurogryllus muticus (De Geer) (Orthoptera: Gryllidae). Ohio Journal of Science 63(1): 19-24 (M. J. West and R.D. Alexander).

[PDF] 1963. Mating behavior and the origin of insect wings. Occasional Papers of the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology 628: 1-19. (R.D. Alexander and W. L. Brown).

[PDF] 1963. Cricket. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Vol. 6:753.

[PDF] 1963. Invertebrate bio-acoustics: 1962. Bio-Acoustics Bulletin 3(3 & 4): 13-18.

[PDF] 1963. Animal species, evolution and geographic isolation. Systematic Zoology 12(4): 202-204.

[PDF] 1964. The evolution of mating behavior in arthropods. In K. C. Highnam (ed.), Insect Reproduction. Symposium of the Royal Entomological Society of London 2: 78-94.

[PDF] 1964. Communicative systems of animals: acoustic behavior. Science 114: 713-715 (Book Review).

[PDF] 1966. The evolution of cricket chirps. Natural History 75(9): 26-31.
[PDF] Reprinted in Niles Eldredge (ed.), The Natural History Reader in Evolution. New York: Columbia University Press, pp. 79-86 (1987).

[PDF] 1967. Acoustical communication in arthropods. Annual Review of Entomology 12: 495-526.

[PDF] 1967. Seasonal and daily chirping cycles in northern spring and fall field crickets. Ohio Journal of Science 67(4): 200-209. (R.D. Alexander and G. H.. Meral).

[PDF] 1967. Cannibalism during copulation in the brown bush cricket, Hapithus agitator Uhler (Gryllidae). Florida Entomologist 50(2): 75-87. (R.D. Alexander and D. Otte).

[PDF] 1967. Basic research and public support. Science 157(3785): 134-136.

[PDF] 1967. Protests unexpected editorial changes. Science 157(3795): 1377.

[PDF] 1967. The evolution of genitalia and mating behavior in crickets (Gryllidae) and other Orthoptera. Miscellaneous Publications of the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology 133: 1-62. (R.D. Alexander and D. Otte).

[PDF] 1968. A comparative review (of On Aggression and The Territorial Imperative). BioScience 18(3): 245-248 (R.D. Alexander and D. W.. Tinkle).
[PDF] Excerpted in P. B. Weisz (ed.), The Contemporary Scene: Readings on Human Nature, Race, Behavior, Society, and Environment (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1970), pp. 35-37, anthologized in a section entitled “Hunting, Competition, and Family”.

[PDF] 1968. Life cycle origins, speciation, and related phenomena in crickets. Quarterly Review of Biology 43(1): 1-42.  [A “List of corrections and explanatory notes” for this paper is here.]

[PDF] 1968. Animal behavior and systematics. In: Proceedings of the Summer Institute in Systematics at the Smithsonian Institution, 25 June – 14 July 1967. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, pp. 84-132.

[PDF] 1968. Arthropods. In: Sebeok, T. A., ed. Animal Communication: Techniques of Study and Results of Research. Bloomington IN: Indiana Univ. Press, pp.167-216.

[PDF] 1969. Comparative animal behavior and systematics. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Systematics (Ann Arbor, Michigan, July 1967) National Academy of Sciences Pub. 1962: 494-517.

 

1970s

[PDF] 1971. The search for an evolutionary philosophy of man. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 84: 99-120.

[PDF] 1972. The singing insects of Michigan. Great Lakes Entomologist 5(2): 33-69. (R.D. Alexander, A. E. Pace, and D. Otte).

[PDF] 1972. Saying it with sights and sounds. In Marvels of Animal Behavior. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, pp. 88-111.

[PDF] 1973. The robust conehead: two widespread sibling species (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Neoconocephalus “robustus”). Ohio Journal of Science 73(6)321-330 (T. J. Walker, J. J. Whitesell, and R. D. Alexander).

[PDF] 1974. Evolution of sterile castes in the social insects: Kin selection or parental manipulation? Florida Entomologist 57(1): 32.

[PDF] 1974. The evolution of social behavior. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 5: 352-383.

[PDF] 1974. Jasper Loftus-Hills (Obituary). Copeia 3: 812.

[PDF] 1974. Creativity from a scientist’s viewpoint. Diagonalia: The University of Michigan LS&A College Newsletter (Dec. 1974).

[PDF] 1975. Natural enemies in place of poisons. Natural History 84(1): 92-95. (Book review of Paul DeBach’s Biological Control by Natural Enemies).

[PDF] 1975. The search for a general theory of behavior. Behavioral Science 20: 77-100.

[PDF] 1975. Natural selection and specialized chorusing behavior in acoustical insects. In: Insects, Science and Society, Proceedings of the Comstock Centennial Celebration, David Pimental (ed.), Cornell Univ., NY.: Academic Press, pp. 35-77.

[PDF] 1975. Insect control. Science 188: 206-208 (P. W.. Sherman and R.D. Alexander).

[PDF] 1977. Local mate competition and parental investment: patterns in social insects. Science 196: 494-500 (R.D. Alexander and P. W. Sherman).

[PDF] 1977. Natural selection and the analysis of human sociality. In Changing Scenes in the Natural Sciences, 1776-1976. C. E.. Goulden (ed.). Bicentennial Symposium Monograph, Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, pp. 283-337.

[PDF] 1977. Evolution, human behavior, and determinism. Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association (1976), 2: 3-21.

[PDF] 1977. [Review of] The Use and Abuse of Biology by Marshall Sahlins. American Anthropologist 79: 917-920.

[PDF] 1978. Natural selection and societal laws. In The Foundations of Ethics and its Relationship to Science, Vol. 3. Morals, Science, and Society. Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, Feb. and June 1977. T. Englehardt, Jr. and D. Callahan (eds.), pp. 249-290. [Reprinted in The Roots of Ethics: Science, Religion, and Values. The Hastings Center, Plenum Press, NY, 1981. D. Callahan and T. Engelhardt, Jr., (eds.), pp. 265-306.]

[PDF] 1978. Rejoinder to Kenneth Schaffner. In The Foundations of Ethics and its Relationship to Science, Vol. 3. Morals, Science, and Society. Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, Feb. and June, 1977. T. Englehardt, Jr. and D. Callahan (eds.), pp. 304-308. [Schaffner’s chapter is here;  it is a response to RDA’s “Natural selection and societal laws”, above.]

[PDF] 1978. Sociobiology. Letter to the editor, Michigan Daily, 8 January, p. 4. [Rejoinder to a comment on rape. In this letter (at the bottom right of the page, entitled “sociobiology”), RDA responded to a false comment about him in this article by the “Sociobiology Study Group, Ann Arbor Science for the People”. Their comment is at the top of the middle column of the article “The Sociobiology myth”. That group then responded to his letter here (letter entitled “no misquote”)].

[PDF] 1978. Evolution, creation, and biology teaching. American Biology Teacher 40: 91-104.

[PDF] 1978. The challenge of Darwinism. Rackham Reports (University of Michigan Graduate School) 4: 1-2. [Reprinted in Michigan Discussions in Anthropology 3: 144-148.]

[PDF] 1978. Biology, determinism, and human behavior: A response to Slobodkin, Michigan Discussions in Anthropology 3: 154-166. [The original article to which RDA is responding is here. Slobodkin then wrote a response here.]

[PDF] 1978. Group selection, altruism and the levels of organization of life. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 9: 449-474. (R.D. Alexander and G. Borgia).

[PDF] 1978. [Review of] The Collected Papers of Charles Darwin edited by Paul H. Barrett. Michigan Academician 9: 109-111.

[PDF] 1979. Natural selection and social exchange. In Social Exchange in Developing Relationships, R. L. Burgess and T. L. Huston (eds.), NY: Academic Press. pp. 197-221.

[PDF] 1979. The origin and basis of the male-female phenomenon. In Sexual Selection and Reproductive Competition in Insects, M. F. Blum and N. A.. Blum (eds.), Academic Press, pp. 417-440 (R.D. Alexander and G. Borgia).

[PDF] 1979. Evolution and culture. In Evolutionary Biology and Human Social Behavior: An Anthropological Perspective. N. A. Chagnon and W. G. Irons (eds.). Duxbury Press, pp. 59-85.

[PDF] 1979. Sexual dimorphisms and breeding systems in pinnipeds, ungulates, and humans. In Evolutionary Biology and Human Social Behavior: An Anthropological Perspective., N.A. Chagnon and W. G. Irons (eds.), North Scituate, Mass.: Duxbury Press, , pp. 402-435 (R. D. Alexander, J. L. Hoogland, R. D. Howard, K. L. Noonan, and P. W. Sherman).

[PDF] 1979. Concealment of ovulation, parental care and human social evolution. In Evolutionary Biology and Human Social Behavior: An Anthropological Perspective, N. A. Chagnon and W. G. Irons (eds.), North Scituate, Mass.: Duxbury Press, pp. 436-453 (R. D. Alexander and K. M. Noonan).

[PDF] 1979. Sexuality and sociality in humans and other primates. In Human Sexuality: A Comparative and Developmental Perspective, H. Katchadourian (ed.). Berkeley, Calif., Univ. of Calif. Press. pp. 81-97. [This chapter can stand alone, but in part responds to the previous chapter, by Jane Lancaster, here.]

[PDF] 1979. Human sexuality and evolutionary models. In Human Sexuality: A Comparative and Developmental Perspective, H. Katchadourian (ed.). Berkeley, Calif, Univ. of Calif. Press, pp. 107-112. [This piece is sensible by itself, but is (rather oddly) billed as a commentary on the chapter (mostly by Frank Beach) of which it forms the final section. The chapter in its entirety, including RDA’s comments, is here.]

[PDF] 1979. Evolution, social behavior, and ethics. In The Foundation of Ethics and Its Relationship to Science,IV. Science, Morals, and Society, T.E. Engelhardt and D. Callahan (eds). Hastings-on-Hudson, New York: The Hastings Institute. pp. 124-155. [Reprinted in The Roots of Ethics: Science, Religion, and Values. The Hastings Center, Plenum Press, NY, 1981. D. Callahan and T. Engelhardt, Jr., (eds.), pp. 307-338.]

[PDF] 1979. Comment on Boucher, et al. Michigan Discussions in Anthropology 4: 34-35. [The original article to which RDA is responding is here].

 

1980s

[PDF] 1980. Field crickets (Gryllus and Acheta) of California and Baja, California (Orthoptera: Gryllidae: Gryllinae). Transactions of the American Entomological Society 106: 327-356 (D. B. Weissmann, D. F. C. Rentz, R. D. Alexander, and W. Loher).

[PDF] 1980. The Social Insects [Review of H.R. Hermann, ed., The Social Insects. New York: Academic Press]. Bioscience 31: 64-65 (R. D. Alexander and K. M. Noonan).

[PDF] 1981. Introduction to Natural Selection and Social Behavior: Recent Research and New Theory.  R. D. Alexander and D. W. Tinkle (eds), New York: Chiron Press, pp. xi-xii.

[PDF] 1981. Evolution, culture, and human behavior: some general considerations. In Natural Selection and Social Behavior: Recent Research and New Theory. R. D. Alexander and D. W. Tinkle (eds), New York: Chiron Press, pp. 509-520.

[PDF] 1982. Culture theory: the developing synthesis from biology. Human Ecology 10(3): 383-400, (M. Flinn and R. D. Alexander).

[PDF] 1982. Biology and the moral paradoxes. Journal of Social and Biological Structures 5: 389-395. [Reprinted, 1983, In Law, Biology, and Culture, M. Gruter and P. Bohannan (eds.), Santa Barbara, Calif.: Ross-Erikson, Inc., pp. 101-111].

[PDF] 1985. Genes, consciousness, and behavior theory. In A Century of Psychology as Science, Sigmund Koch and David E. Leary (eds.). N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, pp. 783-802.

[PDF] 1985. A biological interpretation of moral systems. Zygon 20: 3-20.

[PDF] 1986. Ostracism and indirect reciprocity: the reproductive significance of humor. In Ethology and Sociobiology 7: 253-270R, Masters and M. Gruter (eds).
[PDF] Translated and republished in German as: Ostrazismus und Indirekte Reziprozität: Die reproduktive Bedeutung des Humors. pp.79-99 in Gruter, Margaret & Rehbinder, Manfred (eds.): Ablehnung – Meidung – Ausschluß: multidisziplinäre Untersucungen über die Kehrseite der Vergemeinschaftung. Berlin (Duncker und Humblot), 1986.]

[PDF] 1986. Biology and law. In Ethology and Sociobiology 7: 167-173R. Masters and M. Gruter (eds.).
[PDF] Translated and republished in German as: Recht, Biologie und Sozialverhalten. pp. 29-36 in: Gruter, Margaret & Rehbinder, Manfred (eds.): Ablehnung – Meidung – Ausschluß: multidisziplinäre Untersuchungen über die Kehrseite der Vergemeinschaftung. Berlin (Duncker und Humblot), 1986.

[PDF] 1987. Human hips, breasts, and buttocks: Is fat deceptive? Ethology and Sociobiology 8(4): 249-257. B. S. Low, R. D. Alexander, and K. M. Noonan.

[PDF] 1987. The real origin of the species. Washington Post (June 28, p. C3). Invited editorial.

[PDF] 1987. The crickets of New Caledonia (Gryllidae). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Philadelphia 139: 375-457. (Daniel Otte, R.D. Alexander, and W. Cade).

[PDF] 1987. Evolutionary approaches to human behavior: What does the future hold? In Human Reproductive Behavior: A Darwinian Perspective, London: Cambridge Univ. Press, L. L. Betzig, M. Borgerhoff Mulder, and P. W. Turke (eds.), pp. 317-341.

[PDF] 1988. Über die Interessen der Menschen und die Evolution von Lebensabläufen. In Die Herausforderung der Evolutionsbiologie, H. Meier (ed). Munich: R. Piper GmbH & Co. KG, pp. 129-171. Translated by Agnes von Cranach.

[PDF] 1988. Knowledge, intent and morality in Darwin’s world. [A review of Robert J. Richards, Darwin and the Emergence of Evolutionary Theories of Mind and Behavior (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987)]. Quarterly Review of Biology 63:441-443.

[PDF] 1988. Response to Judith Anderson’s comments on Low, Alexander, and Noonan (1987), Ethology and Sociobiology 9: 325-328. (B. S. Low, R. D. Alexander, and K. M. Noonan).

[PDF] 1989. The evolution of the human psyche. In The Human Revolution, C. Stringer and P. Mellars (eds), Univ. of Edinburgh Press, pp. 455-513.

[PDF] 1989. The evolutionary significance of the aesthetic sense. LSA Magazine, Spring, Volume 12, Number 2, pp. 22-24.

[PDF] 1989. T. H. Hubbell, 1898-1989 (Obituary). Metaleptea: The Orthopterists’ Newsletter 11(1-2):3-5. [The entire issue is included in this PDF]

 

1990s

[PDF] 1990. Epigenetic rules and Darwinian algorithms: The adaptive study of learning and development. Ethology and Sociobiology 11: 241-303.

[PDF] 1990. How did humans evolve? Reflections on the uniquely unique species. Special Publication of the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology 1: 1-38.

[PDF] 1991. The evolution of eusociality. In The Biology of the Naked Mole Rat, P. W. Sherman, J. Jarvis, and R. D. Alexander (eds). Princeton Univ. Press. (R. D. Alexander, K. M. Noonan, and B. Crespi).

[PDF] 1991. Unanswered questions about naked mole rats. In The Biology of the Naked Mole Rat, Princeton Univ. Press. P. W. Sherman, J. Jarvis, and R. D. Alexander (eds).

[PDF] 1991. An ethogram of the naked mole-rat. In The Biology of the Naked Mole-Rat, Princeton Univ. Press (E. Lacey, J. Pepper, P. W. Sherman, and R. D. Alexander).

[PDF] 1991. A review of the genus Gryllus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae), with a new species from Korea. Great Lakes Entomologist, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 79-84.

[PDF] 1991. Social learning and kin recognition: an addendum and reply to Sherman. Ethology and Sociobiology 12: 387-399.

[PDF] 1993. Biological considerations in the analysis of morality. In Evolutionary Ethics, M. H. Nitecki (ed), State University of New York Press, pp.163-196.

[PDF] 1993. A biologist’s approach to human nature. In Man and Creation, M. Bauman, L. Roche, and J. Corombos (eds). Hillsdale, MI, Hillsdale College Press, pp. 191-207.

[PDF] 1994. A report from the director. The University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, October 1994. Submitted to Edie N. Goldenberg, Dean, College of Literature, Science & The Arts. 69 pp.

[PDF] 1995. The view from the president’s window: impressions from the Santa Barbara Meeting. Human Behavior and Evolution Newsletter, Volume 4(2), September 1995.

[PDF] 1996. The view from the president’s window. Human Behavior and Evolution Newsletter. Volume 5(1), February 1996.

[PDF] 1996. The view from the president’s window: dilemmas of Darwinists: A few tips of the iceberg. Human Behavior and Evolution Newsletter, Volume 5(2), Fall 1996.

[PDF] 1996. New records of Michigan Cicadidae (Homoptera), with notes on the use of songs to monitor range changes. Great Lakes Entomologist. Vol. 29(3), pp. 165-169. (D.C. Marshall, J. R. Cooley, R. D. Alexander, and T. E. Moore.)

[PDF] 1997. The view from the president’s window: on God, and such. Human Behavior and Evolution Newsletter, Volume 6(1), Spring 1997.

[PDF] 1997. Special report to Dean Edie N. Goldenberg. The University of Michigan Museum Of Zoology, 4 June 1997, ix + 42 pp.

[PDF] 1997. Evolutionary perspectives on insect mating. In: The Evolution of Mating Systems in Insects and Arachnids. J. C. Choe and B. J. Crespi (eds.) Princeton University Press, pp. 4-31. (Richard D. Alexander, David Marshall, and John Cooley).

 

2000s-2010s

[PDF] 2000. William D. Hamilton remembered. Natural History, June 2000, Vol. 109, Issue 5.

[PDF] 2001. Range bulls. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 127(3): 289-290.

[PDF] 2003. Crickets. In: Encyclopedia of Insects. Vincent H. Resh and Ring T. Cardé (eds.) New York, Academic Press, pp. 265-269 (Richard D. Alexander and Daniel Otte).

[PDF] 2005. Evolutionary selection and the nature of humanity. In V. Hosle and Ch. Illies (eds). Darwinism and Philosophy (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press), pp. 424-495.

[PDF] 2005. The ills of society can influence “killing gene”. Ann Arbor News. [This is a reply to David Buss’ book The Murderer Next Door: Why the Mind is Designed to Kill. RDA’s original title for the letter was “Not killing is also part of human nature”].

[PDF] 2006. The challenge of human social behavior: A review essay stimulated by Hammerstein, Peter (ed.) 2003. Genetic and Cultural Evolution of Cooperation. (Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England: MIT Press). Evolutionary Psychology 4: 1-32.

[PDF] 2007. Runaway social selection in human evolution. In Gangestad, Steven W. and Jeffry A. Simpson (eds.), The Evolution of Mind: Fundamental Questions and Controversies. New York: Guildford Press, pp. 249-255. (Mark Flinn and R. D. Alexander).

[PDF] 2008. Evolution and human society. A lecture delivered at the June 2008 Kyoto, Japan, meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society. Human Behavior and Evolution Newsletter, Summer 2008, pp. 5-15; with supplements. [This was RDA’s keynote address upon receiving the HBES Distinguished Scientific Award for Lifetime Contribution to Human Behavior and Evolution. This expanded version, finalized on 26 December 2009, contains (1) an abstract or introduction to the lecture; (2) the lecture itself, entitled “Understanding the human species and its immediate ancestors”; (3) the associated handout, entitled “A brief recounting of recent evolutionary findings”; (4) an appendix of explanatory footnotes; and (5) a table comparing relevant traits among the apes including humans. For the original HBES newsletter version, click here.]

[PDF] 2008. Let’s examine both sides of the coin of human understanding. Ann Arbor News: Other Voices, 17 July. A scan of the original paper copy is here. [This is a reply to a 12 July letter by Ronald G. Larson entitled “Evolutionary theory doesn’t explain it all”]. RDA later retitled this essay “The predictiveness of evolution” but never republished it.

[PDF] 2008. Natural complexity is commonplace. Ann Arbor News: Opinion, 10 August. [A reply to a 4 August letter by Lahki Goenka].

[PDF] 2009. An HBES hero: a special tribute to Dr. Billy E. Frye. Human Behavior and Evolution Society Newsletter. Winter 2009, 2 pp. (Richard D. Alexander, William G. Irons, and Napoleon E. Chagnon).

[PDF] 2010. Understanding ourselves. In L. C. Drickamer and D. A. Dewsbury (eds.), Leaders in Animal Behavior: The Second Generation. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1-37. [This paper, as with the others in this two-volume set, is a professional autobiography.]

[PDF] 2013. Religion, evolution and the quest for global harmony. In K. Summers and B. Crespi (eds.), Human Social Evolution: The Foundational Works of Richard D. Alexander (New York: Oxford University Press), pp.384-425. [Included in this file is a poem by RDA selected by the editors, and an introduction by William Irons].

[PDF] 2013. The distribution of periodical cicada Brood III in 1997, with special emphasis on Illinois (Hemiptera: Magicicada spp.). American Entomologist 59: 9-14. (Cooley, J.R., Marshall, D.C., Richards, A.F., Alexander, R.D., Irwin, M.D., Coelho, J.R. and Simon, C.).

[PDF] 2014. Darwin’s challenges and the future of human society. In Predicting the Future in Science, Economics, and Politics, F. Wayman, P. Williamson, and B. Bueno de Mesquita (eds.), Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, pp. 55-108.

 

This website was launched in June 2010 and is a work in progress.

In addition to RDA of course, thanks to Lorrie Alexander, John Cooley, Daniel Otte, Eckart Voland, Mary Jane West-Eberhard, and especially Nancy Alexander for providing a few hard-to-find writings. Thanks to Michelle Mordukhaev for contributing to the scanning and posting. Thanks to Nancy Alexander and Lorrie Alexander for guidance and permission.

For more information or to become involved, contact David Lahti at dclahti@gmail.com.

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