Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime and start saving today with fast, free delivery

Kindle
$34.69

Available instantly

Hardcover
$21.00 - $36.52

Paperback
$6.90 - $38.88

FREE Returns

FREE delivery Friday, April 5

Select delivery location

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

$$36.52 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Ships from

Amazon

Ships from

Amazon

Sold by

Ellie's Bookstore

Sold by

Ellie's Bookstore

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.

Read full return policy

Payment

Secure transaction

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Details

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

FREE delivery Thursday, April 4 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35. Order within 14 hrs 7 mins

Select delivery location

Used: Good | Details

Sold by Book Stir

Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Other Sellers on Amazon

Added

Not added

$39.94
& FREE Shipping

Sold by: PearlCoral

Image Unavailable

Image not available for
Color:

To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the authors

The Handicap Principle: A Missing Piece of Darwin's Puzzle First Edition

by Amotz Zahavi (Author), Avishag Zahavi (Author), Amir Balaban (Illustrator),

20

See all formats and editions

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$36.52","priceAmount":36.52,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"36","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"52","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"MKClaz6Wh%2FzNBQYTKpJXk%2BWX5rRHY2DlEqdvtg2bD7R2bNowNZXVMXFE8QXhBvUyM1Q0U46yjx1reTveXcDvCRKe40LHat2dMIS4uqQneCYz%2F5u%2BUPTwonP9sW%2BveXyxZJmrp6xINc5tWkR0zLaO%2FAUqZkAX0d%2F6XjTNtsKJvqShj9%2BkD9LqSaQVOhjApxI1","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$21.00","priceAmount":21.00,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"21","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"00","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"MKClaz6Wh%2FzNBQYTKpJXk%2BWX5rRHY2Dlq0mU4%2F%2BOf130YBTjk7McRDnwAwN4lzb6N9QFl8l1URcFM62yFsxpLabeHX4ZFY4KNqQw7i%2Fbl3sEj2NpoDCm9BXtj4EmZxRfEXaPBBgEOT1HGpK1e4eSIe3bEs4lZzlA%2BNe7s0V1F6syI%2FZG3pfG%2Bc0r%2B%2Bzxgt4j","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Ever since Darwin, animal behavior has intrigued and perplexed human observers. The elaborate mating rituals, lavish decorative displays, complex songs, calls, dances and many other forms of animal signaling raise fascinating questions. To what degree can animals communicate within their own species and even between species? What evolutionary purpose do such communications serve? Perhaps most importantly, what can animal signaling tell us about our own non-verbal forms of communication? In The Handicap Principle, Amotz and Ashivag Zahavi offer a unifying theory that brilliantly explains many previously baffling aspects of animal signaling and holds up a mirror in which ordinary human behaviors take on surprising new significance.
The wide-ranging implications of the Zahavis' new theory make it arguably the most important advance in animal behavior in decades. Based on 20 years of painstaking observation, the Handicap Principle illuminates an astonishing variety of signaling behaviors in animals ranging from ants and ameba to peacocks and gazelles. Essentially, the theory asserts that for animal signals to be effective they must be reliable, and to be reliable they must impose a cost, or handicap, on the signaler. When a gazelle sights a wolf, for instance, and jumps high into the air several times before fleeing, it is signaling, in a reliable way, that it is in tip-top condition, easily able to outrun the wolf. (A human parallel occurs in children's games of tag, where faster children will often taunt their pursuer before running). By momentarily handicapping itself--expending precious time and energy in this display--the gazelle underscores the truthfulness of its signal. Such signaling, the authors suggest, serves the interests of both predator and prey, sparing each the exhaustion of a pointless chase. Similarly, the enormous cost a peacock incurs by carrying its elaborate and weighty tail-feathers, which interfere with food gathering, reliably communicates its value as a mate able to provide for its offspring. Perhaps the book's most important application of the Handicap Principle is to the evolutionary enigma of animal altruism. The authors convincingly demonstrate that when an animal acts altruistically, it handicaps itself--assumes a risk or endures a sacrifice--not primarily to benefit its kin or social group but to increase its own prestige within the group and thus signal its status as a partner or rival. Finally, the Zahavis' show how many forms of non-verbal communication among humans can also be explained by the Handicap Principle. Indeed, the authors suggest that non-verbal signals--tones of voice, facial expressions, body postures--are quite often more reliable indicators of our intentions than is language.
Elegantly written, exhaustively researched, and consistently enlivened by equal measures of insight and example, The Handicap Principle illuminates virtually every kind of animal communication. It not only allows us to hear what animals are saying to each other--and to understand why they are saying it--but also to see the enormously important role non-verbal behavior plays in human communication.

ISBN-10

0195100352
ISBN-13

978-0195100358
Edition

First Edition
Publisher

Oxford University Press
Publication date

August 7, 1997
Language

English
Dimensions

6.5 x 1.25 x 9.5 inches
Print length

304 pages
See all details

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Since the time of Darwin, altruism and other forms of cooperation have puzzled evolutionary biologists. Several theories have been proposed to explain these behaviors, but each has weaknesses in the framework of traditional natural selection. The Zahavis, working with babblers (group-living birds), developed the handicap principle and signal selection to explain these apparent paradoxes. (Their theory proposes that when an animal behaves altruistically, it does so to increase its status within its group as a partner or rival.) This book presents their evidence, elaborated in many technical papers since the 1970s, to explain such behaviors in babblers and such diverse organisms as slime molds, social insects, peafowl, and human children playing tag. The handicap principle is an important new theory that explains many seemingly diverse problems in evolutionary biology. This book is highly readable yet rigorous enough for specialists. Essential for any academic collection and worthwhile for general collections.?Bruce D. Neville, Univ. of New Mexico Lib., Albuquerque
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Among the most revolutionary and controversial concepts in modern behavioral biology is the handicap principle developed by Zahavi. After initially encountering resistance, it has been receiving increased acceptance for its success in explaining an enormous variety of animal behaviors and anatomical structures, from gazelles' seemingly suicidal displays to men's beards. Read this fine book, and discover what the excitement is all about!"--Jared M. Diamond, Professor of Physiology, University of California at Los Angeles

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; First Edition (August 7, 1997)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0195100352
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0195100358
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.3 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.25 x 9.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #186,110 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4 in Zoology (Books)
- #26 in Developmental Biology (Books)
- #57 in Biology (Books)

Customer Reviews:
20

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the authors

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Avishag Zahavi
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
See more on the author's page
Melvin patrick Ely
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
See more on the author's page
Amotz Zehavi
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
See more on the author's page
Naama Zahavi-Ely
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
See more on the author's page

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5

20 global ratings

2 star

0%

1 star

0%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Hibernating Hummingbird

Sex Sel vs James A Shapiro "Natural Genetic Engineering"

Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2011

Verified Purchase

Extrapolating James A Shapiro's concept of "Natural Genetic Engineering", imagine that you are a quantum-consciousness-spirit designing your control cascades ( what's the wave, what's the float ? ).
Genetic Entropy is a problem. Quantum-consciousness only needs an infinitesimal amount of force to tweak things, by analogy to the force required to deflect an asteroid from a collision with earth, if your application of force is COHERENT you don't need a lot of force. So quantum-consciousness can fight Genetic Entropy, but only to a certain degree. What you need, is a MECHANISM to fight Genetic Entropy - how about Sexual Selection ?

Even Dawkins says that Sexual Selection is underrated, I think I saw that in an interview he did with David Attenborough. But what if Sexual Selection were DESIGNED by the peacock-spirit to fight Genetic Entropy, not so that evolution can move forward, that's way too difficult, but merely to avoid backsliding.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Michelle Korenfeld

A fascinating view on the natural world

Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2017

Verified Purchase

This book answers questions the kind bright children ask. I have based my peacock story and others on its fascinating observations. Clever, sensitive, appreciative and engaging facts about animals that make you think of people's communication and behavior. Who's cleverer?

Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2012

Verified Purchase

This is a giant book. It will change your view of the world and there is no better outcome for reading. This book stirred my imagination and thinking. It is full of aha moments and it is devastatingly cold to fate of the human and the animal.

Helpful

Dennis Littrell

Best book on evolution in many years

Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2000

Why does the peacock grow that tail? Why does the springbok leap straight up into the air when it sees a predator? Why do people behave heroically? The handicap principle answers these questions, eloquently, simply and with an overwhelming sense of conviction. The peacock is advertising his fitness. He is saying to the female in essence, I am so fit I can carry around this cumbersome adornment and still scratch out a very fine living. The springbok is saying to the predator: don't even think about going after me. I am in such good shape I can waste energy jumping up and down and still have plenty of reserves to outrun you. Save us both the bother and go after someone weaker. (By the way, the springbok jumps straight up instead of sideways because by jumping straight up its performance can be effectively judged by a predator from any direction.) And the man who dives into the swiftly flowing river to save a drowning child is actually advertising his fitness and improving his station in society. He is so fit he can take chances that others dare not. He's the man the women want to mate with.

The Handicap Principle thus is about signals, signals between prey and predator, between one sex and the other, and between the individual and the group. The purpose of these signals is to display in an unequivocal way the fitness of the signaler. Note that such signals have to be "fake proof." They have to be what the authors call "reliable." An animal that can't run fast and has limited resources of energy can't waste them jumping in the air. It needs to get going immediately or to stay hidden if it is to have any chance of survival. A man leads with his chin. That's a signal that he's confident. When men had beards it was a little dangerous to stick your chin out since the other guy might grab your beard and you could be in trouble. People demonstrate wealth by wasting money. This is a "reliable" (if ugly) signal because without an ample supply of money, you can't afford to waste it.

Part of the beauty of this book comes from the personality of the authors, who spent a large part of their lives studying little babbler birds in Israel. I feel I know these little social birds just from the loving descriptions in the text. One can see that even though the Zahavis made their discovery of the handicap principle in 1975 and waited almost two decades before it was generally accepted in the scientific community, they harbor no bitterness, nor is their tone at all gloating. They come across as hard-working field scientists who love their work and nature.

Besides being full of exciting and original ideas, The Handicap Principle is also extremely well written. Each sentence is clear and to the point without the burden of unnecessary jargon or the wordy clumsiness sometimes found in such books. Amotz and Avishag Zahavi took great pride in effectively communicating their ideas to a wide audience. Additionally there are scores of exquisite, loving little black and white drawings by illustrator Amir Balaban of animals, birds, insects and people, etc., illuminating the text.

If you're interested in evolutionary theory, this is a book not to be missed. As Jared Diamond says on the cover, "Read this fine book, and discover what the excitement is all about."

--Dennis Littrell, author of "Understanding Evolution and Ourselves"

30 people found this helpful

Helpful

Sepyle

An excellent work for all readers!

Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2012

Buy this book.

Honestly, it is surprising how few reviews are on this title, given how well it was written. If you are reading through the reviews you will notice one reader gave it 2 stars for a concern over a possible failure to concatenate Zhavi's theories with that of reciprocal altruism. With no disrespect to that reviewer or anyone else who may find disfavor in this book, I would argue that there is so much quality information and poise in writing this book; it is hard to give it any less than four stars. The Handicap Principle can be appreciated by career scientist in the biological field and laymen alike. The information in this book gives many strong examples supporting the author's premise of evolutionary themes, risky behaviors by animals, social hierarchy in birds, and the development of specific physical qualities of animals that serve a pragmatic purpose.

Even if you are not an avid reader of animal behavior this book has a lot to offer in terms of what it means for humans socially. At the least, the book is written clearly and will provide some educational entertainment. The author does not write as provocative as some other evolutionary biologist such as Dawkins, which is good for those who have trouble reading works that may conflict with their belief system. From the perspective of seeking general information regarding the themes discussed in this book and wanting to read some informative examples showcasing those themes I have to give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Simon Knows Nothing

By Far the Most Significant Book on Altruism

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 22, 2021

Verified Purchase

I've spent the last 20 years ploughing through evolutionary biology, from a Maths background. I got taken in hook line and sinker by all the trendy theories of group selection, kin selection, reciprocal altruism, self deception. I believed them all. But then read a book with a quote by Randy Ness saying that altruism was one of the most troubling concepts to teach. How could a gene exist that tells its carrier to reduce its own fitness for someone else? Of course as Darwin pointed out we are sexually selected. I would recommend reading up on that as well. The Mating Mind (Miller) and The Evolution of Desire (Buss). Choosing partners is therefore one of the most important decisions each of us makes, especially women as they have much greater investment and risk. How to do know who is best to mate with? The Zahavi brothers answer that in this book. Though the big picture is much more complex as culture is involved. Cosmides and Tooby and the masters of how the mind actually evolved, and these system of mate choice and costly signalling are just component parts of a more complex system - though each subunit is specialised and information specific. Signalling theory is behind much of the Zahavi's book and I would recommend the 1978 paper "Animal Signalling" by Dawkins and Krebs. Yes. That Dawkins.

One person found this helpful

Cliente Amazon

DA COMPRARE ASSOLUTAMENTE

Reviewed in Italy on January 31, 2019

Verified Purchase

Il mio libro preferito... non aggiungo altro!!!

Translate review to English

StripyReader

Costly signalling is a useful concept for understanding human storytelling

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 14, 2015

Verified Purchase

Zahavi & Zahavi's idea of 'costly signalling' (in which animals 'handicap' themselves to prove their reproductive fitness) is hugely useful when applied to human storytelling behaviours. In 'Comeuppance', William Flesch detects costly signalling in fictional narratives, but it's also present in self-storytelling. For example, when we share intimate personal information, we hope the rest of our group will 'catch us' - and if the signal fails, our status may fall. Alternatively, we may attack a social media user who has offended our group to demonstrate our strength.

4 people found this helpful

See more reviews

Return this item for free