School of Biology, University of St Andrews, Greenside Place, St Andrews KY16 9TH, UK.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2020 Apr 27;375(1797):20190361. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0361. Epub 2020 Mar 9.
Price's equation provides a very simple-and very general-encapsulation of evolutionary change. It forms the mathematical foundations of several topics in evolutionary biology, and has also been applied outwith evolutionary biology to a wide range of other scientific disciplines. However, the equation's combination of simplicity and generality has led to a number of misapprehensions as to what it is saying and how it is supposed to be used. Here, I give a simple account of what Price's equation is, how it is derived, what it is saying and why this is useful. In particular, I suggest that Price's equation is useful not primarily as a predictor of evolutionary change but because it provides a general theory of selection. As an illustration, I discuss some of the insights Price's equation has brought to the study of social evolution. This article is part of the theme issue 'Fifty years of the Price equation'.
普莱斯方程非常简单且非常通用，它概括了进化变化。它为进化生物学中的几个主题提供了数学基础，并且已经被应用于进化生物学以外的许多其他科学学科。然而，该方程的简单性和通用性导致了对其含义和使用方式的一些误解。在这里，我将简单介绍一下普莱斯方程是什么、它是如何推导出来的、它在说什么以及为什么这很有用。特别是，我认为普莱斯方程的主要用途不是预测进化变化，而是因为它提供了一种选择的一般理论。作为一个例子，我讨论了普莱斯方程在社会进化研究中带来的一些见解。本文是主题为“普莱斯方程五十年”的一部分。
