Celebrating the life of William D. Hamilton: 20 years on, a tribute to his influence on a tropical entomologist's career

摘要

W.D. (Bill) Hamilton, architect of "kin selection theory", died twenty years ago from complications of a malaria infection. I, who was his last Brazilian student, wrote a letter to his late wife, Maria Luisa Bozzi, describing my time with him in the Amazon. I wrote to her about all the knowledge I could never possibly have imagined obtaining as a young tropical biologist from a developing country, which at that particular time was steeped in political and economic crisis. My PhD at the illustrious Imperial College (then University of London), was supervised by Professor Valerie K. Brown and Bill. When Val read the letter, she thought it suitable for more readers, and sent it to Antenna, which published it as an obituary (Ribeiro, 2000).