Understand how selection shapes living traits with clear, practical guidance. This book explains how choosing parents and mating patterns change a population’s genetics, and how scientists predict those changes in measurable traits like means, variances, and covariances.

In accessible terms, it walks through the logic of selecting for a trait, the role of gene frequencies, and the difference between artificial and natural selection. It shows how to estimate heritability and use it to forecast responses, with concrete examples from experiments on fruit flies and other organisms. The discussion stays focused on observable results while keeping sight of the underlying genetic ideas.

• How selection alters trait means across generations


• The relationship between selection differential and response


• How heritability connects parents, offspring, and predictions


• Practical methods to predict outcomes without tracking every gene

Ideal for readers seeking a foundational, math-informed view of quantitative genetics and its real-world applications in breeding and evolution.

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books.

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This text has been digitally restored from a historical edition. Some aesthetic errors may persist, however it has been deemed that any such will not detract from the work's significant historical value.

The digital edition of all books may be viewed on our website before purchase.

Our books are made to order. After purchase your chosen title will be specially printed. Due to the individual nature of the process, please allow 3-4 business days for printing before we can dispatch.