# John Maynard Smith **Entity class:** Concept or analytic term > **Machine-Evolution Nexus:** [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution]] places this node within the history and governance of substrate-independent evolution. **Domain:** Evolutionary Biology / Theory **Doc Type:** Canonical Wiki Node **Maturity:** Developed ## Definition John Maynard Smith was an evolutionary biologist who made foundational contributions to evolutionary game theory and major-transition theory. ## Nexus Context With Eörs Szathmáry he analyzed how new inheritance systems and higher-level evolutionary individuals arise when formerly independent units integrate. ## Evidence Boundary The framework concerns changes in heredity and selection, not merely technological milestones or increased intelligence. ## Relationships [[wiki/Eörs Szathmáry|Eörs Szathmáry]], [[wiki/Major Evolutionary Transitions|Major Evolutionary Transitions]], [[wiki/Unit of Selection|Unit of Selection]], [[wiki/Cooperation|Cooperation]] <!-- BEGIN HUMANIZED RELATIONSHIPS 2026-09-11 --> This entry's documented connections are expressed in its definition and related-work routes, with provenance retained in the source-linked material. <!-- END HUMANIZED RELATIONSHIPS 2026-09-11 --> ## Sources / Provenance - Maynard Smith and Szathmáry, _The Major Transitions in Evolution_ (1995).