I'm very happy to see "The Breeder's Equation" on Hacker News. Wow. I spent my graduate career studying mathematical biology and working with biologists. It's

I'm very happy to see "The Breeder's Equation" on Hacker News. Wow. I spent my graduate career studying mathematical biology and working with biologists. It's a fascinating equation and I spent some time on it converting it from a discrete equation into a continuous equation along with explaining the use cases and motivations behind it here: http://fromdata.org/2013/10/27/the-continuous-breeders-equation/ http://fromdata.org/2013/10/27/the-continuous-breeders-equat... This of course, does not take into account mutation, transduction, conjugation and other sources of genetic variation. Edit: Please take these approximate expectation equations with a grain of salt. They only apply to larger, discrete-reproducing, controlled populations. Applying results like these on spatially segregated or small populations does not really work. Also this equation does break down a bit when the phenotypic trait is a result of very complicated interactions between genetics and the environment.