Maternal instinct--the all-consuming, utterly selfless love that mothers lavish on their children--has long been assumed to be an innate, indeed defining element of a woman's nature. But is it? In this provocative, groundbreaking book, renowned anthropologist (and mother) Sarah Blaffer Hrdy shares a radical new vision of motherhood and its crucial role in human evolution. Hrdy...(展开全部)

The author argues that evolution is controlled by the female of the species. She is more diverse, deadlier and more adaptable than the male, and the notion of maternal instinct, with its baggage of self-sacrifice, gentleness and devotion is a misapprehension.

An innovative and illuminating look at how the evolution of the human species has been shaped by the world around us, from anatomy and physiology, to cultural diversity and population density. Where did the human species originate? Why are tropical peoples much more diverse than those at polar latitudes? Why can only Japanese peoples digest seaweed? How are darker skin, sunligh...(展开全部)

An innovative and illuminating look at how the evolution of the human species has been shaped by the world around us, from anatomy and physiology, to cultural diversity and population density. Where did the human species originate? Why are tropical peoples much more diverse than those at polar latitudes? Why can only Japanese peoples digest seaweed? How are darker skin, sunligh...(展开全部)

“The authors look at art and science together to examine how innovations―from Picasso’s initially offensive paintings to Steve Jobs’s startling iPhone―build on what already exists and rely on three brain operations: bending, breaking and blending. This manifesto . . . shows how both disciplines foster creativity.” ―The Wall Street Journal “The Runaway Species approach[es] creat...(展开全部)

The Runaway Species: How human creativity remakes the world is a deep-dive into the creative mind, a celebration of the human spirit, and a vision of how humanity can improve our future by understanding and embracing our ability to innovate. Anthony Brandt and David Eagleman rifle through the inventions of human society like paleontologists ransacking the fossil record. Explori...(展开全部)

The Runaway Species: How human creativity remakes the world is a deep-dive into the creative mind, a celebration of the human spirit, and a vision of how humanity can improve our future by understanding and embracing our ability to innovate. Anthony Brandt and David Eagleman rifle through the inventions of human society like paleontologists ransacking the fossil record. Explori...(展开全部)

A philosopher makes the case for thinking of works of art as tools for investigating ourselves In his new book, Strange Tools: Art and Human Nature, the philosopher and cognitive scientist Alva Noë raises a number of profound questions: What is art? Why do we value art as we do? What does art reveal about our nature? Drawing on philosophy, art history, and cognitive science, an...(展开全部)

In The Great Divide, acclaimed author and historian Peter Watson explores the development of humankind between the Old World and the New, and offers a groundbreaking new understanding of human history. By 15,000 BC, humans had migrated from northeastern Asia across the frozen Bering land bridge to the Americas. When the last Ice Agecame to an end, the Bering Strait refilled wit...(展开全部)

An important look at why some countries and ethnic groups are better off than others, and the role that cultural values play in the shaping of nations' and peoples' political, economic and social performance Prominent scholars and journalists ponder the question of why, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the world is more divided than ever between the rich and the po...(展开全部)