In 70 CE, the Jews were an agrarian and illiterate people living mostly in the Land of Israel and Mesopotamia. By 1492 the Jewish people had become a small group of literate urbanites specializing in crafts, trade, moneylending, and medicine in hundreds of places across the Old World, from Seville to Mangalore. What caused this radical change? The Chosen Few presents a new answ...(展开全部)

路易斯·达特内尔（Lewis Dartnell），莱斯特大学和英国航天局（UKSA）研究员，也是屡获殊荣的科普作家。1980年生于英国伦敦，毕业于牛津大学生物学系，后在伦敦大学学院获得天体生物学博士学位，主要从事天体生物学和火星微生物生命的研究。在科研工作以外，他出版过多部科普作品，包括《宇宙中的生命》《我的太阳系旅游指南》《原点：地球如何塑造我们》等。此外，他经常为《卫报》《泰晤士报》《新科学家》等媒体撰写科普文章，也主持过英国广播公司（BBC）的多档科普节目。

When we talk about human history, we often focus on great leaders, population forces, and decisive wars. But how has the earth itself determined our destiny? Our planet wobbles, driving changes in climate that forced the transition from nomadism to farming. Mountainous terrain led to the development of democracy in Greece. Atmospheric circulation patterns later on shaped the pr...(展开全部)

Animals, and our ever-changing relationship with them, have left an indelible mark on human history. From the dawn of our existence, animals and humans have been constantly redefining their relationship with one another, and entire civilizations have risen and fallen upon this curious bond we share with our fellow fauna. Brian Fagan unfolds this fascinating story from the first...(展开全部)

Animals, and our ever-changing relationship with them, have left an indelible mark on human history. From the dawn of our existence, animals and humans have been constantly redefining their relationship with one another, and entire civilizations have risen and fallen upon this curious bond we share with our fellow fauna. Brian Fagan unfolds this fascinating story from the first...(展开全部)

Ever since we started huddling together in communities, the story of human history has been inextricably entwined with the story of microbes. They have evolved and spread amongst us, shaping our culture through infection, disease, and pandemic. At the same time, our changing human culture has itself influenced the evolutionary path of microbes. Dorothy H. Crawford here shows th...(展开全部)

Ever since we started huddling together in communities, the story of human history has been inextricably entwined with the story of microbes. They have evolved and spread amongst us, shaping our culture through infection, disease, and pandemic. At the same time, our changing human culture has itself influenced the evolutionary path of microbes. Dorothy H. Crawford here shows th...(展开全部)

Ever since we started huddling together in communities, the story of human history has been inextricably entwined with the story of microbes. They have evolved and spread amongst us, shaping our culture through infection, disease, and pandemic. At the same time, our changing human culture has itself influenced the evolutionary path of microbes. Dorothy H. Crawford here shows th...(展开全部)

Ever since we started huddling together in communities, the story of human history has been inextricably entwined with the story of microbes. They have evolved and spread amongst us, shaping our culture through infection, disease, and pandemic. At the same time, our changing human culture has itself influenced the evolutionary path of microbes. Dorothy H. Crawford here shows th...(展开全部)

公元70年，犹太人还是主要分布在以色列和美索不达米亚地区、以农业为生的半文盲族群。到了1492年，犹太人已经成为了精通手工艺、商业贸易、借贷业和医药业，遍布东至印度芒格洛尔、西至西班牙塞维利亚的广袤地区的族群。是什么造成了如此重大的变化？《被选中的少数》从经济学视角分析了这一千多年间犹太民族发生翻天覆地变化的缘由，指出犹太人的流散大部分是其自愿选择的结果，并以详尽的历史证据和经济学理论模型，在犹太人教育的普及和其职业选择之间提出了颇具说服力的阐释。 该书2012年由普林斯顿大学出版社出版，至今已被翻译成法语、希伯来语、匈牙利语、意大利语、波兰语、西班牙语、越南语等8种语言。