Homo Mysterious: Evolutionary Puzzles of Human Nature
Author(s): David P. Barash
For all that science knows about the living world, there are even more things that we don't know, genuine evolutionary mysteries that perplex the best minds in biology. And paradoxically, many of these mysteries are very close to home: They involve some of the most personal aspects of being human, including such unresolved questions as why do women experience orgasm, menstruation and menopause, why do men have a shorter lifespan than women, and why does homosexuality exist? Ditto for other evolutionary mysteries of our own species: Why is religion a "cross-cultural universal," along with a fondness for the arts? Why do we have such large brains, and why does consciousness exist? Homo Mysterious examines these and other evolutionary mysteries, exploring things that we don't (yet) know about ourselves, laying out the best current hypotheses and pointing toward insights that scientists are just beginning to glimpse. Readers are invited to share the thrill of science at its exploratory margins, where we know what we don't know, and, moreover, we know enough to come up with some compelling and seductive explanations.
Homo Mysterious is a guide to creative thought and future explorations, based on the most current thinking of evolutionary scientists. For those who are interested in stretching their scientific imaginations, this book will expose the lure of the not yet known.
Product Information
"A beautifully written book. It has the wisdom of maturity but with none of its ponderousness, the enthusiasm of youth with none of its brashness." -- Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion"David Barash has long been one of our wittiest, warmest, and most insightful writers on the implications of evolution for human nature." -- Steven Pinker, Harvard College Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of How the Mind Works and The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why ViolenceHas Declined "David Barash is a thinker who combines deep understanding of evolutionary science with a deft pen, an unpretentious erudition, and a mischievous sense of humor. If you've ever been puzzled by, longed for, or found comfort in female orgasms, literary art, or the idea of an afterlife, this is your chance to see how a wise scientist uses Darwinian theory to try to unravel those riddles, and many more besides." -- Melvin Konner, author of The Evolution of Childhood: Relationships, Emotion, Mind and The Tangled Wing: Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit "David Barash is incapable of writing a dull word. Any discussion of human nature is bound to be controversial, and Barash is fearless in plunging in and assessing ideas and making suggestions. You will surely not agree with everything he says, but equally surely, you will come away better informed and wiser in your future judgments about our ever-fascinating species." -- Michael Ruse, editor of The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Darwin and Evolution "A thoughtful, witty book." --Publishers Weekly
CHAPTER ONE. IN PRAISE OF MYSTERY: "THAT'S HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN"; CHAPTER TWO. SEXUAL MYSTERIES: I. MENSTRUATION, CONCEALED OVULATION, AND BREASTS; CHAPTER THREE. SEXUAL MYSTERIES: II. FEMALE ORGASM, MENOPAUSE, AND MEN; CHAPTER FOUR. SEXUAL MYSTERIES: III. HOMOSEXUALITY; CHAPTER FIVE. ART: I. CHEESECAKE, BYPRODUCTS, AND GROUPS; CHAPTER SIX. ART: II. PLAY, PRACTICE, AND SEX (AGAIN); CHAPTER SEVEN. RELIGION: I. GENES, MEMES, MINDS, AND MOTIVES; CHAPTER EIGHT. RELIGION: II. SOCIAL BONDING AND MORALITY; CHAPTER NINE. ON THE MATTER OF MIND; CHAPTER TEN. DIGGING FOR TREASURE
General Fields
- :
- : Oxford University Press Inc
- : Oxford University Press Inc
- : 0.567
- : 01 September 2012
- : 234mm X 156mm X 30mm
- : United States
- : 01 September 2012
- : books
Special Fields
- : David P. Barash
- : Hardback
- : 599.938
- : 384
- : ill
