Book Description

Can there be freedom and free will in a deterministic world? Renowned philosopher Daniel Dennett emphatically answers "yes!" Using an array of provocative formulations, Dennett sets out to show how we alone among the animals have evolved minds that give us free will and morality. Weaving a richly detailed narrative, Dennett explains in a series of strikingly originalarguments—drawing upon evolutionary biology, cognitiveneuroscience, economics, and philosophy—that far from being an enemy of traditional explorations of freedom, morality, and meaning, the evolutionary perspective can be an indispensable ally. In Freedom Evolves, Dennett seeks to place ethics on the foundation it deserves: a realistic, naturalistic, potentially unified vision of our place in nature. ... Read more

Reviews (27)

Important clarifying work on a central philosophical issue
Although this book doesn't introduce anything radically new for those who follow Dennett, it does clarify his previous ideas on consciousness, free will, and human nature, and this
is far from a trivial matter. For anyone seriously interested in the question of how human free will can possibly be compatible with physical laws of cause and effect, and thought that nothing else could be reasonably said on the matter, this book is an essential. It will indeed help you clarify your thoughts, which is afterall one of the best things a work of philosophy can do for you, and one all too rarely accomplished by most philosophers.

For those who wonder about the conditions that foster human freedom and those that suppress it, this book doesn't quite delve into political or social philosophy per se, but it is at least a start at a real answer by providing clear thoughts and useful science and meta-science.

One very good reason for this book is that while Dan Dennett is a clear and vivid writer, particularly for a philosopher, he is also frequently rather badly misunderstood for some reason.
He has been described by reviewers as denying that human beings have free will or conscious awareness, and he has been accused of being an "ultraDarwinist," although he himself disputes these claims. In Freedom Evolves, he ties his previous ideas together and presents them in a way that will resist these misinterpretations of his ideas.

First, Dennett defends the compatibilist tradition (where free will and determinism are considered compatible in principle). He believes that the universe is probably deterministic in its physical nature, but that this doesn't mean our lives are pre-determined, nor does it prevent us from having forms of freedom worth working and fighting for.

This is done by distinguishing determinism clearly from inevitability with the help of his perspective tool of
different 'stances.' The 'stances' help see causation in different terms: mechanical causes from a physical stance vs.
functional causes from a design stance vs. the action of intentional agents from an intentional stance. We perceive inevitability in causal models from the design stance. Then we get confused between free will and determinism because we apply inevitability back to the physical, where it simply doesn't happen.

Then he builds a non-Cartesian account of choice and agency. Rather than distinguishing mind from mechanicals,
he describes different kinds of agency arising as the result of different raw materials available at different times and places. He uses the "toy model" of Conrad's Game of Life as an intuition pump to show how the appearance of agency arises from Darwinian algorithms through patterns like anticipating and avoiding harm.

The fact that the game is implemented on a device that follows instructions to the letter makes it a tough sell I think, and not entirely convincing (something he is acutely aware of, but can't seem to do anything about).

The human kind of agency is introduced by a much clearer discussion of Libet's "half second delay" experiments than he provided in "Consciousness Explained." He makes the point much more directly here how the half second delay can reflect a distributed decision making process rather than demonstrating that "we" are not in charge of our own actions, as the interpretation sometimes goes.

He still follows the basic interpretation used by Tor Norretranders in "User Illusion" and Dan Wegner in
"Illusion of Free Will," (which he has a lot to say about, mostly very good). The fact that there is a reliable
readiness potential prior to reporting our decision to act does mean that in some sense "I" don't directly initiate my actions. But Dennett further shows how we are shrinking this "I" too far when we use this argument to claim that "we" aren't in control or that a mysterious unconscious mind is in control.

"We" are able to disavow responsibility for our own actions under these contrived conditions because we break in
to the middle of the distributed process of decision making. Libet's results demonstrate the separate operation of the parts comprising the whole process, and the flexibility of our sense of self, not the ultimate powerlessness of the "I". This discussion is a high point of the book.

In building a case for the power of the "I" to take responsibility and form committments, Dennett does a brief
review of the literature on evolutionary game theory and the role of committment problems in human social life. He then makes his most important and final argument, that the capacities evolved to solve these problems have become the basis, through cultural evolution, of a fragile and socially and culturally nurtured and exercised ability to internallize reasons for behavior through reflecting on them and communicating them.

The idea that freedom, in the sense used in Dennett's final argument, is so real and yet so fragile is seen in the
way it can be heavily influenced simply by what we believe about it. The metaphor of "bootstrapping" runs throughout
the book, having been introduced in terms of the children's story of Dumbo the elephant. In some sense, we actually rely on useful illusions, such as the 'magic feather' that boosts Dumbo's confidence enough for him to try to fly. A crow flies up to shatter the useful illusion by grabbing the feather away. Dennett refers back to our frequent attempts to "stop that crow !" at various points in the book, pointing out where we may possibly be building real qbilities on the scaffolding of useful illusions, and trying to determine where the scaffolding can potentially be taken down once the real ability is in place.

Metaphysical determinism reconciled with moral freedom
The thrust of the argument of Freedom Evolves should be no surprise to those familiar with Dennett's earlier works on consciousness and on evolution; indeed, they strike me, as a scientifically-oriented naturalist, as extensions of common sense. Nevertheless, there are many who do not find Dennett's argument obvious.

The point of the work is to show the compatibility of metaphysical determinism and moral free will. In Dennett's views, the metaphysical question of determinism vs. indeterminism is irrelevant to the issue of free will. Moral agency is a property of beings that have evolved the ability to communicate with other beings and to reflect (albeit imperfectly) upon their internal psychological state. When we say "she could have done otherwise", it is not a metaphysical statement; it is a statement of abilities at an agent level. Even though a chess program is unambigously deterministic, it is still meaningful to say that "it could have done otherwise."

Michael Shermer has a review of Freedom Evolves in Science in which he takes minor issue with Dennett and argues that only a sort of "pseudo-freedom" is compatible with determinism. But Dennett's main point is that this "psuedo-freedom" is a real and meaningful -- indeed, it possesses all the meaningful properties that are desirable of free will.

Not being one who follows philosophical debates on free will too closely, I found Dennett's reasoning fairly self-evident, but philosophers may take greater issue with it. Regardless, Dennett is a capable writer and clear thinker; his works are always fun reads.

Thoroughly unimpressed
I didn't learn anything new in this book. The writing is cloudy and arrogant and redundant and inefficient. While I agree with Dennett's basic premise, that questions of ethics and free will should be asked from an evolutionary standpoint (how does this help the species survive?) I closed the book feeling altogether unsatisfied. Dennett always meanders around points and then claims them later. His arguments are not clear and convincing. Some of the main points in the book are:

that free will is an evolutionary adaptation
that indeterminism is not made possible by quantum mechanics
that decisions are processes taking place in the brain over space and time and therefore cannot be pin-pointed

but to me none of these theses are new or surprising, and I just don't see what took him so many pages to say what he said.

A Deterministic Basis For Free Will?
Daniel Dennett has written (as he calls it) an apologia for determinism in "Freedom Evolves" in which he endeavors to reinstate free will in human affairs. In fact he states that the common belief that free will is banished by determinism is dead wrong! And I think he has succeeded in at least convincing himself that his definition of determinism allows for this seeming slight of hand. I have to note I am in no way a philosopher of science, so I will give here only my opinion of this as a biologist who has specialized in arthropods, and as a rank layman in theoretical evolutionary thought. I will also note that I tend to agree most with the views of Ernst Mayr on the subject.

Mayr quotes Sewall Wright in "Toward a New Philosophy of Biology", p. 288, as saying "The Darwinian process of continued interplay of a random and a selective process is not intermediate between pure chance and pure determinism, but in its consequences utterly different from either." Thus, like the argument between nature and nurture, the issue of determinism vs. indeterminism is at least in part spurious. Given, however, that there is some reason to discuss this issue at all (it is certainly fascinating) it seems very reasonable that a man as eminently qualified as Daniel Dennett should write this book. Indeed, Dennett wrote an excellent exposition of the determinist view of evolution in "Darwin's Dangerous Idea."

I have a few bones to pick, however. On p. 25, Dennett uses Van Inwagen's definition for determinism as the thesis that "there is at any instant exactly one physically possible future." He goes on to state that determinism thus defined does not imply inevitability. However, most dictionaries state in their definitions that determinism precludes free will. Is Dennett here redefining the meaning of the word to allow himself the luxury of free will? To some extent he is- at least the commonly understood meaning. However, he does so at his peril because words can and do get people into trouble and his detractors have the same privilege!

The second bone is the statement by Dennett that he felt the need to write this book because he and his associates (among whom he lists Crick, Watson, Wilson, Dawkins, and Pinker) are often misunderstood and misquoted by colleagues who disagree with "genetic determinism." He may have a point about his colleagues (although they have said the same thing about him). He also notes that there have been "some unfortunate overstatements and over simplifications," which have made him and his associates targets (undoubtedly in part because of sensational headlines often associated with them.) Unfortunately, the press, most politicians, and much of the general public will never understand the nuances of the argument and some don't want to do so for their own reasons! Beside, some of the people he names as associates, or "responsible, cautious naturalists," as he calls them (such as Pinker, Dawkins and even Wilson) and other "genetic determinists" that he does not mention (perhaps these, such as Thornhill and Ruse, are irresponsible naturalists?) have made statements in interviews and in their publications that lend themselves directly to sensationalism and criticism by their peers. He also should not be too surprised that Derk Pereboom (2001) runs with the idea that we have no free will, given the "unfortunate overstatements" of his associates.

A third bone is that although Dennett does admit that some of the deterministic ideas can be misused he states that they should not be. However, deterministic ideas based on little solid experimental or historical evidence (such as Pinker's genetic basis for infanticide or Thornhill's male hardwiring for rape) should not be stated as fact, especially when scientists urge their use to set social policy. While Eldredge in his recent book (2004) does not believe that a researcher should hide the truth to avoid unpleasant realities, he does think that they have to be reasonably sure that the view is not a biased untruth. To paraphrase Mark Twain, it is not what you don't know that causes trouble; it is what you "know" that ain't true!

How does Dennett handle his main arguments (including one that quantum theory cannot save us from a deterministic universe)? Very well, but to me unconvincingly! To be fair he (among his associates I think a first) points out that hard determinists are faced with a serious dilemma, namely how to give themselves free will while denying it to others! Dennett also (correctly I think) points out the rather flawed idea of using labels, such as "genetic determinist." I wish Steven Pinker had been as careful about the "blank slate" idealists (environmental determinists)!

However, Dennett reinstates free will by (I think) a mechanistic slight of hand (I might add that this slight of hand could be how the universe works!) He dismisses quantum effects (I think the jury is still out on that one - perhaps Roger Penrose is wrong, but we shall see!) as weakening the ability to reach a free will decision and thus defeating the very process it seeks to validify. In essence, as near as I can tell, he reinstates free will as being a necessary byproduct of deterministic processes.

In closing, I think Dennett's book is well worth reading, despite my disagreements with him. Some of his arguments I feel unqualified to judge and in any case I may be wrong in my criticisms. He certainly brings up numerous interesting points and articulately defends his position. I remain, however, somewhat skeptical. After wading over the years through books by Dawkins, Ruse, Wilson, Gould, Eldredge, Lewontin, Pinker, Mayr, Williams, Barash, Diamond, Lorenz and Dennett (not to mention the more popular, but also more sensationalistic writers Ardrey and Morris) I am getting a bit tired of the debate. It has to some extent taken on the appearance of a group of clerics arguing over esoteric and obscure points of the Old Testament, with no end in sight!

Compatibilism sharp and sour
This book veers off onto a number of topics in addition to free will and determinism, most of which material is well worth reading even if you've read Dennett's other work. The argument with regard to free will is a somewhat original take on compatibilism - which is a longstanding position, all of Dennett's bluster about his groundbreaking scandalbraving notwithstanding.

Our point of view as living acting human beings is not the point of view of atoms or of gods and cannot be, need not be, and cannot even coherently be imagined to be. If you want to get that point across to an intelligent, scientifically inclined clinger to metaphysics, mysticism, or their lord Jesus Christ, this might be an ideal book to give them.

That said, I have some quibbles with Dennett's approach. He argues that an event can be determined but not inevitable, meaning not unavoidable (from the point of view of the agent involved), and he develops this point as something more than just a clever play on etymologies. But he goes on throughout the book to discuss free will in solely negative terms as the ability to avoid things. Why is there not one word on free will as the ability to create the new and unexpected? Why is there not even a comment on avoiding failing to be brilliant or heroic? In fact, Dennett uses forced confinement (as in a US prison cell) as an analogy for free will (we avoid child molestation by locking up people convicted of child molestation). Further, Dennett focuses part of his discussion of "intuitions" regarding free will on anger and resentment. Where in all of this is admiration, appreciation, self-satisfaction, gratification, or friendship?

Dennett leaves out much of what is valuable about free will. Those who object to his compatibilism may use this fact against him. I find compatibilism completely convincing but Dennett's view of life depressing.

Dennett clearly supports our habit of locking many people up in prisons, although he offers castration as a possible alternative for pedophiles. But, while protecting children from pedophiles may have something to do with the will power of former pedophiles trying to change, it ought to be seen as a separate issue from retribution for guilt grounded in freely willed criminal behavior.

If we are going to be advanced enough to drop metaphysics, we should also be advanced enough to make our handling of crime forward looking, focused on reconciliation and restitution. Dennett's fantasy about guilty individuals adopting a "Thanks I needed that" attitude toward punishment does not advance this project at all. ... Read more

Book Description

All living plants and animals, including man, are the modified descendants of one or a few simple living things. A hundred years ago Darwin and Wallace in their theory of natural selection, or the survival of the fittest, explained how evolution could have happened, in terms of processes known to take place today.In this book John Maynard Smith describes how their theory has been confirmed, but at the same time transformed, by recent research, and in particular by the discovery of the laws of inheritance. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Good, but today slightly dated.
Although I do not always agree with his views, I quite like Maynard Smith, so I rushed to buy this book which at its price seemed a real gem. Well, just to caution the reader that while it is classic Maynard Smith, the book is now quite old (1975). One can say that Darwin's 1859 classic, or "Selfish Gene" (1976) is also old, but these books were a milestone at the time. This book had less impact as a classic, so if one just needs latest information in a fast moving topic, there are more up-to-date works around. Even Maynard Smith's own (1998) "The Origins of Life" would be better value. You have to use your own judgement about this one.

One of the finest introductions to evolutionary science
This summary of evolutionary theory by the dean of the British school is essential reading for those who would understand the issues argued by Dawkins and Gould. It is an engrossing read, but is not trivially easy, despite having the appearance of a popularization. I would recommend it to anyone wanting more than a cursory overview of the most important theme of modern biology. ... Read more

Book Description

L. Luca Cavalli-Sforza and his collaborators Paolo Menozzi and Alberto Piazza have devoted fourteen years to one of the most compelling scientific projects of our time: the reconstruction of where human populations originated and the paths by which they spread throughout the world. In this volume, the culmination of their research, the authors explain their pathbreaking use of genetic data, which they integrate with insights from geography, ecology, archaeology, physical anthropology, and linguistics to create the first full-scale account of human evolution as it occurred across all continents. This interdisciplinary approach enables them to address a wide range of issues that continue to incite debate: the timing of the first appearance of our species, the problem of African origins and the significance of work recently done on mitochondrial DNA and the popular notion of an "African Eve," the controversy pertaining to the peopling of the Americas, and the reason for the presence of non-Indo-European languages--Basque, Finnish, and Hungarian--in Europe.

The authors reconstruct the history of our evolution by focusing on genetic divergence among human groups. Using genetic information accumulated over the last fifty years, they examined over 110 different inherited traits, such as blood types, HLA factors, proteins, and DNA markers, in over eighteen hundred, primarily aboriginal, populations. By mapping the worldwide geographic distribution of the genes, the scientists are now able to chart migrations and, in exploring genetic distance, devise a clock by which to date evolutionary history: the longer two populations are separated, the greater their genetic difference should be. This volume highlights the authors' contributions to genetic geography, particularly their technique for making geographic maps of gene frequencies and their synthetic method of detecting ancient migrations, as for example the migration of Neolithic farmers from the Middle East toward Europe, West Asia, and North Africa.

Beginning with an explanation of their major sources of data and concepts, the authors give an interdisciplinary account of human evolution at the world level. Chapters are then devoted to evolution on single continents and include analyses of genetic data and how these data relate to geographic, ecological, archaeological, anthropological, and linguistic information. Comprising a wide range of viewpoints, a vast store of new and recent information on genetics, and a generous supply of visual elements, including 522 geographic maps, this book is a unique source of facts and a catalyst for further debate and research. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

History and Geography of Homan Genes
This work, in hardback, is written with the advanced researcher in mind. The author is world famous for his pioneering efforts in identifying traits in particular traits in ethnic groups with unique genetic markers. The color plates in the index section can be helpful to those who know how to intrepret them.
It's a scholarly treatment of a highly technical subject and a thorough one as well. This is ground-breaking work collected from many samples and analyzed in detail. I think this should be required reading for college students in the field of genetic research.

A review of everything
Cavalli-Sforza presents the nearest approximation possible to the correlation of all measurable human genes, markers and attributes. You might think of the work as the "unified field theory" for evloutionary biology, culture and linguistics.

While the heft even of the abridged version is imposing, the component parts are manageable for those who already have basic statistical knowledge or who are willing to pay attention to the author's explanations. The world's populations are addressed in geographic chunks, and then at various appropriate points, more general conclusions drawn from the pieces.

Given the advances in genetic research acheived since publication, the model may ultimately prove more valuable than the particular contents...but for this decade the contents are fascinating.

Good Book, but Martel is Wrong
The book provided a great deal of information about genetic distances and the relationships between populations. However, Mr. Martel's review includes lies and these lies must be addressed. First of all, the native North Africans were not "very blonde" or "nordic". In fact, the ORIGINAL population was as black as their rock art depictions of themselves (which just so happen to span the Sahara and date back nearly 10000yrs). Many of these Ancient Saharans were, however, completely abosorbed by an incoming of migrants from the Middle East. Perhaps these migrants are the people Mr. Martel is speaking of??? At any rate, with the dessication of the Sahara, most of the original Saharans (blacks) migrated South into The Sudan. In fact, they can still be found in West Africa today. They (especially the Fulani and Dogon) can be recognized in person as easily as they can be recognized in the Ancient Saharan depictions drawn by their ancestors.

Thus, despite Mr. Martel's comments to the contrary, the admixture seen in North Africans today is not so much the result of slaves (modern admixture) as it is the result of both modern admixture as well as ancient admixture - admixture which took place LONG before the Arabs ventured anywhere near the region. As for the Egyptians, they were from the same stock as the rest of North Africa and they almost always depicted themselves as brown and intermediate between and separate from both the white people of the North (Europe), the light skinned Semites (Middle East), and the darker, more Sudanese people of the South (Nubia).

Mr. Martel is not completely wrong in so far as SOME of these Middle Eastern migrants had blonde hair and light eyes (a few individual Lybians were depicted this way). But, such features were most probably seen at the same rate theyre seen in Middle Easterners and North Africans today. Neither people, however, are "Nordics", and to assume they descend from Nordics based on hair color alone is ridiculous. Blondism occurs in Aborigines... are we to believe they descend from Nordics as well? Somehow, I think not.

Very interesting, but...
In this book, a group of Italian researchers present their study of the repartition of a sample of human genetic sequences, based on data they collected between 1978 and 1986. This is certainly very interesting for the study of human races, even if based on only a sample of sequences, many of them being not relevant for races. Although the authors acknowledge that some scientists were able to identify and classify the majors races, they pretend the concept of race is a failure because there is much intra-class variation for some DNA sequences within given races (by saying this they already implicitly recognize the existence of given races.) This is however the fallacy of strawman - attacking a caricatured enemy - for the concept of race never meant that there would not be great inner variation for specific sequences, but only that it is possible to cluster and classify human groups and that such classification should correspond to a higher degree of common ancestry for individuals of the same cluster, as the races are the result of micro-evolution. And given that we now know that most of the genome is not used, that the active genes are a very small proportion, the intra-class variability makes sense, as these genes are not expressed and thus not submitted to the selection of evolutionary pressure. It is enough to find some sequences clusters that correspond to the existing races to show that different races indeed exist, which the authors actually do (something confirmed recently by the result of the genome projects, finding that inter-races distance is 0,1 of the genome, something enormous given that most of the genome is not expressed, and that the distance between humans and monkeys is 1%, the difference between human races being then 10% of the differences between humans and the closest animals.) Besides, the same intra-classes variability is also observed among animal races and vegetal varieties, yet no scientist will say that this makes the concept of animal race or vegetal variety useless. Anyway, this misconception allows the authors to get a green light from the politically correct thought police and avoid censorship.

The book follows with an exposition of their data analysis method. The main issue is the distance measure for the genetic data, something new for me. Otherwise, they use standard methods of data mining / pattern recognition : design of classification trees, and clustering with principal component analysis (PCA, for which the authors use the PC acronym).

Then, after 60 pages, come their results, which make the rest of the book, 300, p, that is most of it. It is way too much to review in detail, I will make general comments.

Globally, when dealing with the main racial groups, their findings are corroborations of what was already known or supplementary information. The PCA gives a mapping corresponding to the main racial groups (Africans, Australoids, Mongoloids, Euripids.) .After 200 000 years of existence (at about -200 000), our African ancestors start to move northwards and evolve into the common ancestor of the non-African races. 100 000 years later, at -110 000, occurs the split between the Australoids and the Eurasian. And then at -80 000 the split between Mongoloids and Euripids, Europeans appearing very lately, at -20 000.

In the remaining 200 pages, the authors deal with each local populations, proceeding continent by continent, and comparing the local races together. Interestingly, they add a lot of environmental and cultural information. But here they miss the most relevant, namely the history and anthropology that is relevant to the given population, which makes them miss important considerations and analysis. For example they seem to believe that the Basque are an ancient Indigenous population, failing to know the well established facts that they arrived very late (in the 8th century) and are believed to have come from the Caucasus. It would have been interesting to compare the Basques with the populations of the Caucasus, instead of comparing them with the native Western Europeans. Or they fail to know that the native populations of North-Africa (Berbers, Kabyls, etc.) were very blond and tall Nordic people, as is attested by the Egyptian, Greek and Roman antic sources, as well as by their Arabs conquerors. And when the Spanish conquered the Canari Island, the Berbers (Ganches) they found there were also Nordics. The genetic change of the North-African population occurred after the Arabs imported many African (Negroids) slaves, as they did in many other places, like Egypt, Palestine, etc. This the authors ignore, speaking only of the Arab genetic influence (which was probably insignificant.) It would have then relevant to compare the North-Africans with the Nordics and with the Negroids, and see how close they are to each, and the same for those Berbers populations in the mountain who did not so much racially mix and often have light hair of eyes. To their credit, the authors find out with their genetic analysis that the North-Africans have Caucasoid ancestors.

In conclusion, this book is a mine of interesting data analysis. It would have been though quite better if the authors had teamed up with historians competent in the field of racial history, or with true anthropologists (anthropology having becoming ethnology.) Let's hope that the next similar book, which will exploit the data of the human genome, will be able to improve this. Anyway, human diversity, as long as intermixing does not destroy it, is a thrilling subject that illuminates history, as this book shows.

An extremely technical book
This volume is an abridgement of the full $200 "History & Geography of the Human Genes," and I found it quite incomprehensible. If you think you might want this book, I would suggest taking a look at its unabridged version in a local library first. The same author has summarized his findings in two other books which are aimed at the general reader. "Genes, Peoples, and Languages" is the most recent, while "The Great Human Diasporas" is the most accessible to the layman. ... Read more

Book Description

Some of the most important clues indicating human brain evolution come from the cranial cavities of ancient skulls. Endocasts of these crania provide excellent three-dimensional models that yield information regarding the size, surface features, and asymmetry patterns of hominid brains. Looked at as a group, these endocasts provide essential information regarding the human brain’s overall development.

Brain Endocasts, Volume Three of The Human Fossil Record, is the only comprehensive, single-volume work dealing exclusively and uniformly with fossil hominid brain endocasts. Never-before-published photographs come together with easily accessible, coherent descriptions to create a detailed reference on the paleoneurological evidence for human evolution.

Each entry offers essential information related to the location, dating, associations, and morphology of a given endocast. The text also covers the latest methodologies and techniques available for studying endocasts. In addition, a concise summary shows how these fossil records contribute to our understanding of human evolution and behavior.

Written by some of the foremost authorities on the subject, Brain Endocasts is an invaluable resource for advanced students, researchers, and instructors in paleoanthropology, neurology, and evolutionary biology. ... Read more

Book Description

Bones, Stones and Molecules provides some of the best evidence for resolving the debate between the two hypotheses of human origins.The debate between the 'Out of Africa' model and the 'Multiregional' hypothesis is examined through the functional and developmental processes associated with the evolution of the human skull and face and focuses on the significance of the Australian record.The book analyzes important new discoveries that have occurred recently and examines evidence that is not available elsewhere.Cameron and Groves argue that the existing evidence supports a recent origin for modern humans from Africa. They also specifically relate these two theories to interpretations of the origins of the first Australians.The book provides an up-to-date interpretation of the fossil, archaeological and the molecular evidence, specifically as it relates to Asia, and Australia in particular.

* Readily accessible to the layperson and professional
* Provides concise coverage of current scientific evidence
* Presents a robust computer-generated model of human speciation over the last 7 million years
* Well illustrated with figures and photographs of important fossil specimens
* Presents a synthesis of great ape and human evolution ... Read more

Book Description

This collection of specially commissioned articles looks at fragmented habitats, bringing together recent theoretical advances and empirical studies applying the metapopulation approach. Several chapters closely integrate ecology with genetics and evolutionary biology, and others illustrate how metapopulation concepts and models can be applied to answer questions about conservation, epidemiology, and speciation.

The extensive coverage of theory from highly regarded scientists and the many substantive applications in this one-of-a-kind work make it invaluable to graduate students and researchers in a wide range of disciplines.

* Provides a comprehensive and authoritative account of all aspects of metapopulation biology, integrating ecology, genetics, and evolution
* Developed by recognized experts, including Hanski who won the Balzan Prize for Ecological Sciences
* Covers novel applications of the metapopulation approach to conservation ... Read more

Book Description

Why do people resort to plastic surgery to look young? Why are stepchildren at greatest risk of fatal abuse? Why do we prefer gossip to algebra? Why must Dogon wives live alone in a dark hut for five days a month? Why are young children good at learning language but not sharing? Over the past decade, psychologists and behavioral ecologists have been finding answers to such seemingly unrelated questions by applying an evolutionary perspective to the study of human behavior and psychology. Human Evolutionary Psychology is a comprehensive, balanced, and readable introduction to this burgeoning field. It combines asophisticated understanding of the basics of evolutionary theory with a solid grasp of empirical case studies.

Covering not only such traditional subjects as kin selection and mate choice, this text also examines more complex understandings of marriage practices and inheritance rules and the way in which individual action influences the structure of societies and aspects of cultural evolution. It critically assesses the value of evolutionary explanations to humans in both modern Western society and traditional preindustrial societies. And it fairly presents debates within the field, identifying areas of compatibility among sometimes competing approaches.

Combining a broad scope with the more in-depth knowledge and sophisticated understanding needed to approach the primary literature, this text is the ideal introduction to the exciting and rapidly expanding study of human evolutionary psychology. ... Read more

Book Description

Our ability to walk on two legs is not only a characteristic human trait but one of the things that made us human in the first place. Once our ancestors could walk on two legs, they began to do many of the things that apes cannot do: cross wide open spaces, manipulate complex tools, communicate with new signal systems, and light fires. Titled after the last two words of Darwin's Descent of Man and written by a leading scholar of human evolution, Lowly Origin is the first book to explain the sources and consequences of bipedalism to a broad audience. Along the way, it accounts for recent fossil discoveries that show us a still incomplete but much bushier family tree than most of us learned about in school.

Jonathan Kingdon uses the very latest findings from ecology, biogeography, and paleontology to build a new and up-to-date account of how four-legged apes became two-legged hominins. He describes what it took to get up onto two legs as well as the protracted consequences of that step--some of which led straight to modern humans and others to very different bipeds. This allows him to make sense of recently unearthed evidence suggesting that no fewer than twenty species of humans and hominins have lived and become extinct. Following the evolution of two-legged creatures from our earliest lowly forebears to the present, Kingdon concludes with future options for the last surviving biped.

A major new narrative of human evolution, Lowly Origin is the best available account of what it meant--and what it means--to walk on two feet. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Get in touch with our ancestors
I recommend this book to anyone wanting to better understand our ancestors, not as unearthed fossils, but as living creatures who roamed the earth. Kingdon uses his own illustrations to bring us face-to-face with these ancient creatures, and to show just how we arrived on the scene. I am a scientist, but not an anthropologist, and have to admit that I needed to read the book twice to really understand it. Kingdon does not hand the reader easy answers, and does not provide summaries -- but rather proposes scenarios and dynamics that played out over several million years. This book is a delight, but it requires patience and/or some rereading. ... Read more

Book Description

Important practical implications are established by case reports and specific examples. The present book is the ideal complement to the practitioner’s manual Techniques in Molecular Systematics and Evolution, recently published by the same editors in the Birkhäuser MTBM book series. The first part of this book deals with important applications of evolutionary and systematic analysis at different taxonomic levels. The second part discusses DNA multiple sequence alignment, species designations using molecular data, evo-devo and other topics that are problematic or controversial. In the last part, novel topics in molecular evolution and systematics, like genomics, comparative methods in molecular evolution and the use of large data bases are described. The final chapter deals with problems in bacterial evolution, considering the increasing access to large numbers of complete genome sequences. ... Read more

Book Description

As human threats to the Earth's biota span unprecedented temporal and spatial scales, it has become urgent to integrate currently disparate areas of conservation biology into a unified framework. Combining conservation genetics, demography, and ecology, this book presents an integrative approach to managing species as well as ecological and evolutionary processes. The contributions are intended for students, professionals, and researchers in conservation biology, ecology, genetics, and evolution. ... Read more

Book Description

Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza was among the first to ask whether the genes of modern populations contain a historical record of the human species. Cavalli-Sforza and others have answered this question-anticipated by Darwin-with a decisive yes. Genes, Peoples, and Languages comprises five lectures that serve as a summation of the author's work over several decades, the goal of which has been nothing less than tracking the past hundredthousand years of human evolution.

Cavalli-Sforza raises questions that have serious political, social, and scientific import: When and where did we evolve? How have human societies spread across the continents? How have cultural innovations affected the growth and spread of populations? What is the connection between genes and languages? Always provocative and often astonishing, Cavalli-Sforza explains why there is no genetic basis for racial classification. ... Read more

Reviews (24)

Genes, People, & Languages, not Race, Culture, or Politics
It's difficult to review a book by Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, not because he's obtuse and overly technical - in fact his writing is very readable by non biologists - but because of the fact that this pioneer in population genetics has so much to say about so many fields in modern science drawing from a lifetime of experiences in the field. This is particularly true of GENES, PEOPLES, AND LANGUAGES which is based on lectures that summarize his lifework and theories. The man delves into biology, anthropology, lingustics, statistics, serology, evolution, and of course, genetics. He touches on culture, race, religion, and language; he has theories about human origins, migrations, adaptations, and the switch from hunter gatherers to agriculture. In short in the field of science, when Cavalli-Sforza writes or speaks, people tend to listen and read. We don't necessarily always agree with him, but we'll get to that in a minute.

From the early 1950's Cavalli-Sforza says he wondered "whether it was possible to reconstruct the history of human evolution using genetic data from living populations." This epiphany is significant for two reasons. Firstly that he followed up on it and obtained sufficient blood samples and has compiled a massive data base of human genetic data, is incredible in its own right. Secondly it is such a paradigm shift in the way science has studied human evolution and history. No longer were researchers restricted to the slim pickings from archaelogy, anthropology and history, namely: relics, human bones, and ancient documents. Cavalli-Sforza has made three major contributions to science using his genetic data on human migrations: (1) he was one of the first scientists to develop an "evolutionary tree" of human origins (2) he susequently mapped our migrations and (3) he showed that agriculture was transmitted around the world, not by transfer of cultural traits, but by movement of actual people.

More than half (4 out of 6 chapters) of GENES, PEOPLES AND LANGUAGES is devoted to looking at human population genetics. There are two other chapters; one each on the relationship between genes and language and the influence of genetics on cultural evolution. These last two chapters although interesting in their own right don't flow with the rest of the book, nor are they as well written; they could definitely have done with more editing.

Back to the first 4 chapters and my earlier point that some people disagree with Cavalli-Sforza's opinions. He is a major proponent of the view that there is no biological basis for human races. He would definitely be one who would quote the oft heard refrain that "race is only skin deep", and he provides a wealth of genetic data to prove this point. Race however is a lot deeper than skin, it is in the bones. Ask most anthropologists who deal with the human skeleton, or a forensic expert, and they will probably agree that they can differentiate between races. But wait, ask any biologist who looks at humans through a microscope and studies blood, and they will admit they have no idea what race they're looking at. This difficulty in arriving at a definitive statement on the reality of races is just one of the many debates in science. Cavalli-Sforza's opinion is just that - his view. The same is true for his support for the linear descent of human evolution, or the "African Eve" theory, which argues that we can all supposedly trace our beginnings to a single female hominid. The differences between anthroplogists known as "splitters" and "lumpers" is what you'll have to refer to in order to sort out that debate. Also what about Cavalli-Sforza's view that only cultural evolution is now taking place in mankind; contrast this with those who say human evolution is in fact speeding up.

All of this is housekeeping among biologists. Non biologists (myself included) need only be aware of these differences of opinion. This book is not argumentative, so it's not a polemic about race, culture, or politics. As a well written general introduction to some of the more interesting topics in human genetics, by someone universally recognized as a true pioneer in the field, this is a good place to start.

African Eve undermines valuable research work
Reviewer: Adam Chou from Flemington, N.J.

Cavalli-Sforza's book on genes is very well written and interesting. The topics discussed in his book are challenging. I like his use of "Culture" as being broadly defined. In this manner, a single word, without the complication of different words for the different stages of human evolution, describes the evolutionary progression of hominid life styles. From biped, use of stone tools, development of society to current technology, it is all inclusively named as cultural development of the human race.

His work on establishing the genetic tree of the world human population is an important contribution to our understanding of our ancestry. Unfortunately, his theory of "African Eve" clouds the work and muddies the text of the book. Fixing the biological time clock to fit the African Eve theory has weakened the value of the genetic tree. It is well known that genetic mutation is sporadic and initiated by ecological and environmental conditions. It does not occur at some regular intervals of time as assumed by him. In other words, it is not a linear function of time. In my paper titled "Two Genetic Traits in East Asia", I demonstrated that this genetic tree fit perfectly with the evolutionary process as hypothesized by the multi-regional theory where homo erectus evolved to be homo sapiens sapiens worldwide. The map on p. 94 in his book very accurately describes the migration paths of these hominids. In spite some shortcomings, the book is well worthwhile for any one interested in human evolution to possess as a reference.

Unfocused work covering an uneven scope.
Like its title, this book is a disjointed work. There is no central thesis in this work. Narratively, it is modeled like how "101 {Concepts|Mechanisms|Analyses|Facts} of Evolution" would be organized. Nevertheless, there are some interesting ideas and data presented, like the correlation of language classification and genetic groupings, or the possible (and probable) outgrowth and expansions of human settlements, arising from Africa. Less interesting, but worth a look, is the narrative on transmission of culture.

However, this is a work best avoided, if only in favour of the abridged version of the same author's History and Geography of Human Genes.

Not well-written, not worth buying
Granted, the author is a respectable scholar in historical genetics. And the topic is interesting. However, this book is poorly written:

1) Translation is generally sloppy. The English text is often funny, e.g. not sure which nouns a dangling clause actually refer to in running sentences. Either the original text is sloppy, or the translation is, or both.

2) Lack of information. Not a lot of actual scientific info is presented. E.g. Maps for principal component analysis for Asia genes would be of interest I think

3) Big gaps in the whole picture: the origins of both Chinese and Indians are poorly explained. It might reflect low level of scientific research in those countries; but from the writing itself, it seems the author does not really care about these people which account for ~45% of the world's population; at the same time, the author keeps pointing out that the Basques are unique.

4) Putting my Chinese head on here:
The language family that includes Na-Dene (in N. America), Caucasian (mainly Georgian), and Sino-Tibetan languages is called the 'Dene-Caucasian' family. I just can't help wondering how the scientific community name things. How can the Chinese language, with at least 800MM native speakers, not part of the name of the language family? It is probably not the author's fault, but as a founding scientist in the inquiry of human origins from genetic & linguistic point of view, the author has some responsibity for the bias I think.

5) Is the scientific evidence robust? In the early section on genetic mapping, each of the dots showing 'races' such as 'Basques', 'South Chinese', 'Dravidians', etc. are defined using considerations in 'location and languages' of the human samples. Makes me wonder whether the whole correlation between races and languages is just a convoluted tautology.

6) Lack of "so what". The book has no thesis. On this, Jared Diamond's Gun, Germs & Steel written in 1998 is a much more interesting read, using mostly the same pool of literature.

My advice: save the money, buy something else!

Much information, but little detail. Disappointing.
Perhaps I was hoping for too much from this book, in which Prof. Cavalli-Sforza attempts to present the current state of knowledge about the prehistory and orgins of all of the peoples of the entire world on the basis of the combined fields of genetics and linguistics -- all in a mere 200 pages.

Unfortunately, due to the vastness of this topic I found the quality of information on each point to be quite superficial and unsatisfying for my needs. For example, about the Japanese he merely states that the genetics and linguistics indicate that the modern Japanese are believed to be the product of the combination of the original Jomon people represented by today's Ainu and Okinawans, and the later Yayoi people who crossed over from Korea. And on the Hungarians, he merely says that research reflects their origins in Asia. Well, anyone with even the most basic of knowledge about the early history of these peoples already KNOWS this information and it is hardly anything new. I would be more interested in learning for example whether the genetic results on the Hungarians indicate any sort of genetic input from neighbouring non-Finno-Ugrians, etc. But none of this sort of detail is ever provided.

As I read this book over the Christmas vacation, I found myself likening the experience to eating a piece of traditional Christmas fruitcake. In one paragraph, Cavalli-Sforza might begin talking about a topic of particular interest to me that I found particularly "delicious", and I would say "mmm" in anticipation. But I was then disappointed to find that by the next paragraph (or "mouthful" of information, to continue the Christmas cake analogy), he had already rushed onto another unrelated topic of a different flavour. On the whole, I found the book to be quite uneven (--or should I say "lumpy"?).

This book basically condenses the information contained in Cavalli-Sforza's classic 1994 work "The History and Geography of Human Genes", and mixes it with a dose of basic linguistics. The only new information is data on the genetics of the populations of the Caucasus region, which was previously unavailable. For me, the most useful part of the book has turned out to be its up-to-date bibliography which will directly me to the more detailed information I seek, much of it hidden away in obscure journal articles.

If you are brand new to the area of origins of peoples, this book is probably just right for you. But if you have any knowledge about prehistory or linguistics you will probably find this book as unsatisfying as I have. Overall, I'd recommend spending the extra bucks and getting the original work mentioned above. This is what I will now have to do. ... Read more

Book Description

This edited volume is provides an authoritative synthesis of knowledge about the history of life.All the major groups of organisms are treated, by the leading workers in their fields. With sections on:The Importance of Knowing the Tree of Life; The Origin and Radiation of Life on Earth; The Relationships of Green Plants; The Relationships of Fungi; and The Relationships of Animals.This book should prove indispensable for evolutionary biologists, taxonomists, ecologists interested in biodiversity, and as a baseline sourcebook for organismic biologists, botanists, and microbiologists.An essential reference in this fundamental area. ... Read more

Book Description

In this highly original work, one of the world's most distinguished child psychiatrists together with a philosopher at the forefront of ape and child language research present a startling hypothesis-that the development of our higher-level symbolic thinking, language, and social skills cannot be explained by genes and natural selection, but depend on cultural practices learned anew by each generation over millions of years, dating back to primate and pre-human cultures. Furthermore, for the first time, they present their remarkable research revealing the steps leading to symbolic thinking in the life of each new human infant and show that contrary to now-prevailing theories of Pinker, Chomsky, and others, there is no biological explanation that can account for these distinctly human abilities.

Drawing from their own original work with human infants and apes, and meticulous examination of the fossil record, Greenspan and Shanker trace how each new species of non-human primates, pre-humans, and early humans mastered and taught to their offspring in successively greater degrees the steps leading to symbolic thinking. Their revolutionary theory and compelling evidence reveal the true origins of our most advanced human qualities and set a radical new direction for evolutionary theory, psychology, and philosophy. ... Read more

Reviews (16)

Thought police
Darwin operated in a thought world completely unacceptable to the "politically correct" speech/thought codes found on most college/university campuses today. If one subscribes to Darwinian or neo-Darwinian ideas, one has to wonder what new "great ideas" we are missing out on today, now that the politically correct thought police have taken over the media, education, and popular entertainment establishments--effictively suppressing the sort of thought that nurtured Darwin's "scientific" speculations.

True Darwinism
In the beginning of the book, you will find a sort of definition of Natural Selection, which is about all the space Darwin spends on formulating his hypothesis.

"Do the races or species of men, whichever term may be applied, encroach on and replace one another, so that some finally become extinct? We shall see that all these questions, as indeed is obvious in respect to most of them, must be answered in the affirmative, in the same manner as with the lower animals."

On about 15 occasions later in the book he writes about how this selective encroachment of human races occurs, most signicicantly when writing that:

"Extinction follows chiefly from the competition of tribe with tribe, and race with race. (.....) and when of two adjoining tribes one becomes less numerous and less powerful than the other, the contest is soon settled by war, slaughter, cannibalism, slavery, and absorption."

Racial and tribal genocide is the chief operator in shaping humans as they are today from an apelike progenitor, according to Darwin.

This work is not up to scratch compared to classics of biological science from the same timeperiod, such as Mendel's "Versuche". This work is more appropiately read together with Haecekel's "Natural Creation History" (Naturliche Schopfungsgeschichte), which Darwin profusely praises in the beginning of his book.

Both these works from Haeckel and Darwin carry decidedly racist and generally judgemental content. Generally judgemental in continuously talking about higher and lower in an expressely moral way. For instance Darwin finds it neccessary to assert what the highest state of morality is for a person, and elsewhere he urges people in any way "inferior" not to marry.

The science is shoddy, especially the formulation is seriously lacking. The moral judgementalism, which makes up a great deal of the book, is generally coarse and without significant emotion showing through.

War, slaughter, slavery, cannibalism and absorption.
1) The mechanism of natural selection among human beings:

"the races or species of men, whichever term may be applied, encroach on and replace one another, so that some finally become extinct"

2) The way natural selection operates:

"Extinction follows chiefly from the competition of tribe with tribe,and race with race. (...) when of two adjoining tribes one becomes less numerous and less powerful than the other, the contest is soon settled by war, slaughter, cannibalism, slavery, and absorption."

Make no mistake about it, all I did here was to distill the "formal" hypothesis from a book that's supposedly science. By the quotations above from this book, Darwin's version of Natural Selection theory stands or falls.

Excellent historical review
While I would never presume - as some reviewers might - to misstate what is said in this classic volume and then presume to suggest that "now you don't need to read the book," I will say that this is an excellent edition of a classic work. All who have any interest in the history of Darwinian evolution and particularly the historical views of the evolution of man will find this fascinating reading, particularly if the context can be juxtaposed with what has been discovered since Darwin's time. Of course, times have changed, our hopefully less euro-centric views have been altered and there has been considerable progress through the generations since the original publication by Darwin, and that makes the progress of human knowledge all the more fascinating, as well as the insight Darwin obviously possessed in his day. This one's a "must-read" for anyone interested in the history of science.

More than meets the highest standards.
How is it possible that anyone could be as ignorant as Rondeltap and give this great classic less than 5 stars? Given that it was written in the middle of the 19th Century, it more than meets the highest scientific standards of its time. Furthermore, except perhaps for Darwin's own Origin, it is arguably one of the most important works of its era. When we find that the writings of Marx, Kant and many other giants of that Century can no longer instruct us, we shall find this one still penetratingly relevant. ... Read more

Book Description

This new work challenges the natural/social dichotomy thesis by showing how the application of ideas which derive from biology can be applied and offer insight into the social realm. ... Read more

Book Description

This book about seeds focuses upon their two most important functions - dormancy and germination. The topics to be covered include the types of dormancy, theories of the relationship between dormancy and germination, the timing of germination, the various factors that control germination, and the general aspects of germination in different sorts of habitats.

* Provides information on over 3500 species of trees, shrubs, vines, and herbaceous plants
* *Gives guidelines for doing ecologically meaningful germination studies ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Outstanding contribution in seed dormancy and germination .
An amazing book from a peer couple of seed science and technology. Weed seed ecology is my field and it always facinated me, that how a plant showed his strategy against humen interference in its life cycle. This book is clearly answered these question by different ways. I really congratulate the honorable authors for there real contribution in seed science. ... Read more

Book Description

John Fleagle has improved on his 1988 text by reconceptualizing chapters and by bringing new findings in functional and evolutionary approaches to bear on his synthesis of comparative primate data. The Second Edition provides a foundation upon which students can develop an understanding of our primate heritage. It features up-to-date information gained through academic training, laboratory experience and field research. This beautifully illustrated volume provides a comprehensive introductory text explaining the many aspects of primate biology and human evolution.

Key Features
* Provides up-to-date information about many aspects of primate biology and evolution
* Contains a completely new chapter on primate communities
* Presents totally revised chapters on primate origins, early anthropoids, and fossil platyrrhines
* Includes an updated glossary, new illustrations, and a revised Classification of Order Primates
* Succeeds as the best introductory text on primate evolution because it synthesizes and allows access to primary literature ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Unquestionably the best undergrad textbook
Anyone who teaches an intro to primates course will wish to assign this book to their students. There are a variety of textbooks on the subject available, and some of them are excellent. Fleagle's volume, however, is the only one that provides such a complete review of the fossil record and anatomical variation, as well as behavioral variation. It is concise, thorough, and complete, and the best of the choices available to an instructor in this subject.

a must-have
Can you study physical anthropology and not have this book? Probably not. If it hasn't been assigned to you as part of your education and you are serious about physical anthropology, you should buy this book right now. This book outlines the living primates as well as the extinct species in an easy to understand, easy to learn format. It has all the information you could ever need to know about living and extinct primates.

excellent source of reference for primatology enthusiasts
During college, I used this book extensively to gather initial information on primates. This book covers anywhere from the evolutionary relationship of primates, to the current dentition of any primate species. The book does an excellent job of cataloging primate species to be easily referenced. ... Read more

Book Description

This volume provides an authoritative account of the current status of archaeological theory, as presented by some of its major exponents and innovators over the last decade.It summarizes recent developments and looks to the future, exploring some of the cutting-edge ideas at the forefront of the discipline. While few practitioners in theoretical archaeology would still argue for a unified disciplinary approach, few volumes have explored the full range of emerging perspectives.This volume, however, captures the diversity of contemporary archaeological theory.Some authors argue for an approach close to the natural sciences, others for an engagement with cultural debate about representation of the past.Some minimize the relevance of culture to societal change, while others see it as central; some focus on the contingent and the local, others on long-term evolution. The volume also reflects archaeology's new openness to external influences, as well as the desire to contribute to wider debates.The contributors examine ways in which archaeological evidence contributes to theories of evolutionary psychology, as well as to the social sciences in general, where theories of social relationships, agency, landscape and identity are informed by the long-term perspective of archaeology. Archaeological Theory Today will be essential reading for students and scholars in archaeology and in the social sciences more generally. ... Read more

Amazon.com

What is it about neuroscience that graces its practitioners with humility? Rodolfo Llinas of the NYU School of Medicine continues this tradition of quietly tackling the deepest issues in I of the Vortex. This exposition on the evolution and development of consciousness is accessible and intriguing enough to interest readers more philosophically than scientifically oriented. Grounded in research, the book posits our awareness as an artifact of the cortico-thalamic binding of perceptions and movements in synchrony; Llinas uses this theory as a launching pad for more far-reaching considerations of selfhood all the more relevant for their correlation with the facts.

Charmingly illustrated with artistic and scientific images cleverly supporting the arguments, the book is a quick if challenging read, and it explains all the scientific basics for those approaching from the humanities. Synthesizing evolution, philosophy, and neuroscience is becoming an increasingly popular endeavor for introspective eggheads, and we should be grateful: the question of consciousness affects us all and touches on every other field, from theology to particle physics. I of the Vortex is a welcome contribution to the theory of mind and essential reading for the introspective. --Rob Ligh