Contributors from a range of disciplines consider the disconnect between human evolutionary studies and the rest of evolutionary biology.The study of human evolution often seems to rely on scenarios and received wisdom rather than theory and methodology, with each new fossil or molecular analysis interpreted as supporting evidence for the presumed lineage of human ancestry. We might wonder why …
Essays from a range of disciplinary perspectives show the central role that cooperation plays in structuring our world. This collection reports on the latest research on an increasingly pivotal issue for evolutionary biology: cooperation. The chapters are written from a variety of disciplinary perspectives and utilize research tools that range from empirical survey to conceptual modeling, re…
"We are born crying, but those cries signal the first stirring of language. Within a year or so, infants master the sound system of their language; a few years after that, they are engaging in conversations. This remarkable, species-specific ability to acquire any human language--'the language faculty'--raises important biological questions about language, including how it has evolved. This boo…
This title begins the inquiry into the evolution of the collective sensitivities of life. Scientist-scholars from a range of fields - including biochemistry, cell biology, history of science, family therapy, genetics, microbial ecology, and primatology - trace the emergence and evolution of consciousness.
Contributors examine how regulatory & institutional environments affect the functioning of markets & propose reforms, arguing that quantitative methods should be used to guide policy & to reform rules & regulations. These essays offer methodologies for the assessment of policy alternatives.OCLC-licensed vendor bibliographic record.
Push a button and turn on the television; tap a button and get a ride; click a button and "like" something. The touch of a finger can set an appliance, a car, or a system in motion, even if the user doesn't understand the underlying mechanisms or algorithms. How did buttons become so ubiquitous? Why do people love them, loathe them, and fear them? In Power Button, Rachel Plotnick traces the ori…
In 1995, John Maynard Smith and E?ors Szathm?ary published their influential book 'The Major Transitions in Evolution'. In this volume, scholars reconsider and extend the earlier book's themes in light of recent developments in evolutionary biology.OCLC-licensed vendor bibliographic record.
From our hunter-gatherer days, we humans evolved to be excellent throwers, chewers, and long-distance runners. We are highly social, crave Paleolithic snacks, and display some gendered difference resulting from mate selection. But we now find ourselves binge-viewing, texting while driving, and playing Minecraft. Only the collective acceleration of cultural and technological evolution explains t…
This book deals with the very real possibility of earthly immortality and the human and societal implications of such immortality, including whether it is desirable. It looks at what makes immortality appear so attractive and at the possibility that we would be better served with longer lives and the freedom to terminate our lives at the time when life has given us all the joy, inspiration a…
"Guided by the Four Laws of Biotics, the book details how technological humanity should interact with the biosphere and each other in accordance with Darwinian principles, which illuminate a middle ground between unacceptable apocalypse or unattainable utopia, with two hopeful options: alter our behavior now at great expense based on Darwinian principles and extend current civilization, or fail…