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Sto caricando le informazioni... Children of the Ice Age: How a Global Catastrophe Allowed Humans to Evolve (1996)di Steven M. Stanley
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Iscriviti per consentire a LibraryThing di scoprire se ti piacerà questo libro. Attualmente non vi sono conversazioni su questo libro. Considers the Ice Ages a global catastrophe that caused (allowed) the development of Homo sps. Interesting (posted on my blog: davenichols.net) Paleobiologist Steven Stanley considers the impact of major ecological and environmental changes wrought by ice ages on the evolution of human beings in his book Children of the Ice Age. A fascinating subject and impressive theory, the treatment here is disappointing. I found Stanley's writing to be a bit jarring: the narrative seemed to skip across necessary connections between thoughts. By the time the author got to the primary evidence for his thesis, I had had to reread numerous passages to attempt to understand his points. The writing is not dense or overly-complicated (I am an experienced science reader who often enjoys such dense treatments), but it left me missing the point far too often. Still, the subject is very interesting, and while I wouldn't recommend this book to many people, those with a keen interest in paleontology, paleobiology, anthropology, evolution, and population migrations will likely find some value in reading Children. Two and one-half stars. This is a great book, and stands up well with my other favorite in the in the anthropological genre, "Guns, Germs, and Steel" by Jared Diamond. But "Children of the Ice Age" easily eclipses another of Diamond's books, "The 3rd Chimpanzee," although it has the advantage of being newer and thus having more recent scientific work to pick from. It does an excellent job of lucidly reasoning out how man may have evolved from Australopithecines. Highly recommended for the science-minded. And in response to 'mama4x4's comments below, I too see the likelihood of an intelligence in the universe, and I don't think that Science in any way stands against that viewpoint now, or ever will. nessuna recensione | aggiungi una recensione
"The contending theories of human evolution hold a special fascination for those who question the origin of human nature. In this book, prominent Johns Hopkins paleobiologist Steven M. Stanley proposes a bold new theory answering the classic chicken-or-egg question of human evolution: which came first, our bipedalism or the unprecedented size of our brains?" "With insight and remarkable common sense, Dr. Stanley argues that the confluence of environmental factors and developmental imperatives is the key to the mysteriously swift evolution from Australopithecus to Homo two-and-a-half-million years ago. While humans' unique brain is one of the most remarkable achievements of evolution, Stanley shows that it is intimately tied to our species' slow maturation and "postnatal helplessness," which requires extremely attentive parenting, particularly constant lifting and carrying of infants. This trade-off, which Stanley calls a "great evolutionary compromise," indicates that no tree-dwelling species could develop large brains. But if abandoning the trees was an evolutionary requisite for large brains, what can explain why our ancestors would choose the far more dangerous grassy terrain of Africa in the first place? A catastrophic change in the global climate, which Stanley links in a novel but convincing way to the formation of the Isthmus of Panama, is the answer Stanley unfolds in this anthropological detective story."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
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Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni... GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)573.2Natural sciences and mathematics Life Sciences, Biology Physiological systems in animals Origin of manClassificazione LCVotoMedia:
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