The Descent of Man, Volume 1 PDF Download

Author: Charles Darwin
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Evolution
Languages : en
Pages : 442

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Author: Charles Robert Noback
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Brain
Languages : en
Pages : 346

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Author: Donna Hart
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429978715
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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Man the Hunted argues that primates, including the earliest members of the human family, have evolved as the prey of any number of predators, including wild cats and dogs, hyenas, snakes, crocodiles, and even birds. The authors' studies of predators on monkeys and apes are supplemented here with the observations of naturalists in the field and revealing interpretations of the fossil record. Eyewitness accounts of the 'man the hunted' drama being played out even now give vivid evidence of its prehistoric significance. This provocative view of human evolution suggests that countless adaptations that have allowed our species to survive (from larger brains to speech), stem from a considerably more vulnerable position on the food chain than we might like to imagine. The myth of early humans as fearless hunters dominating the earth obscures our origins as just one of many species that had to be cautious, depend on other group members, communicate danger, and come to terms with being merely one cog in the complex cycle of life.

Author: Timothy Taylor
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 023010973X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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A breakthrough theory that tools and technology are the real drivers of human evolution Although humans are one of the great apes, along with chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans, we are remarkably different from them. Unlike our cousins who subsist on raw food, spend their days and nights outdoors, and wear a thick coat of hair, humans are entirely dependent on artificial things, such as clothing, shelter, and the use of tools, and would die in nature without them. Yet, despite our status as the weakest ape, we are the masters of this planet. Given these inherent deficits, how did humans come out on top? In this fascinating new account of our origins, leading archaeologist Timothy Taylor proposes a new way of thinking about human evolution through our relationship with objects. Drawing on the latest fossil evidence, Taylor argues that at each step of our species' development, humans made choices that caused us to assume greater control of our evolution. Our appropriation of objects allowed us to walk upright, lose our body hair, and grow significantly larger brains. As we push the frontiers of scientific technology, creating prosthetics, intelligent implants, and artificially modified genes, we continue a process that started in the prehistoric past, when we first began to extend our powers through objects. Weaving together lively discussions of major discoveries of human skeletons and artifacts with a reexamination of Darwin's theory of evolution, Taylor takes us on an exciting and challenging journey that begins to answer the fundamental question about our existence: what makes humans unique, and what does that mean for our future?

Author: Russell H. Tuttle
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674073169
Category : Science
Languages : es
Pages : 1089

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In this masterwork, Russell H. Tuttle synthesizes a vast research literature in primate evolution and behavior to explain how apes and humans evolved in relation to one another, and why humans became a bipedal, tool-making, culture-inventing species distinct from other hominoids. Along the way, he refutes the influential theory that men are essentially killer apes—sophisticated but instinctively aggressive and destructive beings. Situating humans in a broad context, Tuttle musters convincing evidence from morphology and recent fossil discoveries to reveal what early primates ate, where they slept, how they learned to walk upright, how brain and hand anatomy evolved simultaneously, and what else happened evolutionarily to cause humans to diverge from their closest relatives. Despite our genomic similarities with bonobos, chimpanzees, and gorillas, humans are unique among primates in occupying a symbolic niche of values and beliefs based on symbolically mediated cognitive processes. Although apes exhibit behaviors that strongly suggest they can think, salient elements of human culture—speech, mating proscriptions, kinship structures, and moral codes—are symbolic systems that are not manifest in ape niches. This encyclopedic volume is both a milestone in primatological research and a critique of what is known and yet to be discovered about human and ape potential.

Author: Michel A. Hofman
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0444538607
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 494

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This volume of Progress in Brain Research provides a synthetic source of information about state-of-the-art research that has important implications for the evolution of the brain and cognition in primates, including humans. This topic requires input from a variety of fields that are developing at an unprecedented pace: genetics, developmental neurobiology, comparative and functional neuroanatomy (at gross and microanatomical levels), quantitative neurobiology related to scaling factors that constrain brain organization and evolution, primate palaeontology (including paleoneurology), paleo-anthropology, comparative psychology, and behavioural evolutionary biology. Written by internationally-renowned scientists, this timely volume will be of wide interest to students, scholars, science journalists, and a variety of experts who are interested in keeping track of the discoveries that are rapidly emerging about the evolution of the brain and cognition. Written by internationally renowned scientists, this timely volume will be of wide interest to students, scholars, science journalists, and a variety of experts who are interested in keeping track of the discoveries that are rapidly emerging about the evolution of the brain and cognition

Author: Larry R. Squire
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0080963935
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 12505

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The Encyclopedia of the Neuroscience explores all areas of the discipline in its focused entries on a wide variety of topics in neurology, neurosurgery, psychiatry and other related areas of neuroscience. Each article is written by an expert in that specific domain and peer reviewed by the advisory board before acceptance into the encyclopedia. Each article contains a glossary, introduction, a reference section, and cross-references to other related encyclopedia articles. Written at a level suitable for university undergraduates, the breadth and depth of coverage will appeal beyond undergraduates to professionals and academics in related fields.

Author: Helena Blavatsky
Publisher: Good Press
ISBN:
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 1600

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Helena Blavatsky's 'The Secret Doctrine' is a seminal work in the realm of esoteric and spiritual literature. Published in three volumes, this book delves into the ancient wisdom teachings of theosophy, touching on subjects such as cosmogony, anthropology, and metaphysics. Blavatsky's writing style is complex and intellectual, reflecting her deep knowledge of Eastern and Western philosophies. The text is rich in symbolism and allegory, inviting readers to engage with its deeper meanings and uncover profound truths about the nature of reality. 'The Secret Doctrine' is a valuable contribution to theosophical literature, offering insight into the mysteries of the universe and the spiritual evolution of humankind. Blavatsky's extensive research and profound spiritual experiences influenced her writing, making this work a testament to her visionary insights and metaphysical exploration. Recommended for readers interested in esoteric philosophy, comparative religion, and the mystical traditions of the East.

Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Publisher: Tacet Books
ISBN: 8577770699
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 5998

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This book contains 350 short stories from 50 classic, prize-winning and noteworthy authors. Wisely chosen by the literary critic August Nemo for the book series 7 Best Short Stories, this omnibus contains the stories of the following writers: - H.P. Lovecraft, - Edgar Allan Poe, - Arthur Conan Doyle, - Katherine Mansfield, - Jack London, - Guy de Maupassant, - Virginia Woolf, F. - Scott Fitzgerald, - Edith Wharton, - Stephen Crane, - Susan Glaspell, - Kate Chopin, - Laura E. Richards, - Alice Dunbar-Nelson, - Louisa May Alcott, - Hans Christian Andersen, - Charles Dickens, - Nathaniel Hawthorne, - Henry James, - Mark Twain, - Charlotte Perkins, - Elizabeth Gaskell, - Herman Melville, - James Joyce, - Leo Tolstoy, - Nikolai Gogol, - Anton Chekhov, - Fyodor Dostoevsky, - Maxim Gorky, - Leonid Andreyev, - Ivan Turgenev, - Joseph Conrad, - Aleksander Pushkin, - Robert Louis Stevenson, - Robert E. Howard, - G. K. Chesterton, - Edgar Wallace, - Arthur Machen, - Ambrose Bierce, - Talbot Mundy, - Abraham Merritt, - Zane Grey, - Edgar Rice Burroughs, - Oscar Wilde, - Rudyard Kipling, - E.T.A. Hoffman, - Bram Stoker, - H.G. Wells, - Franz Kafta - Washington Irving.

Author: Richard Wrangham
Publisher: Profile Books
ISBN: 1847652107
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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In this stunningly original book, Richard Wrangham argues that it was cooking that caused the extraordinary transformation of our ancestors from apelike beings to Homo erectus. At the heart of Catching Fire lies an explosive new idea: the habit of eating cooked rather than raw food permitted the digestive tract to shrink and the human brain to grow, helped structure human society, and created the male-female division of labour. As our ancestors adapted to using fire, humans emerged as "the cooking apes". Covering everything from food-labelling and overweight pets to raw-food faddists, Catching Fire offers a startlingly original argument about how we came to be the social, intelligent, and sexual species we are today. "This notion is surprising, fresh and, in the hands of Richard Wrangham, utterly persuasive ... Big, new ideas do not come along often in evolution these days, but this is one." -Matt Ridley, author of Genome