Not By Genes Alone - by Peter J Richerson (Paperback)
$33.00 when purchased online
Target Online store #3991
About this item
Highlights
- Humans are a striking anomaly in the natural world.
- About the Author: Peter J. Richerson is professor of environmental science at the University of California, Davis.
- 342 Pages
- Social Science, Anthropology
Description
Book Synopsis
Humans are a striking anomaly in the natural world. While we are similar to other mammals in many ways, our behavior sets us apart. Our unparalleled ability to adapt has allowed us to occupy virtually every habitat on earth using an incredible variety of tools and subsistence techniques. Our societies are larger, more complex, and more cooperative than any other mammal's. In this stunning exploration of human adaptation, Peter J. Richerson and Robert Boyd argue that only a Darwinian theory of cultural evolution can explain these unique characteristics. Not by Genes Alone offers a radical interpretation of human evolution, arguing that our ecological dominance and our singular social systems stem from a psychology uniquely adapted to create complex culture. Richerson and Boyd illustrate here that culture is neither superorganic nor the handmaiden of the genes. Rather, it is essential to human adaptation, as much a part of human biology as bipedal locomotion. Drawing on work in the fields of anthropology, political science, sociology, and economics-and building their case with such fascinating examples as kayaks, corporations, clever knots, and yams that require twelve men to carry them-Richerson and Boyd convincingly demonstrate that culture and biology are inextricably linked, and they show us how to think about their interaction in a way that yields a richer understanding of human nature. In abandoning the nature-versus-nurture debate as fundamentally misconceived, Not by Genes Alone is a truly original and groundbreaking theory of the role of culture in evolution and a book to be reckoned with for generations to come. "I continue to be surprised by the number of educated people (many of them biologists) who think that offering explanations for human behavior in terms of culture somehow disproves the suggestion that human behavior can be explained in Darwinian evolutionary terms. Fortunately, we now have a book to which they may be directed for enlightenment . . . . It is a book full of good sense and the kinds of intellectual rigor and clarity of writing that we have come to expect from the Boyd/Richerson stable."-Robin Dunbar, Nature "Not by Genes Alone is a valuable and very readable synthesis of a still embryonic but very important subject straddling the sciences and humanities."-E. O. Wilson, Harvard UniversityAbout the Author
Peter J. Richerson is professor of environmental science at the University of California, Davis. Robert Boyd is professor of anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Prolific authors and editors, they coauthored Culture and the Evolutionary Process, published by the University of Chicago Press.Dimensions (Overall): 8.88 Inches (H) x 6.7 Inches (W) x .83 Inches (D)
Weight: 1.01 Pounds
Suggested Age: 22 Years and Up
Number of Pages: 342
Genre: Social Science
Sub-Genre: Anthropology
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Theme: Cultural & Social
Format: Paperback
Author: Peter J Richerson
Language: English
Street Date: June 1, 2006
TCIN: 1006091148
UPC: 9780226712123
Item Number (DPCI): 247-20-9461
Origin: Made in the USA or Imported
Shipping details
Estimated ship dimensions: 0.83 inches length x 6.7 inches width x 8.88 inches height
Estimated ship weight: 1.01 pounds
We regret that this item cannot be shipped to PO Boxes.
This item cannot be shipped to the following locations: American Samoa (see also separate entry under AS), Guam (see also separate entry under GU), Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico (see also separate entry under PR), United States Minor Outlying Islands, Virgin Islands, U.S., APO/FPO
Return details
This item can be returned to any Target store or Target.com.
This item must be returned within 90 days of the date it was purchased in store, shipped, delivered by a Shipt shopper, or made ready for pickup.
See the return policy for complete information.