Screen LibraryThe story of the human body : evolution, health, and disease /
In this book the author, a Harvard evolutionary biologist presents an account of how the human body has evolved over millions of years, examining how an increasing disparity between the needs of Stone Age bodies and the realities of the modern world are fueling a paradox of greater longevity and chr...
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| Published: |
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| Literature type: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects: | |
| Summary: |
In this book the author, a Harvard evolutionary biologist presents an account of how the human body has evolved over millions of years, examining how an increasing disparity between the needs of Stone Age bodies and the realities of the modern world are fueling a paradox of greater longevity and chronic disease. It illuminates the major transformations that contributed key adaptations to the body: the rise of bipedalism; the shift to a non-fruit-based diet; the advent of hunting and gathering, leading to our superlative endurance athleticism; the development of a very large brain; and the in |
| Carrier Form: | xii, 460 p. : ill. ; 25 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (p. 371-432) and index. |
| ISBN: |
9780307379412 (cloth) : 0307379418 |
| Index Number: | QP38 |
| CLC: |
Q142.9 R32 |
| Call Number: | R32/L716 |
| Contents: | What are humans adapted for? -- Pt. I. Apes and humans -- Upstanding apes : how we became bipeds -- Much depends on dinner : how the Australopiths partly weaned us off fruit -- The first hunter-gatherers : how nearly modern bodies evolved in the human genus -- Energy in the ice age : how we evolved big brains, along with large, fat, gradually growing bodies -- A very cultured species : how modern humans colonized the world with a combination of brains plus brawn -- Pt. II. Farming and the Industrial Revolution -- Progress, mismatch, and dysevolution : the consequences, good and bad, of havin |