The Dominant Animal: Human Evolution and the EnvironmentIsland Press, 30 июн. 2008 г. - Всего страниц: 472 In humanity’s more than 100,000 year history, we have evolved from vulnerable creatures clawing sustenance from Earth to a sophisticated global society manipulating every inch of it. In short, we have become the dominant animal. Why, then, are we creating a world that threatens our own species? What can we do to change the current trajectory toward more climate change, increased famine, and epidemic disease? Renowned Stanford scientists Paul R. Ehrlich and Anne H. Ehrlich believe that intelligently addressing those questions depends on a clear understanding of how we evolved and how and why we’re changing the planet in ways that darken our descendants’ future. The Dominant Animal arms readers with that knowledge, tracing the interplay between environmental change and genetic and cultural evolution since the dawn of humanity. In lucid and engaging prose, they describe how Homo sapiens adapted to their surroundings, eventually developing the vibrant cultures, vast scientific knowledge, and technological wizardry we know today. But the Ehrlichs also explore the flip side of this triumphant story of innovation and conquest. As we clear forests to raise crops and build cities, lace the continents with highways, and create chemicals never before seen in nature, we may be undermining our own supremacy. The threats of environmental damage are clear from the daily headlines, but the outcome is far from destined. Humanity can again adapt—if we learn from our evolutionary past. Those lessons are crystallized in The Dominant Animal. Tackling the fundamental challenge of the human predicament, Paul and Anne Ehrlich offer a vivid and unique exploration of our origins, our evolution, and our future. |
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Стр. 4
... chemistry labs, electron microscopes, binoculars, butterfly nets, and theories, scientists have gained a reasonably comprehensive understanding of how Earth and its myriad inhabitants—including ourselves—interact and how they have ...
... chemistry labs, electron microscopes, binoculars, butterfly nets, and theories, scientists have gained a reasonably comprehensive understanding of how Earth and its myriad inhabitants—including ourselves—interact and how they have ...
Стр. 6
... chemical products never seen in nature. If at first this seemed a triumphal march, by the middle of the twentieth century a growing minority of scientists and others had begun to realize that the “conquest” also amounted to a vast ...
... chemical products never seen in nature. If at first this seemed a triumphal march, by the middle of the twentieth century a growing minority of scientists and others had begun to realize that the “conquest” also amounted to a vast ...
Стр. 8
... chemical characteristics change in response to natural and human-generated forces. It's a remarkable and ongoing story. By knowing our evolutionary past and understanding the forces that have shaped our present, we will be better ...
... chemical characteristics change in response to natural and human-generated forces. It's a remarkable and ongoing story. By knowing our evolutionary past and understanding the forces that have shaped our present, we will be better ...
Стр. 25
... chemicals to our air, food, and water, and exposing our children to ever more electronic toys and television shows unknown when we were kids. For the foreseeable future, natural selection will be responding to some of these changes (for ...
... chemicals to our air, food, and water, and exposing our children to ever more electronic toys and television shows unknown when we were kids. For the foreseeable future, natural selection will be responding to some of these changes (for ...
Стр. 27
... chemical leveland life perpetuates itself. They have had great success in discovering how, for instance, tiny sperm ... chemical ladders, made up of two complementary strands wrapped around each other. The subunits of each strand are ...
... chemical leveland life perpetuates itself. They have had great success in discovering how, for instance, tiny sperm ... chemical ladders, made up of two complementary strands wrapped around each other. The subunits of each strand are ...
Содержание
1 | |
3 | |
9 | |
35 | |
54 | |
Of Genes and Culture | 68 |
Cultural Evolution How We Relate to One Another | 97 |
Perception Evolution and Beliefs | 119 |
A New Imperative | 234 |
Altering the Global Atmosphere | 255 |
Energy Are We Running Out of It? | 290 |
Saving Our Natural Capital | 310 |
Governance Tackling Unanticipated Consequences | 331 |
Epilogue | 363 |
Postscript | 369 |
Glossary | 377 |
The Ups and Downs of Populations | 140 |
History as Cultural Evolution | 158 |
Cycles of Life and Death | 172 |
Ecosystems and Human Domination of Earth | 193 |
Consumption and Its Costs | 207 |
Notes | 401 |
Selected Bibliography | 413 |
Acknowledgments | 437 |
Index | 441 |
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The Dominant Animal: Human Evolution and the Environment Paul R. Ehrlich,Anne H. Ehrlich Ограниченный просмотр - 2008 |
The Dominant Animal: Human Evolution and the Environment Paul R. Ehrlich,Anne H. Ehrlich Недоступно для просмотра - 2009 |
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