The Dominant Animal: Human Evolution and the Environment

Передняя обложка
Island Press, 30 июн. 2008 г. - Всего страниц: 428
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.

Результаты поиска по книге

Содержание

Note on the Paperback Edition
1
Prologue
3
Darwins Legacy and Mendels Mechanism
9
The Entangled Bank
35
Our Distant Past
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
Авторские права

Другие издания - Просмотреть все

Часто встречающиеся слова и выражения

Об авторе (2008)

Anne H. Erlich is affiliated with Stanford's Biology Department and Center for Conservation Biology. She has served on the board of the Sierra Club and other conservation organizations, has coauthored ten books with her husband, and is a recipient of the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement.

Библиографические данные