Author: Steve Stewart-Williams
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108776035
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 671
Book Description
The Ape that Understood the Universe is the story of the strangest animal in the world: the human animal. It opens with a question: How would an alien scientist view our species? What would it make of our sex differences, our sexual behavior, our altruistic tendencies, and our culture? The book tackles these issues by drawing on two major schools of thought: evolutionary psychology and cultural evolutionary theory. The guiding assumption is that humans are animals, and that like all animals, we evolved to pass on our genes. At some point, however, we also evolved the capacity for culture - and from that moment, culture began evolving in its own right. This transformed us from a mere ape into an ape capable of reshaping the planet, travelling to other worlds, and understanding the vast universe of which we're but a tiny, fleeting fragment. Featuring a new foreword by Michael Shermer.
The Ape that Understood the Universe
Author: Steve Stewart-Williams
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108776035
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 671
Book Description
The Ape that Understood the Universe is the story of the strangest animal in the world: the human animal. It opens with a question: How would an alien scientist view our species? What would it make of our sex differences, our sexual behavior, our altruistic tendencies, and our culture? The book tackles these issues by drawing on two major schools of thought: evolutionary psychology and cultural evolutionary theory. The guiding assumption is that humans are animals, and that like all animals, we evolved to pass on our genes. At some point, however, we also evolved the capacity for culture - and from that moment, culture began evolving in its own right. This transformed us from a mere ape into an ape capable of reshaping the planet, travelling to other worlds, and understanding the vast universe of which we're but a tiny, fleeting fragment. Featuring a new foreword by Michael Shermer.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108776035
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 671
Book Description
The Ape that Understood the Universe is the story of the strangest animal in the world: the human animal. It opens with a question: How would an alien scientist view our species? What would it make of our sex differences, our sexual behavior, our altruistic tendencies, and our culture? The book tackles these issues by drawing on two major schools of thought: evolutionary psychology and cultural evolutionary theory. The guiding assumption is that humans are animals, and that like all animals, we evolved to pass on our genes. At some point, however, we also evolved the capacity for culture - and from that moment, culture began evolving in its own right. This transformed us from a mere ape into an ape capable of reshaping the planet, travelling to other worlds, and understanding the vast universe of which we're but a tiny, fleeting fragment. Featuring a new foreword by Michael Shermer.
Eating Apes
Author: Dale Peterson
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520243323
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 348
Book Description
Annotation As Jane Goodall never fails to mention, "bush meat is the greatest conservation crisis in my lifetime." This book documents in text and photographs how wild animals in the Congo Basin, particularly the Great Apes but also chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas, are slaughtered and used for human consumption.
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520243323
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 348
Book Description
Annotation As Jane Goodall never fails to mention, "bush meat is the greatest conservation crisis in my lifetime." This book documents in text and photographs how wild animals in the Congo Basin, particularly the Great Apes but also chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas, are slaughtered and used for human consumption.
Chimpanzee Material Culture
Author: William C. McGrew
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521423717
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 300
Book Description
The implications of tool-use behaviour in chimpanzees for reconstructing the evolutionary origins of human culture are discussed in this book.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521423717
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 300
Book Description
The implications of tool-use behaviour in chimpanzees for reconstructing the evolutionary origins of human culture are discussed in this book.
Among Orangutans
Author: Carel van Schaik
Publisher: teNeues
ISBN: 9780674015777
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 268
Book Description
The local people know him as the "Man of the Forest," who refused to speak for fear of being put to work. And indeed the bear-like Sumatran orangutan, with his moon face, lanky arms, and shaggy red hair, does seem uncannily human; one of our closest relatives in the animal kingdom, the orangutan may have much to tell us about the origins of human intelligence, technology, and culture. In this book one of the world's leading experts on Sumatran orangutans, working in collaboration with nature photographer Perry van Duijnhoven, takes us deep into the disappearing world of these captivating primates. In a narrative that is part adventure, part field journal, part call to conscience, Carel van Schaik introduces us to the colorful characters and complex lives of the orangutans who inhabit the vanishing forests of Sumatra. In compelling words and pictures, we come to know the personalities and temperaments of our primate cousins as they go about their days: building double-decker tree nests; using leaves as napkins, gloves, rain hats, and blankets, and sticks as backscratchers and probes; nurturing their infants longer and more intensely than any other nonhuman mammal. Here are the births and deaths, the first use of a tool, the defeat of a rival, the gradual loss of influence that, while fascinating to observe, may also help us to reconstruct human evolution.
Publisher: teNeues
ISBN: 9780674015777
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 268
Book Description
The local people know him as the "Man of the Forest," who refused to speak for fear of being put to work. And indeed the bear-like Sumatran orangutan, with his moon face, lanky arms, and shaggy red hair, does seem uncannily human; one of our closest relatives in the animal kingdom, the orangutan may have much to tell us about the origins of human intelligence, technology, and culture. In this book one of the world's leading experts on Sumatran orangutans, working in collaboration with nature photographer Perry van Duijnhoven, takes us deep into the disappearing world of these captivating primates. In a narrative that is part adventure, part field journal, part call to conscience, Carel van Schaik introduces us to the colorful characters and complex lives of the orangutans who inhabit the vanishing forests of Sumatra. In compelling words and pictures, we come to know the personalities and temperaments of our primate cousins as they go about their days: building double-decker tree nests; using leaves as napkins, gloves, rain hats, and blankets, and sticks as backscratchers and probes; nurturing their infants longer and more intensely than any other nonhuman mammal. Here are the births and deaths, the first use of a tool, the defeat of a rival, the gradual loss of influence that, while fascinating to observe, may also help us to reconstruct human evolution.
How Culture Makes Us Human
Author: Dwight W Read
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1315427230
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 284
Book Description
What separates modern humans from our primate cousins—are we a mere blink in the march of evolution, or does human culture represent the definitive evolutionary turn? Dwight Read explores the dilemma in this engaging, thought-provoking book, taking readers through an evolutionary odyssey from our primate beginnings through the development of culture and social organization. He assesses the two major trends in this field: one that sees us as a logical culmination of primate evolution, arguing that the rudiments of culture exist in primates and even magpies, and another that views the human transition as so radical that the primate model provides no foundation for understanding human dynamics. Expertly synthesizing a wide body of evidence from the anthropological and life sciences in accessible prose, Read’s book will interest a broad readership from experts to undergraduate students and the general public.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1315427230
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 284
Book Description
What separates modern humans from our primate cousins—are we a mere blink in the march of evolution, or does human culture represent the definitive evolutionary turn? Dwight Read explores the dilemma in this engaging, thought-provoking book, taking readers through an evolutionary odyssey from our primate beginnings through the development of culture and social organization. He assesses the two major trends in this field: one that sees us as a logical culmination of primate evolution, arguing that the rudiments of culture exist in primates and even magpies, and another that views the human transition as so radical that the primate model provides no foundation for understanding human dynamics. Expertly synthesizing a wide body of evidence from the anthropological and life sciences in accessible prose, Read’s book will interest a broad readership from experts to undergraduate students and the general public.
Ape Culture
Author: Anselm Franke
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783959050067
Category : Apes in art
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Ape Culture traces the long cultural and scientific obsession with humanity's closest relatives. In the Western historical representations of modernity, depictions of apes were traditionally used to show the absence of culture. Standing as a liminal figure separating humans and animals, the ape has, since ancient times, played a central role in the narrative of civilisational progress. This book, which appears in conjunction with the exhibition of the same nameseeks, however, to go beyond the mere examination of apes as signifiers of difference. The juxtaposition of artworks with documents taken from popular culture and the history of primatology gives the reader an insight into what the science historian Donna Haraway has termed the primate order -- a hall of mirrors reflecting the scientific and cultural projections that turned the ape from an instrument of humanity's self-definition into an integral element in testing out the possibility of reconstructing human nature. Ape Culture will be shown at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt from 30 April to 6 July 2015.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783959050067
Category : Apes in art
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Ape Culture traces the long cultural and scientific obsession with humanity's closest relatives. In the Western historical representations of modernity, depictions of apes were traditionally used to show the absence of culture. Standing as a liminal figure separating humans and animals, the ape has, since ancient times, played a central role in the narrative of civilisational progress. This book, which appears in conjunction with the exhibition of the same nameseeks, however, to go beyond the mere examination of apes as signifiers of difference. The juxtaposition of artworks with documents taken from popular culture and the history of primatology gives the reader an insight into what the science historian Donna Haraway has termed the primate order -- a hall of mirrors reflecting the scientific and cultural projections that turned the ape from an instrument of humanity's self-definition into an integral element in testing out the possibility of reconstructing human nature. Ape Culture will be shown at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt from 30 April to 6 July 2015.
The Scented Ape
Author: David Michael Stoddart
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521395618
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 304
Book Description
Both men and women devote time and effort to removing natural body odour and replacing it with sexual attractant odours derived from plants and animals - we seem to need to smell of something other than people! Yet of all the apes, we are the most richly endowed with scent producing glands. This book examines the sense of smell in humans, comparing it with the known functions of the same sense in other animals. Odorous cues play a role in sexual physiology and behaviour in animals and there are claims that odour can play the same role in humans. The place of odours and scents in aesthetics and in psychoanalysis serves to illustrate the link between the emotional centres and the brain. The book presents arguments to explain the way in which our ancestral past has given rise to our modern day olfactory enigmas. The material is presented with as much explanation of the technical detail as possible to make the book accessible to a wide readership.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521395618
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 304
Book Description
Both men and women devote time and effort to removing natural body odour and replacing it with sexual attractant odours derived from plants and animals - we seem to need to smell of something other than people! Yet of all the apes, we are the most richly endowed with scent producing glands. This book examines the sense of smell in humans, comparing it with the known functions of the same sense in other animals. Odorous cues play a role in sexual physiology and behaviour in animals and there are claims that odour can play the same role in humans. The place of odours and scents in aesthetics and in psychoanalysis serves to illustrate the link between the emotional centres and the brain. The book presents arguments to explain the way in which our ancestral past has given rise to our modern day olfactory enigmas. The material is presented with as much explanation of the technical detail as possible to make the book accessible to a wide readership.
Chimpanzee Cultures
Author: Richard W. Wrangham
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674116634
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 454
Book Description
Compares and contrasts the ecology, social relations, and cognition of chimpanzees, bonobos, and occasionally, gorillas.
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674116634
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 454
Book Description
Compares and contrasts the ecology, social relations, and cognition of chimpanzees, bonobos, and occasionally, gorillas.
The Ape and the Sushi Master
Author: Frans B. M. Waal
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780141003900
Category : Animal behavior
Languages : en
Pages : 433
Book Description
Primatologist Frans de Waal explores human and primate culture in order to arrive at a better understanding of the roots of human behaviour. He examines whether animals learn from one another and have what he defines as culture.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780141003900
Category : Animal behavior
Languages : en
Pages : 433
Book Description
Primatologist Frans de Waal explores human and primate culture in order to arrive at a better understanding of the roots of human behaviour. He examines whether animals learn from one another and have what he defines as culture.
Kanzi's Primal Language
Author: P. Segerdahl
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230513387
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 239
Book Description
Sue Savage-Rumbaugh's work on the language capabilities of the bonobo Kanzi has intrigued the world because of its far-reaching implications for understanding the evolution of the human language. This book takes the reader behind the scenes of the filmed language tests. It argues that while the tests prove that Kanzi has language, the even more remarkable manner in which he originally acquired it - spontaneously, in a culture shared with humans - calls for a re-thinking of language, emphasizing its primal cultural dimensions.
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230513387
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 239
Book Description
Sue Savage-Rumbaugh's work on the language capabilities of the bonobo Kanzi has intrigued the world because of its far-reaching implications for understanding the evolution of the human language. This book takes the reader behind the scenes of the filmed language tests. It argues that while the tests prove that Kanzi has language, the even more remarkable manner in which he originally acquired it - spontaneously, in a culture shared with humans - calls for a re-thinking of language, emphasizing its primal cultural dimensions.