
BioFutures and the Legacy of Our Past
Escaping Evolution
Derek Gatherer(Author)
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Published on 1. July 2025
Book
Hardback
243 pages
978-1-0364-4905-6 (ISBN)
Description
This book examines our possible biological future in the light of our evolutionary past. Beginning with out-of-Africa, through the development of agriculture to cities, modern technology and modern social structures, the last 75,000 years or so have been a story of attempts to distance ourselves from nature, to achieve an escape velocity that will liberate us from the gravitational pull of our evolutionary heritage. Much of that has been successful, but it has come at an immense cost to the rest of the planet. If we do not learn to deal with our evolutionary heritage in new ways, then we may shortly become part of the mass extinction event we have started. The problems which beset us - climate change, famine, migration, pandemics - have their origins in our biology. Solutions to these issues must take our biology into account, or they will fail.
More details
Edition
Unabridged edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Newcastle upon Tyne
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
Unabridged edition
Product notice
With dust jacket
Dimensions
Height: 212 mm
Width: 148 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-0364-4905-6 (9781036449056)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
03/2026
1st Edition
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
€65.79
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Derek Gatherer learned his trade as a geneticist and molecular biologist in Glasgow, London, Quito, Warwick and Cambridge, after which he was a lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University, UK, from 1996-1999. He has been a lecturer at Lancaster University, UK, since 2013. During the intervening period he worked in the pharmaceutical industry and then for the UK Medical Research Council. Since his first undergraduate paper in the journal Human Genetics in 1986, he has published over 120 articles. Since 2014, he has also taken to the airwaves, giving over 300 TV and radio interviews. His blogs on The Conversation have had over 3 million reads. He has also been a Fellow of the Centre for Social Futures at Lancaster University since 2019.