
Children Of Prometheus
The Accelerating Pace Of Human Evolution
Christopher Wills(Author)
Perseus Books (Publisher)
Published on 24. September 1999
Book
Paperback/Softback
320 pages
978-0-7382-0168-9 (ISBN)
Description
Are we still evolving? Scientists have grappled with this question since the time of Darwin. Now, in this provocative book, biologist Christopher Wills argues that we are not only continuing to evolve but that our pace of change is accelerating. He examines the rapid, short-term evolutionary change taking place in people living at the earth's extremes (even as babies, Tibetans can draw in more oxygen than lowlanders), and the new physiology of those who participate in extreme sports. But the more we shape our environment, the more it seems to shape us: Whether the future has us wiring our brains into vast electronic databases, or popping smart drugs" that alter the brain's very biochemical structure, new environmental pressures are speeding up our evolution in ways that we cannot now predict but that will help us to survive the future.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Boulder
United States
Publishing group
INGRAM PUBLISHER SERVICES US
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
528 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7382-0168-9 (9780738201689)
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
Person
Christopher Wills is Professor of Biology at the University of California at San Diego. His books include Yellow Fever, Black Goddess and Children of Prometheus. Jeffrey Bada is Professor of Marine Chemistry and Director of the NASA Specialized centre of Research and Training in Exobiology at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California.
Content
* Introduction The Many Faces Of Natural Selection * Authorities Disagree * Natural Selection Can Be Subtle * Living at the Edge of Space * Besieged by Invisible Armies * Perils of the Civil Service * Farewell to the Master Race Our Stormy Evolutionary History * The Road We Did Not Take * Why Are We Such Evolutionary Speed Demons? * Bottlenecks and Selective Sweeps * Sticking Out Like Cyranos Nose Selection For Diversity * Going to Extremes * How Brain Function Evolves * The Final Objection * Our Evolutionary Future