Kevin Laland Books

"Kevin Leland shows how the learned and socially transmitted activities of our ancestors shaped our intellects through accelerating cycles of evolutionary feedback. The truly unique characteristics of our species - such as our intelligence, language, teaching, and cooperation - are not adaptive responses to predators or disease, or other external conditions. Rather, humans are creatures of their own making. ... Laland explains how animals imitate, innovate, and have remarkable traditions of their own. He traces our rise from scavenger apes in prehistory to modern humans able to design iPhones, dance the tango, and send astronauts into space."--Jacket.

This book explores whether evolutionary theory can explain human behavior, offering an introduction to the ideas of Dawkins, Dennett, Wilson, and Pinker. It includes profiles of key figures and presents a balanced view of evolutionary theories and their shortcomings.