The Patchwork Human

Two Billion Years of Evolution
Erscheinungsjahr 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4766-8612-7
Verlag: McFarland

Buch, Englisch, 277 Seiten, Paperback, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 418 g

Life itself began about four billion years ago on our four-and-a-half-billion-year-old planet. Like an old patchwork quilt, evolution stitched the human being together from parts of ancient species now long extinct. Like any species, humans have hundreds or even thousands of traits that have been passed down through time. The evolutionary age our different traits can be told from how widely distributed they are among today's living creatures.

The book aims to explain some human traits and how we—as social, sexual, language-obsessed technological apes—evolved into our own modern species. Combining hard science with philosophical thought, this work aims to explain where humans have come from, and where we are going. Free of complicated jargon, it breaks down the concept of evolution starting with the human body's most basic component—our cells. Building from there, chapters explore which traits became inherited over evolutionary time, ultimately projecting what could be next for our species.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Luykx, Peter

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Moderne Philosophische Disziplinen Philosophische Anthropologie
• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften Evolutionsbiologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kultur- und Ideengeschichte

Über Autor(innen)

Peter Luykx, professor emeritus in the biology department at the University of Miami, Florida, has published research in genetics, cell biology, and evolution, and has taught and written for the non-scientist in those areas. He lives in Miami.