Braindance: What New Findings Reveal about Human Origins and Brain Evolution

by Dean Falk

Book Overview

When first published in 1992, Braindance presented a revolutionary look at the origins of the human brain. Biological anthropologist Dean Falk now brings the discussion into the 21st century. In this... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805012826
• ISBN13: 9780805012828
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
• Length: 260 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

CSI Meets the Human Cranium

This is an excellent book, and like all good scientific works the author has her own particular thesis, the "cranial radiator." Standing upright on the hot African savanna reduced the overall heat uptake of our ancestors' bodies by exposing less of them to the sun, and changes in cerebral "plumbing" were also required that may have added redundant capabilities later exapted as human intellect. There is a lightness of touch to "Braindance" evidenced by the author's photo on the back cover, which is actually a monkey, purportedly an "ancestral portrait." There is also an excellent photo of Glen Conroy doing research in Chad, he is holding an M16! These are the Indiana Jones's of anthropology. The human fossil record is primarily one of skulls and teeth and this expertly written account of past and present brain anatomy is elegant, timely, and significant.

Strives to explain what truly distinguishes human beings

Now in a newly revised and expanded edition, Braindance examines what science has to say about the evolution of the human brain and the origins of humanity as a species. Looking at what the most recent discoveries have to say about male brains versus female brains, and the difference - or resemblance - that human brains have with regard to primate brains, and much, much more, Braindance strives to explain what truly distinguishes human beings in terms as accessible to lay readers as it is to field professionals and academic scholarship. Information-packed and highly recommended.