The Ascent of Mind: Ice Age Climates and the Evolution of Intelligence

By William H. Calvin

Book Overview

In a book as delightful as it is thought-provoking (Los Angeles Times), critically acclaimed scientist and writer William H. He also shows why understanding of our evolutionary past may be an important tool in planning for the problems of maintaining civilization in the future. Line drawings throughout.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 055335230X
• ISBN13: 9780553352306
• Release Date: January 1
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.9" x 6.0" x 0.9"

Customer Reviews

Unearth this out-of-print gem on human evolution!

It is a pity that this spirited rant,which theorizes how sudden and cyclical global climate change pumped out ever stranger variations of hominids, is typically purchased by readers who buy books on cognition and neurology. Despite the "brainy" title, it is chock full of fascinating theories not just on the size and performance of the human brain but on many aspects of natural selection mechanics, and would be equally at home on the bookshelf of an anthropologist, paleontologist, geologist or meteorologist. Bringing home his ideas with modern everyday examples and an entertaining narrative structure, Calvin explains the usually stuffy and arcane study of our prehistoric ancestors and their less fortunate cousins in terms of systems of complex cause and effect, including the fluctuating environment and hominids' own changing mix of attributes. Dig this book up! [p.s. Great airplane reading--can't tell you why.]