Children of Prometheus: The Accelerating Pace of Human Evolution

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.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 09/24/1999
ISBN: 9780738201689
Pages: 320
Weight: 0.99lbs
Size: 9.21h x 6.15w x 0.83d

Review Citations: Booklist 12/01/2000 pg. 687