Transcendence: How Humans Evolved Through Fire, Language, Beauty, and Time
Gaia Vince$25.50
$30.00
In the tradition of Guns, Germs, and Steel and Sapiens, a winner of the Royal Society Prize for Science Books shows how four tools enabled has us humans to control the destiny of our species
"A wondrous, visionary work." --Tim Flannery, scientist and author of the bestselling The Weather Makers
What enabled us to go from simple stone tools to smartphones? How did bands of hunter-gatherers evolve into multinational empires? Readers of Sapiens will say a cognitive revolution -- a dramatic evolutionary change that altered our brains, turning primitive humans into modern ones -- caused a cultural explosion. In Transcendence, Gaia Vince argues instead that modern humans are the product of a nuanced coevolution of our genes, environment, and culture that goes back into deep time. She explains how, through four key elements -- fire, language, beauty, and time -- our species diverged from the evolutionary path of all other animals, unleashing a compounding process that launched us into the Space Age and beyond. Provocative and poetic, Transcendence shows how a primate took dominion over nature and turned itself into something marvelous.
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 01/21/2020
ISBN: 9780465094905
Pages: 352
Weight: 1.23lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.30w x 1.40d
Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 09/23/2019
Kirkus Reviews 10/15/2019 pg. 71
Library Journal 12/01/2019 pg. 105
"A wondrous, visionary work." --Tim Flannery, scientist and author of the bestselling The Weather Makers
What enabled us to go from simple stone tools to smartphones? How did bands of hunter-gatherers evolve into multinational empires? Readers of Sapiens will say a cognitive revolution -- a dramatic evolutionary change that altered our brains, turning primitive humans into modern ones -- caused a cultural explosion. In Transcendence, Gaia Vince argues instead that modern humans are the product of a nuanced coevolution of our genes, environment, and culture that goes back into deep time. She explains how, through four key elements -- fire, language, beauty, and time -- our species diverged from the evolutionary path of all other animals, unleashing a compounding process that launched us into the Space Age and beyond. Provocative and poetic, Transcendence shows how a primate took dominion over nature and turned itself into something marvelous.
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 01/21/2020
ISBN: 9780465094905
Pages: 352
Weight: 1.23lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.30w x 1.40d
Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 09/23/2019
Kirkus Reviews 10/15/2019 pg. 71
Library Journal 12/01/2019 pg. 105