Tag Archives: anthropology

Conspiracies and other stories that make us human

Posted on March 16, 2021 by smellincoffee

Early last week I read Brian Dunning’s Conspiracies Declassified: The Skeptoid Guide to the Truth Behind the Theories. I used to listen to Skeptoid over a decade ago, enjoying Dunning’s research into the facts behind popular theories and unsolved mysteries. … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

The Goodness Paradox

Posted on May 21, 2020 by smellincoffee

The Goodness Paradox: The Strange Relationship Between Virtue and Violence in Human Evolution © 2019 Richard Wrangham 400 pages The Goodness Paradox cannot help but be fascinating, for it seeks to address one of the most pressing questions of human … Continue reading →

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Why is Sex Fun?

Posted on January 16, 2020 by smellincoffee

Why is Sex Fun? The Evolution of Human Sexuality © 1997 Jared Diamond 172 pages Why is Sex Fun is a provocatively titled, slim volume on the evolution of human sexuality. Diamond never addresses the titular question, though,  instead  evaluating … Continue reading →

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Of Neanderthals and dogs and extinction level events

Posted on July 8, 2018 by smellincoffee

Time for science short rounds! Last week I read The Invaders,  a much-anticipated work about how dogs gave humans a competitive edge over their neanderthal cousins. This brief book posits that human beings function like invasive species, and after establishing … Continue reading →

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Sapiens

Posted on December 7, 2016 by smellincoffee

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind443 pages© 2014  Yuval Noah Harari In Sapiens, Yuval Harari presents a natural history of the human race from its flowering across Eurasia to a worried reflection on the prospects of of technohumanism. The book’s … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews, science | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

The Ugly Little Boy

Posted on July 28, 2016 by smellincoffee

The Ugly Little Boy© 1991 Isaac Asimov, Robert Silverberg. Based on the 1958 short story by Asimov.290 How would you like to babysit a Neanderthal?   Granted, Edith Fellowes didn’t realize that was the job description. She knew she’d be … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

TBR: And Then There was One

Posted on July 12, 2016 by smellincoffee

Dear readers,  we approach the end for the To be Read Takedown Challenge! Richard Francis’ Domesticated: Evolution in a Man-Made World proved disappointing, not because of the quality of content but the focus thereof.  Although Domesticated sells itself as a … Continue reading →

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Demonic Males

Posted on January 22, 2016 by smellincoffee

Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence© 1996 Dale Peterson and Richard Wrangham350 pages Why is the world run by violent men?  Demonic Males  argues that human males are by violent by nature,  a trait we share with … Continue reading →

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The Rebels: A Brotherhood of Outlaw Bikers

Posted on February 24, 2015 by smellincoffee

The Rebels: A Brotherhood of Outlaw Bikers© 2000 Daniel Wolf372 pages Ever wonder what  it’s like to ride with a biker gang? They held a certain fascination for Daniel Wolf, who decided to turn a local gang into an anthropological … Continue reading →

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The World Until Yesterday

Posted on June 19, 2014 by smellincoffee

The World Until Yesterday© 2012 Jared Diamond481 pages             Earth has been the province of mankind for hundreds of thousands of years, and for most of the time he has transversed it in small tribal groups, … Continue reading →

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