Tag Archives: anthropology

Of Darwin, dinosaurs, and Denisovians

I expect to leave the recovery-suite of the hotel at the end of this week and eturn home, though I’ll be returning to Birmingham every two weeks for checkups for the next few months. During this multiweek siesta, I’ve mostly … Continue reading

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Two for forensics

Readers of Sherlock Holmes may remember that fictional character had such a command of diverse sciences and skills that his assistant Watson was impelled to innumerate them. American Sherlock introduces readers to the life of Edward Oscar Heinrich, a real-life … Continue reading

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Studying naked people

The Naked Woman: A Study of the Female Body © 2005 Desmond MorrisThe Naked Man: A Study of the Male Body © 2009 Desmond Morris Years ago I read Desmond Morris’ The Naked Ape, an anthropological look at humanity. In scrutinizing human beings’ animal … Continue reading

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Of anthropology, Solzhenitsyn, and a return to the gulag archipelago

If I’ve been quiet as of late, I’ve been bedridden with a severe sinus infection, one that came with headaches so severe that I couldn’t even use my four days off of work to read. Yesterday was the first day … Continue reading

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Of Mars, Antarctica, and the human condition

Mars is a cold tease, an object of immediate interest to anyone who believes humanity needs to continue to venture outward.  It’s neither so hostile or so far from us to preclude manned missions entirely,  and it has its own resources that … Continue reading

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Conspiracies and other stories that make us human

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

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The Goodness Paradox

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?

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

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

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

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