Tag Archives: anthropology

This week at the library: NaNoWriMo, rebels against the rebellion, death on Everest, and maaaaybe Richard Sharpe

Posted on November 12, 2013 by smellincoffee

Dear readers: For the first time in the five or so years I’ve been aware of NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, I am attempting to participate. For those who have not heard of this, it’s a challenge in which … Continue reading →

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Paleofantasy

Posted on September 4, 2013 by smellincoffee

Paleofantasy: What Evolution Really Says about Sex, Diet, and How We Live© 2013 Marlene Zuk328 pages Despite its name, Paleofantasy is not a deliberate debunking of arguments for a ‘paleo diet’ and a paleo lifestyle.  Although Zuk does take aim at … Continue reading →

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The Righteous Mind

Posted on August 26, 2013 by smellincoffee

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion© 2013 Jonathan Haidt528 pages The Righteous Mind begins with a question, seriously posed: why  can’t we all get along? To find the answer, Jonathan Haidt delves into the … Continue reading →

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The Humans Who Went Extinct

Posted on December 21, 2012 by smellincoffee

The Humans Who Went Extinct: Why Neanderthals Died Out and We Survived© 2010 Clive Finlayson256 pages Whatever happened to the Neanderthals? Did Homo sapiens drive our beefy cousins into extinction in the first of many exercises in genocide as we … Continue reading →

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Read of England 2012

Posted on November 17, 2012 by smellincoffee

Last week, Britons celebrated or observed Guy Fawkes Night on 5 November, a date I usually try to do some English-themed reading around, just as I do readings for the Fourth of July and Bastille Day. This year’s reading consisted … Continue reading →

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Catching Fire

Posted on May 9, 2012 by smellincoffee

Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human © 2009 Richard Wrangham309 pages Cooking has created a great many fantastic dish throughout the centuries, but Richard Wrangham holds that the culinary art’s greatest triumph is us — humanity, for the advent of … Continue reading →

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Mapping Human History

Posted on November 30, 2010 by smellincoffee

Mapping Human History: Discovering the Past through Our Genes© 2002 Steve Olson292 pages Mapping Human History caught my attention a couple of weeks ago given my interests in evolution and anthropology. Author Steve Olson offers a quick history of human … Continue reading →

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African Exodus

Posted on September 29, 2010 by smellincoffee

African Exodus: the Origins of Modern Humanity© 1996 Christopher Stringer and Robin McKie282 pages “Light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history…” Ever since Charles Darwin made that first and solitary reference to human evolution in … Continue reading →

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Africa

Posted on June 2, 2010 by smellincoffee

Africa: a Biography of the Continent© 1997  John Reader816 pages And we are scatterlings of Africa, both you and I  We’re on the road to Phelemanga, beneath a copper sky; And we are scatterlings of Africa, on a journey to … Continue reading →

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1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus

Posted on April 11, 2010 by smellincoffee

1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus© 2005 Charles C. Mann465 pages 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus is an ambitious book that attempts to rout a host of assumptions about the land and people of the … Continue reading →

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