The Ascent of the Mind: Ice Age Climates and the Evolution of Intelligence

by William H. Calvin

Book Overview

In a book as delightful as it is thought-provoking (Los Angeles Times), critically acclaimed scientist and writer William H. He also shows why understanding of our evolutionary past may be an... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553070843
• ISBN13: 9780553070842
• Release Date: December 1990
• Publisher: Bantam Books
• Length: 302 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Unearth this out-of-print gem on human evolution!

It is a pity that this spirited rant,which theorizes how sudden and cyclical global climate change pumped out ever stranger variations of hominids, is typically purchased by readers who buy books on cognition and neurology. Despite the "brainy" title, it is chock full of fascinating theories not just on the size and performance of the human brain but on many aspects of natural selection mechanics, and would be equally at home on the bookshelf of an anthropologist, paleontologist, geologist or meteorologist. Bringing home his ideas with modern everyday examples and an entertaining narrative structure, Calvin explains the usually stuffy and arcane study of our prehistoric ancestors and their less fortunate cousins in terms of systems of complex cause and effect, including the fluctuating environment and hominids' own changing mix of attributes. Dig this book up! [p.s. Great airplane reading--can't tell you why.]