How Humans Evolved, Fourth Edition (Paperback)

by Robert Boyd (Author), Joan B. Silk (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Robert Boyd and Joan B. Silk bring their respective specialties to the groundbreaking Fourth Edition of How Humans Evolved. Using the broad perspective of behavioral ecology—how human behavior has been influenced by the evolutionary process—the authors offer a balanced discussion, drawing on updated coverage of the human fossil record. The well-structured pedagogical framework of the text, with its emphasis on overarching ideas, makes the material accessible to introductory students. .

About the Author
Robert Boyd has written widely on evolutionary theory, focusing especially on the evolution of cooperation and role of culture in human evolution. His book Culture and the Evolutionary Process received the J. I. Staley Prize. He has also published numerous articles in scientific journals and has edited volumes. He is currently Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles and on the faculty of the Santa Fe Institute.

Joan B. Silk has conducted extensive research on the social lives of monkeys and apes, including extended fieldwork on chimpanzees at Gombe Stream Reserve in Tanzania, and baboons in Kenya and Botswana. She is also interested in the application of evolutionary thinking to human behavior. She has published numerous articles in scientific journals and scholarly edited volumes, and is currently Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Product Details

• Paperback: 552 pages
• Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co.; Fourth Edition edition (October 21, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393926281
• ISBN-13: 978-0393926286
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #281,026 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Now in its Fourth Edition, April 17, 2006

By	John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Any textbook that makes it to four editions has to be a good one, in use at a lot of places and one that fits the current collected wisdom of the subject. I say this bit about the current wisdom because all of the sciences are moving forward at an extremely rapid rate. New theories, new discoveries make science change.

This book is rare, if not unique, in how it presents controversy. Some scientists believe this, some believe that. Most authors tend to have beliefs that lean one way or the other. In this book the tendency is instead to present both views and give the evidence for each. This approach is more adapted to how science really works, but it is unusual, especially in a book intended for undergraduate use.

This book is somewhat of a combination between anthropology and evolutionary biology. As such it brings a better understanding of how human beings became what they are today, one slow step at a time. It also presents all of the known evidence from both field observations and laboratory testing. It shows a picture of Lucy's bones, and it goes into DNA and gene theory. It is complete a text as you are goign to find.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Overview of Evolutionary Theory, August 30, 2000

By	Thomas P. Ambrose (Ypsilanti , MI United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: How Humans Evolved (Paperback)

This book was the required text for an anthropology course I took recently. The book explained things well and actually made complex biological concepts simple to understand, even for a undergraduate. It provides a very detailed and easy to understand overview of human evolution and the biology of human culture. I would recommend this book.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great textbook, May 15, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: How Humans Evolved (Paperback)

I never thought that I would enjoy biological anthropology, let alone understand it well, but this text has made the class easy and even fun (seriously, I'm not joking). The book is layed out simply with outlines at the beginning of each chapter and clear subheadings within the chapters to help get across the main points. The points are all connected together nicely to leave the reader with a complete picture of human evolution.