Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind (Hardcover)

by David M. Buss (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Composed of cutting-edge reasearch and featuring an engaging writing style, the author offers compelling scientific answers to the profound human questions regarding love and work. Beginning with a historial introduction, the text logically progresses by discussing adaptive problems humans face and ends with a chapter showing how the new field of evolutionary psychology encompasses all branches of psychology. Each chapter is alive with the subjects that most occupy our minds: sex, mating, getting along, getting ahead, friends, enemies, and social hierarchies. Why is child abuse 40 times more prevalent among step-families than biologically intact families? Why, according to one study, did 75% of men but 0% of women consent to have sex with a complete stranger? Buss explores these intriguing quandaries with his vision of psychology in the new millenium as a new science of the mind. Anyone with an interest in the biological facets of human psychology will find this a fascinating read.

From the Back Cover

Composed of cutting-edge reasearch and featuring an engaging writing style, the author offers compelling scientific answers to the profound human questions regarding love and work.

Beginning with a historial introduction, the text logically progresses by discussing adaptive problems humans face and ends with a chapter showing how the new field of evolutionary psychology encompasses all branches of psychology. Each chapter is alive with the subjects that most occupy our minds: sex, mating, getting along, getting ahead, friends, enemies, and social hierarchies. Why is child abuse 40 times more prevalent among step-families than biologically intact families? Why, according to one study, did 75% of men but 0% of women consent to have sex with a complete stranger? Buss explores these intriguing quandaries with his vision of psychology in the new millenium as a new science of the mind.

Anyone with an interest in the biological facets of human psychology will find this a fascinating read.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 456 pages
• Publisher: Allyn & Bacon; 1st edition (November 23, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0205193587
• ISBN-13: 978-0205193585
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #328,135 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A triumphantly successful milestone for modern psychology., February 3, 1999

By	[e-mail] "lhetz79249" (El Cerrito, CA) - See all my reviews

Professor Buss has taken upon himself the formidable challenge of producing the first evolutionary psychology textbook, a milestone that is long overdue. In his endeavor he has succeeded magnificently. In 411 pages he manages a sterling job of covering the most important topics in evolutionary psychology, bringing to bear the most up to date literature in a simple to read yet academically compelling format. He begins with a complete and intelligent introduction to both evolutionary theory and the events leading to the development of an evolutionary psychology. Thereafter, he covers broad branches of human behavior - kin relations, cooperative relationships, warfare, aggression, status-seeking, parenting and, of course, human mating strategies. This last topic is covered in several different chapters and highlights the author¹s own valuable, ground-breaking work done in the area. His book provides a miraculous combination of both utterly fascinating and effortless reading, rare qualities in textbooks. No review can be complete without mention of a few blemishes, however minor and in this case it is particularly tempting to simply omit them entirely. However, Dr. Buss occasionally relies heavily, too heavily perhaps, on secondary or general sources of information (i.e., Dawkins, de Waal, Pinker) when more research oriented sources are available. No doubt this stems, at least in part, from the fact that there is simply not as much primary literature on the subject as one could hope for (at least where humans are concerned). This will undoubtedly be improved by the time the next edition rolls off the press. Too, one would greatly hope that future editions of this text might include a section on foraging/hunting and food adaptations since they are so fundamental to survival and because so many other primate species display overt and well-studied feeding adaptations. However, such minor details are utterly dwarfed by the magnitude, importance and quality of this work. The breadth, depth and timeliness of this textbook cannot be overstated. If you are planning on teaching an undergraduate course on evolutionary psychology or are simply interested in learning more about the subject, this is, without question, the most authoritative and comprehensive vehicle available, eclipsing even the extraordinary Adapted Mind.

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is an excellent textbook for undergraduate students., October 15, 1999

By A Customer

By working from the premises of Tooby & Cosmides' Integrated Causal Model, David Buss has done an outstanding job of making accessible not only the complex historical development of evolutionary psychology, but also inclusive fitness theory, specific evolutionary hypotheses and specific predictions derived from these hypotheses. Furthermore, Buss is comprehensive, balanced and precise when asserting theories and empirical substantiation from other major thinkers, viz., Trivers, Pinker, Bloom, Ridley, Symons, Williams, Mayr, Plomin, DeFries, etc.

33 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Introduction to Evolutionary Psychology, July 12, 2000

By	Robert H. Pietrzak (Brookline, Massachusetts United States) - See all my reviews

In "Evolutionary Psychology -- The New Science of Mind," David M. Buss delivers a comprehensive, well-detailed, and illustrative presentation of evolved psychological mechanisms that have become universal across the human species while detailing the biology necessary to understand evolutionary theory and how it applies to human psychology. Organizationally-sound, the textbook reads like a novel, clearly providing theoretical and empirical information requisite for a fundamental understanding of Evolutionary Psychology. Buss' volume is essential reading for students of Evolutionary Psychology and very suitable reading for those of us interested in why we are the way we are. For more advanced readers, "The Adapted Mind," edited by Barkow, Cosmides, and Tooby is an ideal choice.