Why do we have sex? One of the main biological reasons, contends Ridley, is to combat disease. By constantly combining and recombining genes every generation, people "keep their genes one step ahead of their parasites," thereby strengthening resistance to bacteria and viruses that cause deadly diseases or epidemics. Called the "Red Queen Theory" by biologists after the chess piece in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass which runs but stays in the same place, this hypothesis is just one of the controversial ideas put forth in this witty, elegantly written inquiry. Ridley, a London-based science writer and a former editor of the Economist , argues that men are polygamous for the obvious reason that whichever gender has to spend the most time and energy creating and rearing offspring tends to avoid extra mating. Women, though far less interested in multiple partners, will commit adultery if stuck with a mediocre mate. In Ridley's not wholly convincing conclusion, even human intellect is chalked up to sex: virtuosity, individuality, inventiveness and related traits are what make people sexually attractive. Photos. BOMC and QPB alternates. THE RED QUEEN Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature by MATT RIDLEY
Why do we have sex? One of the main biological reasons, contends Ridley, is to combat disease. By constantly combining and recombining genes every generation, people "keep their genes one step ahead of their parasites," thereby strengthening resistance to bacteria and viruses that cause deadly diseases or epidemics. Called the "Red Queen Theory" by biologists after the chess piece in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass which runs but stays in the same place, this hypothesis is just one of the controversial ideas put forth in this witty, elegantly written inquiry. Ridley, a London-based science writer and a former editor of the Economist , argues that men are polygamous for the obvious reason that whichever gender has to spend the most time and energy creating and rearing offspring tends to avoid extra mating. Women, though far less interested in multiple partners, will commit adultery if stuck with a mediocre mate. In Ridley's not wholly convincing conclusion, even human intellect is chalked up to sex: virtuosity, individuality, inventiveness and related traits are what make people sexually attractive. Photos. BOMC and QPB alternates. 
Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution
Theodosius Grygorovych Dobzhansky, also known as T. G. Dobzhansky, and sometimesAnglicized to Theodore Dobzhansky (Ukrainian — Теодосій Григорович Добжанський; January 24, 1900 - December 18, 1975) was a prominent geneticist and evolutionary biologist, and a central figure in the field of evolutionary biology for his work in shaping the unifying modern evolutionary synthesis. Dobzhansky was born in Ukraine (then part of Imperial Russia) and emigrated to the United States as a young man in 1927.
Human Senescence:Evolutionary and Biocultural Perspectives
Much current research on the biology of senescence is on cell lines,
nematodes, or fruit flies, which may be only of peripheral relevance to
the problems encountered in human senescence. Human Senescence reviews
the evolutionary biology of human senescence and life span, and
the evolutionarily recent development of late-life survival. In examining
how human patterns of and variability in growth and development have
altered later life survival probabilities and competencies, how survival
during mid-life contributes to senescent dysfunction and alteration, and
the possibilities of further extending human life span, it gives a better understanding
of howhumans came to senesce as slowly as they do. Bringing
The Evolutionary Emergence of Language
Language has no counterpart in the animal world. Unique to Homo sapiens, itappears inseparable from human nature. But how, when and why did it emerge?
The contributors to this volume – linguists, anthropologists, cognitive scientists and
others – adopt a modern Darwinian perspective to offer a bold synthesis of the human and natural sciences. As a feature of human social intelligence, language evolution is driven by biologically anomalous levels of social cooperation. Phonetic competence correspondingly reflects social pressures for vocal imitation, learning and other forms of social transmission. Distinctively human social and cultural strategies gave rise to the complex syntactic structure of speech. This book, presenting language as a remarkable social adaptation, testifies to the growing influence of evolutionary thinking in contemporary linguistics. It will be welcomed by all those interested in human evolution, evolutionary psychology, linguistic anthropology and general
linguistics.
Content and Consciousness by Daniel C. Dennett
Content and Consciousness
Daniel C. Dennett
A pioneering work in the philosophy of mind, Content and Consciousness brings together the approaches of philosophers and scientists to the mind--a connection that must occur if genuine analysis of the mind is to be made.
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