A Pocket History of Human Evolution, How We Became Sapiens, by Silvana Condemi and François Savatier (audio book 3.3 hours). This book is full of so-called “science” so I am going to summarize it in a way that the common person (you) can understand. Long, long, long, long ago human-like animals were developing into several distinct species. None were attractive in the modern sense. A couple of them became predominate: Neanderthals and what became modern man. Despite their differences, they had carnal relations, much like liberals and conservatives sometimes do in a dark bar under the influence of beer. (You can decide whether liberals or conservatives are the quibble they of Neanderthals.) For a variety of reasons, modern humans crowded out the Neanderthals, in large part because they progressed from Hunter-gatherers to people who liked broccoli, i.e. agriculturists. Brains got bigger, languages developed, hordes became tribes, and other changes occurred (some of which can be attributed to evolution, otherwise known as magic). Bipedal humans from Africa travelled to lots of vacation destinations, and like people visiting Colorado, many chose to stay. This was long, long, long, long ago when the earth had not yet been damaged by climate deniers, and when land bridges existed between some continents. Due to a shortage of sunscreen some people became darker. Others didn’t due to being subjected to less direct sunlight. People began hanging out together, governments emerged (but from what sinkholes they came no one knows), tools became refined, fire was invented, the Beatles invaded America, and humans began destroying the planet due to nearly unlimited procreation compounded by the failure of many people to die as God intended. So, in short, humans won the battle of species, invented knives, wheels, and Viagra, and they are now doomed because of conservatives’ aversion to birth control. You may want read the book yourself. ( )

Short overview of our branch of the evolutionary tree, about how and when things like upright walking, throwing strength, language, and brain size developed and then influenced further developments. ( )

This is, as it says on the cover, a pocket history of human evolution. It's clear, concise, informative, covers enough detail to be useful--including some interesting material I hadn't caught up with previously.

The authors are a paleoanthropologist (Condemi), and a science journalist (Savatier), and this is an excellent, accessible overview of what we know about our ancestors. How did our lineage emerge from the many closely related bipedal species to become the only surviving member of genus homo? The only fully bipedal ape? A species able to adapt to every continent (including, marginally, Antarctica), and make major alterations to the planet?

You may gain a new appreciation of the human foot. I was fascinated by the information that human populations were interacting and interbreeding across most of Africa, not just East Africa, fairly early in Sapiens development, expanding out of Africa as well as descendants of earlier out-migrants migrating back to Africa, and possibly at some point cross-breeding with Homo erectus.

Humans apparently will mate with anything that looks about right.

There's also a strong emphasis on the importance of cultural evolution, with language and the sharing of new inventions and ideas playing a large role in our rise to unlikely dominance.

It's informative, fascinating, and enjoyable. Recommended.

I bought this audiobook. ( )

A Pocket History of Human Evolution: How We Became Sapiens by Silvana Condemi and Francois Savatier is a short but very interesting and informative book about human evolution from our beginnings stepping down from the trees to the development of the state and the role war played in it. It concludes with a discussion of the effect of overpopulation on the planet and how the internet - 'a sort of global nervous system' - is changing humanity.

For anyone interested in our evolution, how we became us and how we are still evolving, this is a fascinating book. It is well-written and well-researched, cogent, and most important, written in language that makes it accessible to people who have little or no knowledge of human evolution. Despite their discussion of the Anthropocene, the "human era", and the growing devastation if population continues to increase at an alarming rate, they end the book on a surprisingly optimistic note:

Even though it might not seem very obvious, Sapiens remains sapiens, which is say, "wise. And we'd wager that, over time, we will become even wiser.

A definite high recommendation for anyone with an interest in our story from our earliest beginnings right up to the present.

Thanks to Netgalley and The Experiment for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review ( )