Being human

£22.00

Powerful yet dextrous, instinctive yet thoughtful, we are expert communicators and innovators. Our exceptional abilities have created the civilisation we know today. But we’re also deeply flawed. Our bodies break, choke and fail, whether we’re kings or peasants. Diseases thwart our boldest plans. Our psychological biases have been at the root of terrible decisions in both war and peacetime. This extraordinary contradiction is the essence of what it means to be human – the sum total of our frailties and our faculties. And history has played out in the balance between them. Now, Lewis Dartnell tells our story through the lens of this unique, capricious and fragile nature. He explores how our biology has shaped our relationships, our societies, our economies and our wars, and how it continues to challenge and define our progress.

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Description

‘Illuminating’ TIM MARSHALL, bestselling author of The Future of Geography
‘Refreshing’ THOMAS HALLIDAY, bestselling author of Otherlands

Our biology will change how you see the world. Lewis Dartnell explores how human biology has shaped relationships, societies, economies and wars across the globe

How did haemophilia bring down the Russian royal family? And scurvy give rise to the Mafia?

We are a wonder of evolution. Our exceptional abilities created life as we know it, but we’re also deeply flawed. This extraordinary contradiction between our faculties and frailties is the essence of what it means to be human. And history has played out in the balance between them.

Here, Lewis Dartnell tells our story through the lens of this uniquely fragile nature for the first time. From cognitive biases to endemic diseases, he explores how human biology has shaped relationships, societies, economies and wars across the globe – and considers how, importantly, it continues to challenge and define our progress.

‘A gripping, red-blooded narrative from a master storyteller’ JO MARCHANT, author of Cure
‘A wild ride’ TIM HARFORD, author of How to Make the World Add Up

Additional information

Weight 0.592 kg
Dimensions 24 × 16.2 × 3.4 cm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Hardback

Pages

358

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

304.27 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K