Reading List
Arsuaga, Juan Luis The Neanderthal's Necklace (Four Walls, 2002).
Discussion of the life and culture of Neanderthals, early inhabitants of Europe
who are
not ancestors of humans and why they are not.
Bailey, J. Michael. The
Man Who Would Be Queen. Joseph
Henry, 2003. The best introduction to the etiology of homosexuality although
highly controversial among gay activists and conservatives alike.
Bainbridge, David. The
X in Sex. (Harvard Press, 2003).
Interesting discussion of the X chromosome and its effects on gender determination,
gender related traits, and gender related diseases.
Banton, Michael Racial Theories (2nd
edition, Cambridge U. Press, 1998). A classic discussion of theories of race
and justifications
for racism across time.
Barkow, Jerome, Cosmides, Leda, & Tooby, John. The
Adapted Mind. Oxford, 1992. An edited book containing a classic
set of papers on evolutionary psychology. Now dated and not easy to read,
but it still contains
the major arguments.
Baron-Cohen, Simon The Essential Difference (Basic
Books, 2003). Argues that men and women have fundamentally different ways
of thinking, men
being better
at systematizing and women at empathy. Provocative and draws on a range of
psychological, evolutionary, and biological research. His earlier Mindblindness deals with theory of mind and autism which also are covered in the more recent
book.
Bloom, Paul. Descartes'
Baby. Basic Books, 2004. What
infants know and how they learn more, written from an evolutionary perspective.
First rate.
Boyd, Robert & Silk, Joan How Humans Evolved.
(Norton, 2003). A standard textbook with more detail than the average reader
needs
(or wants) but quite readable.
Buss, David. The Evolution of
Desire. Basic Books, 1994.
The leading exponent of the idea that men favor attractiveness and females
resources in picking mates. A classic.
Cartwright, John. Evolution
and Human Behavior: Darwinian Perspectives on Human Nature.
(Macmillan 2000). A fairly comprehensive treatment of the history of
evolutionary thinking about humans and modern evolutionary
psychology.
Cavalli-Sforza, Luigi Luca. Genes,
Peoples, and Languages.
(University of California Press, 2000). One of the leaders in modern studies
of gene distributions around the world used to infer evolutionary history.
He also discusses parallel developments in language evolution.
This is not an easy read, but it is as close to definitive as one can
get in a non-professional book. Wells and Olson below cover some of the
same material in a more accessible manner.
Daly, Martin & Wilson, Margo. Homicide. Adline, 1988.
An evolutionary account of murder. Their later and much briefer, The
Truth about Cinderella (Yale Press, 1998) covers the same material.
Dawkins, Richard. The Selfish Gene (2nd edition, Oxford
Press, 1990), A classic but readable reformulation of how genes work. His
later The Blind Watchmaker (reissue, Norton, 1996) is another classic and
accessible discussion of evolution and how chance factors can account for
biological complexity.
Dennett, Daniel Darwin's Dangerous Idea (Simon & Schuster,
1995). An influential philosopher has written one of the best discussions
of modern evolutionary theory.
Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel.
(Norton, 1999). A Pulitzer Prize winning, well-written, and brilliant treatment
of
why
some cultures have become "advanced" while others have languished.
His argument rests on
geographical
and environmental explanations rather than genetic. Similarly his recently
published (and best selling) Collapse explains why cultures and civilizations
decline. His earlier The
Third Chimpanzee on human evolution is also exciting although
now a bit dated.
Evans, Dylan & Zarate, Oscar Evolutionary Psychology (Icon Books, 1999). Despite
heavy reliance on cartoons this is the best short introduction to this topic.
Gopnik, Alison, Meltzoff, Andrew, & Kuhl, Patricia The
Scientist in the Crib. (Harper, 1999). Three experts on human infancy discuss
the interplay between genetically given cognitive programs and the experiences
of babies. Highly readable.
Gould, Stephen Jay. The
Mismeasure of Man (Norton,
1996). A biased but informative attack on psychologists' attempts to measure
individual
differences, especially intelligence, and the effects on racial and gender
theories on the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Harris, Judith Rich The
Nurture Assumption (Free Press, 1998). Mounts
a strong argument that genetics and peers matter more in developmental outcomes
than
do parents.
Lewin, Roger Human Evolution: An Illustrated Introduction (Blackwell, 1999). A good general introduction to theories, methods, and
general results. Boyd & Silk (above) is more technical and comprehensive.
Maccoby, Eleanor E. The Two Sexes (Harvard U. Press, 1998). The leading expert
on sex differences argues that they arise through interactions between biological
predispositions and peer group influences.
Malik, Kenan Man, Beast, and Zombie (Rutgers U. Press,
2002). A thoughtful criticism of claims of evolutionary psychology and sociobiology
as ways of uncovering a universal human nature.
Marcus, Gary, The
Birth of the Mind. Basic Books, 2004.
A sophisticated but still accessible treatment of the development of neural
structures. Good discussion of the interplay of genes and experiences in
creating the brain.
Marks, Jonathan. What
It Means to Be 98% Chimpanzee (University of California 2002). A skeptical treatment of what can be learned
about humans from genetic and behavioral studies of great apes.
Nisbett, Richard & Cohen, Dov. Culture
of Honor. Westview,
1996. Why the American South is violent.
Olson, Steve. Mapping Human History:
Genes, Race, and Our Common Origins. (Marriner, 2002). Covers much of the same material as
Wells and Cavalli-Sforza. Using genetic information to detail the spread
of humans across the world from Africa. Also severs as a useful antidote
to those who insist that racial categories make sense.
Palmer, Jack & Palmer, Linda. Evolutionary
Psychology.
Allyn & Bacon, 2002. A standard, but accessible text.
Pinker, Steven The Blank
Slate (Penguin Books, 2003).
Winner of many awards, a beautifully written argument that our genetic
endowment
does matter and that modern social sciences have way over-emphasized the importance
of experience in shaping human behavior. The earlier How
the Mind Works covers
the same material with a greater focus of modular accounts of human cognition.
Ridley, Matt Nature via Nurture (The
Agile Gene in paperback)
(Harper, 2003). An interesting, readable, but sophisticated treatment of
the nature-nurture debate in which he argues that the two are inseparable.
His earlier Genome is a lucid description
of one gene on each of the 23 chromosomes demonstrating what
we can and cannot conclude
about
genetic
influences on behavior.
Roughgarden, Joan. Evolution's
Rainbow. University of
California Press, 2004. Controversial and interesting approach to the evolution
of sex and sexuality.
Schwartz, Barry. The
Battle for Human Nature. Norton,
1986. Classic discussion of classic theories
Stevenson, Leslie. Seven Theories of Human Nature (2nd edition,
Oxford, 1987). Considers Christianity, Freud, Lorenz, Marx, Sartre, Skinner,
and Plato, and
mostly valuable for showing the range of views.
Sykes, Bryan. Adam's
Curse (Norton, 2004). Interesting
discussion of sex and especially the role of Y chromosomes in evolution and
human history. His earlier Seven Daughters of Eve (Norton, 2001) discusses
the importance of DNA in tracing human history.
Wells, Spencer. The Journey
of Man: A Genetic Odyssey (Random
House, 2003). A discussion of the genetic Adam who lived about 60,000 years
ago and from whom we are all descended. In the process he discusses
genetic variation around the world and does so in an interesting and accessible
style. Cavalli-Sforza and Olson above cover the same material.
Wrangham, Richard & Peterson, Dale. Demonic
Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence. (Marniner, 1996).
Fascinating discussion of the role of violence in the great apes and the
implications for human
behavior.
Wright, Robert. The
Moral Animal. Vintage, 1994. A classic
evolutionary account of moral and other social behavior.