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The 10 Best Physical Anthropology Books list have been recommended not only by normal readers but also by experts.
You’ll also find that these are top-ranking books on the US Amazon Best Sellers book list for the Physical Anthropology category of books.
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Let’s take a look at the list of 10 Best Physical Anthropology Books.
10 Best Physical Anthropology Books
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Now, let’s dive right into the list of 10 Best Physical Anthropology Books, where we’ll provide a quick outline for each book.
1. Unlocking the Past: How Archaeologists Are Rewriting Human History with Ancient DNA by Martin Jones Review Summary
Unlocking the Past: How Archaeologists Are Rewriting Human History with Ancient DNA
In Unlocking the Past , Martin Jones, a leading expert at the forefront of bioarchaeology—the discipline that gave Michael Crichton the premise for Jurassic Park —explains how this pioneering science is rewriting human history and unlocking stories of the past that could never have been told before. For the first time, the building blocks of ancient life—DNA, proteins, and fats that have long been trapped in fossils and earth and rock—have become widely accessible to science. Working at the cutting edge of genetic and other molecular technologies, researchers have been probing the remains of these ancient biomolecules in human skeletons, sediments and fossilized plants, dinosaur bones, and insects trapped in amber. Their amazing discoveries have influenced the archaeological debate at almost every level and continue to reshape our understanding of the past. Devising a molecular clock from a certain area of DNA, scientists were able to determine that all humans descend from one common female ancestor, dubbed “Mitochondrial Eve,” who lived around 150,000 years ago. From molecules recovered from grinding stones and potsherds, they reconstructed ancient diets and posited when such practices as dairying and boiling water for cooking began. They have reconstituted the beer left in the burial chamber of pharaohs and know what the Iceman, the 5,000-year-old hunter found in the Alps in the early nineties, ate before his last journey. Conveying both the excitement of innovative research and the sometimes bruising rough-and-tumble of scientific debate, Jones has written a work of profound importance. Unlocking the Past is science at its most engaging.
2. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari Review Summary
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Sapiens
The Sunday Times best seller. Earth is 4.5 billion years old. In just a fraction of that time, one species among countless others has conquered it. Us. We are the most advanced and most destructive animals ever to have lived. What makes us brilliant? What makes us deadly? What makes us sapiens? In this bold and provocative audiobook, Yuval Noah Harari explores who we are, how we got here, and where we’re going. Sapiens is a thrilling account of humankind’s extraordinary history from the Stone Age to the Silicon Age and our journey from insignificant apes to rulers of the world. For more, visit www.ynharari.com.
3. Making Sense of Race by Edward Dutton Review Summary
Making Sense of Race
Race is our age’s great taboo. Public intellectuals insist that it does not exist-that it’s a “social construct” and biological differences between races are trivial or “skin deep.” But as with taboos in other times, our attitude towards race seems delusional and schizophrenic. Racial differences in sports and culture are clear to everyone. Race is increasingly a factor in public health, especially in disease susceptibility and organ donation. And in a globalized world, ethnic nationalism-and ethnic conflict-are unavoidable political realities. Race is everywhere . . . and yet it’s nowhere, since the topic has been deemed “out of bounds” for frank discussion. Cutting through the contradictions, euphemisms, and misconceptions, Edward Dutton carefully and systematically refutes the arguments against the concept of “race,” demonstrating that it is as much a proper biological category as “species.” Making Sense of Race takes us on a journey through the fascinating world of evolved physical and mental racial differences, presenting us with the most up-to-date discoveries on the consistent ways in which races differ in significant traits as a result of being adapted to different ecologies. Intelligence, personality, genius, religiousness, sex appeal, puberty, menopause, ethnocentrism, ear-wax, and even the nature of dreams . . . Making Sense of Race will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about race, but might have been afraid to ask. — Edward Dutton is a prolific researcher and commentator, who has published widely in the field of evolutionary psychology. He is Editor at Washington Summit Publishers and Professor of Evolutionary Psychology at Asbiro University in Lodź, Poland. Dutton is the author of many books, including J. Philippe Rushton: A Life History Perspective (2018), Race Differences in Ethnocentrism (2019), and Islam: An Evolutionary Perspective (2020). —- Praise for Edward Dutton and Making Sense of Race “Edward Dutton’s new book, Making Sense of Race , is a godsend at a time when the university curriculum effectively censors human nature from much of the humanities and social sciences. This information, which comes wrapped in prodigious layers of data, is presented in a highly accessible, often funny, style. It should be required reading for all students of anthropology, sociology, gender studies, and politics. Those thirsting for knowledge about race-an inescapable and ever more destabilizing feature of our globalizing world -should dip into this Jolly Heretic of a book. Whether laughing out loud or marveling at new facts about human biodiversity, Making Sense of Race is a riveting read.” -Dr. Frank Salter Author of On Genetic Interests: Family, Ethnicity, and Humanity in an Age of Mass Migration “Edward Dutton is one of the liveliest and most engaging of this new generation of academic dissidents. . . . [He is] what Bill Nye the Science Guy would be, if that gentleman dared to present the human sciences with uninhibited objectivity.” -John Derbyshire
4. Bones: Inside and Out by Roy A. Meals MD Review Summary
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Bones: Inside and Out
A lively, illustrated exploration of the 500-million-year history of bone, a touchstone for understanding vertebrate life and human culture. Human bone is versatile and entirely unique: it repairs itself without scarring, it’s lightweight but responds to stresses, and it’s durable enough to survive for millennia. In Bones , orthopedic surgeon Roy A. Meals explores and extols this amazing material that both supports and records vertebrate life. Inside the body, bone proves itself the world’s best building material. Meals examines the biological makeup of bones; demystifies how they grow, break, and heal; and compares the particulars of human bone to variations throughout the animal kingdom. In engaging and clear prose, he debunks familiar myths―humans don’t have exactly 206 bones―and illustrates common bone diseases, like osteoporosis and arthritis, and their treatments. Along the way, he highlights the medical innovations―from the first X-rays to advanced operative techniques―that enhance our lives and introduces the giants of orthopedic surgery who developed them. After it has supported vertebrate life, bone reveals itself in surprising ways―sometimes hundreds of millions of years later. With enthusiasm and humor, Meals investigates the diverse roles bone has played in human culture throughout history. He highlights allusions to bone in religion and literature, from Adam’s rib to Hamlet’s skull, and uncovers its enduring presence as fossils, technological tools, and musical instruments ranging from the Tibetan thighbone kangling horn to everyday drumsticks. From the dawn of civilization through to the present day, humankind has repurposed bone to serve and protect, and even to teach, amuse, and inspire. Approachable and entertaining, Bones richly illuminates our bodies’ essential framework. 150 illustrations
5. Red: A History of the Redhead by Jacky Colliss Harvey Review Summary
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Red: A History of the Redhead
The brilliantly told, captivating history of red hair throughout the ages and across multiple disciplines, including science, religion, politics, feminism and sexuality, literature, and art The mere mention of red hair calls to mind vivid pictures. Stereotypes of redheaded women range from the funloving scatterbrain, like Lucille Ball, to the fiery-tempered vixen or the penitent prostitute (Mary Magdalene, for example, is almost always depicted as a redhead). Red-haired men are often associated with either the savage barbarian or the redheaded clown. But why is this so? Red: A History of the Redhead is the first book to explore the history of red hair and red-headedness throughout the world. With an obsessive fascination that is as contagious as it is compelling, author Jacky Colliss Harvey begins her quest in prehistory and traces the redhead gene as it made its way out of Africa with the early human diaspora, only to emerge under Northern skies. She goes on to explore red hair in the ancient world (from the Tarim mummies in China to the Islamic kingdom of the Khazars); the prejudice manifested against red hair across medieval Europe; red hair during the Renaissance as both an indicator of Jewishness during the Inquisition and the height of fashion in Protestant England, where it was made famous by the Henry VIII and Elizabeth I; the modern age of art, and literature, and the first positive symbols of red hair in children’s characters; modern medicine and science and the genetic and chemical decoding of red hair; and finally, red hair in contemporary culture, from advertising and exploitation to “gingerism” and the new movement against bullying. More than a book for redheads, Red is the exploration of evolution and gene mutation, as well as a compelling social and cultural study of how prejudice and misconceptions of “other” evolve across centuries and continents and are handed down through generations and from one culture to another.
6. Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge by Jeremy Narby Review Summary
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Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge
This adventure in science and imagination, which the Medical Tribune said might herald “a Copernican revolution for the life sciences,” leads the reader through unexplored jungles and uncharted aspects of mind to the heart of knowledge.In a first-person narrative of scientific discovery that opens new perspectives on biology, anthropology, and the limits of rationalism, The Cosmic Serpent reveals how startlingly different the world around us appears when we open our minds to it.
7. Survival of the Friendliest: Understanding Our Origins and Rediscovering Our Common Humanity by Brian Hare Review Summary
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Survival of the Friendliest: Understanding Our Origins and Rediscovering Our Common Humanity
A powerful new theory of human nature suggests that our secret to success as a species is our unique friendliness ” Brilliant, eye-opening, and absolutely inspiring–and a riveting read. Hare and Woods have written the perfect book for our time.”–Cass R. Sunstein, author of How Change Happens and co-author of Nudge For most of the approximately 300,000 years that Homo sapiens have existed, we have shared the planet with at least four other types of humans. All of these were smart, strong, and inventive. But around 50,000 years ago, Homo sapiens made a cognitive leap that gave us an edge over other species. What happened? Since Charles Darwin wrote about “evolutionary fitness,” the idea of fitness has been confused with physical strength, tactical brilliance, and aggression. In fact, what made us evolutionarily fit was a remarkable kind of friendliness, a virtuosic ability to coordinate and communicate with others that allowed us to achieve all the cultural and technical marvels in human history. Advancing what they call the “self-domestication theory,” Brian Hare, professor in the department of evolutionary anthropology and the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke University and his wife, Vanessa Woods, a research scientist and award-winning journalist, shed light on the mysterious leap in human cognition that allowed Homo sapiens to thrive. But this gift for friendliness came at a cost. Just as a mother bear is most dangerous around her cubs, we are at our most dangerous when someone we love is threatened by an “outsider.” The threatening outsider is demoted to sub- human, fair game for our worst instincts. Hare’s groundbreaking research, developed in close coordination with Richard Wrangham and Michael Tomasello, giants in the field of cognitive evolution, reveals that the same traits that make us the most tolerant species on the planet also make us the cruelest. Survival of the Friendliest offers us a new way to look at our cultural as well as cognitive evolution and sends a clear message: In order to survive and even to flourish, we need to expand our definition of who belongs.
8. Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-first Century by Dorothy Roberts Review Summary
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Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-first Century
This groundbreaking book by the acclaimed Dorothy Roberts examines how the myth of biological concept of race―revived by purportedly cutting-edge science, race-specific drugs, genetic testing, and DNA databases―continues to undermine a just society and promote inequality in a supposedly “post-racial” era. Named one of the ten best black nonfiction books 2011 by AFRO.com, Fatal Invention offers a timely and “provocative analysis” ( Nature ) of race, science, and politics by one of the nation’s leading legal scholars and social critics.
9. Ancient Bones: Unearthing the Astonishing New Story of How We Became Human by Madelaine Böhme Review Summary
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Ancient Bones: Unearthing the Astonishing New Story of How We Became Human
” Part Sherlock Holmes, part Indiana Jones, Ancient Bones is an entertaining and provocative retelling of the human evolutionary story.”– Jeremy DeSilva, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Dartmouth College Fans of Sapiens will love this “fascinating forensic inquiry into human origins” ( Kirkus ), where a renowned paleontologist takes readers behind the scenes of one of the most groundbreaking investigations into the origins of humankind. Africa has long been considered the cradle of life–where life and humans evolved–but somewhere west of Munich, Germany, paleoclimatologist and paleontologist Madelaine Bohme and her team make a discovery that is beyond anything they ever imagined: the twelve-million-year-old bones of an ancient ape– Danuvius guggenmos –whichmakes headlines around the world and defies prevailing theories of human history and where human life began. Ancient Bones takes readers behind the scenes of this incredible discovery, and invites readers to explore theories concerning early hominins to prehistoric humans, how climate and the environment were driving forces behind evolution, and how pivotal evolutionary steps–from our ability to communicate using complex speech to walking upright and using our hands to create–were necessary for humans to evolve and live on this planet. Blending science, history and mystery, Ancient Bones explores a fascinating new chapter in the origins of humanity and, above all, brings clarity to what makes humans human. With prose that read like a thrilling detective story, and pages that feature more than 50 images of fossils, maps, and illustrations and diagrams, this exciting exploration of humanity will prove an indispensable read for those who are endlessly curious about who we are, how we got here, and what comes next. Praise for Ancient Bones: ” Readable and thought-provoking. Madelaine B ohme is an iconoclast whose fossil discoveries have challenged long-standing ideas on the origins of the ancestors of apes and humans.”– Steve Brusatte, New York Times -bestselling author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs “An inherently fascinating, impressively informative, and exceptionally thought-provoking read.”– Midwest Book Review ” An impressive introduction to the burgeoning recalibration of paleoanthropology.”– Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
10. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari Review Summary
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