Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us HumanThe groundbreaking theory of how fire and food drove the evolution of modern humans Ever since Darwin and The Descent of Man, the evolution and world-wide dispersal of humans has been attributed to our intelligence and adaptability. But in Catching Fire, renowned primatologist Richard Wrangham presents a startling alternative: our evolutionary success is the result of cooking. In a groundbreaking theory of our origins, Wrangham shows that the shift from raw to cooked foods was the key factor in human evolution. Once our hominid ancestors began cooking their food, the human digestive tract shrank and the brain grew. Time once spent chewing tough raw food could be sued instead to hunt and to tend camp. Cooking became the basis for pair bonding and marriage, created the household, and even led to a sexual division of labor. In short, once our ancestors adapted to using fire, humanity began. Tracing the contemporary implications of our ancestors' diets, Catching Fire sheds new light on how we came to be the social, intelligent, and sexual species we are today. A pathbreaking new theory of human evolution, Catching Fire will provoke controversy and fascinate anyone interested in our ancient origins-or in our modern eating habits. |
What people are saying - Write a review
User ratings
| 5 stars |
| ||
| 4 stars |
| ||
| 3 stars |
| ||
| 2 stars |
| ||
| 1 star |
|
Reviews aren't verified, but Google checks for and removes fake content when it's identified
LibraryThing Review
User Review - Sharon.Flesher - LibraryThingThis book was interesting and well-researched (the endnotes are about a third of the book), but details were a bit repetitive and beyond the scope of my interest in the topic. I think i would've ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - Amelia_Smith - LibraryThingThis was an interesting book about human evolution, well-written and informative. The thing that bugged me about it was the final chapter. The jacket promised that this book would discuss what had ... Read full review
Contents
The Cooks Body | |
When Cooking Began | |
Brain Foods | |
How Cooking Frees | |
The Cooks Journey | |
Acknowledgements | |
BIBLIOGRAPHY | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
activity adapted allowing ancestors animals anthropologist apes appear australopithecines average Behavior better body brain breadfruit calories camp changes chewing chimpanzees compared cooked food costs culture diet digestion division of labor early easily eaten eating effects eggs energy et al evidence Evolution evolutionary feeding females fire fruits give glucose gorillas guts habilines heat Homo erectus humans hunter-gatherers hunting husband hypothesis idea important increased intestine Journal kind leaves less living London males meal meat million years ago mouths muscle natural Nutrition original percent physical plant Pleistocene pounds preparation Press primates produced protein raw food raw-foodists reduced Relations relatively reported result Science sexual share similar smaller social societies soft sometimes species starch stomach suggests taste teeth tend tender thousand trees University weight wild women York
Bibliographic information
| Title | Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human Anthropology online |
| Author | Richard Wrangham |
| Edition | unabridged |
| Publisher | Basic Books, 2009 |
| ISBN | 0786744782, 9780786744787 |
| Length | 320 pages |
| Subjects | › › Cooking / History Psychology / Evolutionary Psychology Science / Life Sciences / Biochemistry Science / Life Sciences / Ecology Science / Life Sciences / Evolution Science / Life Sciences / Human Anatomy & Physiology Science / Paleontology Social Science / Agriculture & Food Social Science / Anthropology / Physical Technology & Engineering / Food Science / General |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |