Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst

Robert M Sapolsky

Random House, May 25, 2017 - Psychology - 800 pages

**NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER**

Why do human beings behave as they do?

'Awe-inspiring... You will learn more about human nature than in any other book I can think of' Henry Marsh, bestselling author of Do No Harm

We are capable of savage acts of violence but also spectacular feats of kindness: is one side of our nature destined to win out over the other?

Every act of human behaviour has multiple layers of causation, spiralling back seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years, even centuries, right back to the dawn of time and the origins of our species.

In the epic sweep of history, how does our biology affect the arc of war and peace, justice and persecution? How have our brains evolved alongside our cultures?

This is the exhilarating story of human morality and the science underpinning the biggest question of all: what makes us human?

'One of the best scientist-writers of our time' Oliver Sacks

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - larryerick - LibraryThing

"Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich stärker." Okay, Nietzsche may not have had my reading this book in mind when he said that, but, true, this was a bit of a struggle for me to read, and I feel ...

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - rivkat - LibraryThing

The conceit of the book is to look at the biological influences on behavior from distant (evolutionary, parental environment, prenatal environment, etc.) to microscopically close (how do neurons fire ...

About the author

Robert M. Sapolsky holds degrees from Harvard and Rockefeller Universities and is currently a Professor of Biology and Neurology at Stanford University and a Research Associate with the Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya. He is the author of The Trouble with Testosterone, Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers (both finalists for the LA Times Book Award), and A Primate's Memoir. Sapolsky has contributed to Natural History, Discover, Men's Health, and Scientific American, and is a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation genius grant.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst
• Author: Robert M Sapolsky
• Publisher: Random House, 2017
• ISBN: 1448129788, 9781448129782
• Length: 800 pages
• Subjects: Psychology / Evolutionary Psychology; Psychology / Movements / Humanistic; Science / General; Science / History; Science / Life Sciences / Biology; Science / Life Sciences / Evolution; Science / Life Sciences / Genetics & Genomics; Science / Life Sciences / Human Anatomy & Physiology; Science / Life Sciences / Neuroscience; Science / Philosophy & Social Aspects