Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

Yuval Noah Harari

Harper Collins, Feb 10, 2015 - Science - 464 pages

New York Times Bestseller

A Summer Reading Pick for President Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg

From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity’s creation and evolution—a #1 international bestseller—that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be “human.”

One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one—homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us?

Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this highly original book that begins about 70,000 years ago with the appearance of modern cognition. From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens integrates history and science to reconsider accepted narratives, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and examine specific events within the context of larger ideas.

Dr. Harari also compels us to look ahead, because over the last few decades humans have begun to bend laws of natural selection that have governed life for the past four billion years. We are acquiring the ability to design not only the world around us, but also ourselves. Where is this leading us, and what do we want to become?

Featuring 27 photographs, 6 maps, and 25 illustrations/diagrams, this provocative and insightful work is sure to spark debate and is essential reading for aficionados of Jared Diamond, James Gleick, Matt Ridley, Robert Wright, and Sharon Moalem.

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - geza.tatrallyay - www.librarything.com

This is a winner. The author cuts across disciplines to explore the history of humankind. What emerges is a picture of an inherently clever and creative but ultimately destructive beast. Along the way ...

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - dpevers - www.librarything.com

These were difficult reads, only because I had to stop and think so often about the questions he raised. Sapiens was the more difficult. I was a bit disappointed in Homo deus, as he reached the climactic discussion of Home deus and then there were more chapters on what might lie beyond.

About the author

Yuval Noah Harari has a PhD in history from the University of Oxford and now lectures at the Department of History, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, specializing in world history. His first book, Sapiens, was translated into more than forty languages and became a bestseller in the US, the UK, France, China, Korea, and numerous other countries.

http://www.ynharari.com/

Bibliographic information

• Title: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
• Author: Yuval Noah Harari
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: Harper Collins, 2015
• ISBN: 0062316109, 9780062316103
• Length: 464 pages
• Subjects: History / Civilization; History / World; Science / Life Sciences / Evolution; Science / Life Sciences / General