The Social Conquest of EarthFrom the most celebrated heir to Darwin comes a groundbreaking book on evolution, the summa work of Edward O. Wilson's legendary career. Where did we come from? What are we? Where are we going? In a generational work of clarity and passion, one of our greatest living scientists directly addresses these three fundamental questions of religion, philosophy, and science while “overturning the famous theory that evolution naturally encourages creatures to put family first” (Discover magazine). Refashioning the story of human evolution in a work that is certain to generate headlines, Wilson draws on his remarkable knowledge of biology and social behavior to show that group selection, not kin selection, is the primary driving force of human evolution. He proves that history makes no sense without prehistory, and prehistory makes no sense without biology. Demonstrating that the sources of morality, religion, and the creative arts are fundamentally biological in nature, Wilson presents us with the clearest explanation ever produced as to the origin of the human condition and why it resulted in our domination of the Earth’s biosphere. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - maryroberta - LibraryThingBetter towards the end... or at least I found it more interesting. Surprised a bit by some redundancies early on. Also thought that he could have done a better job explaining certain concepts within ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - fpagan - LibraryThingWilson, authoritatively as one would expect, tackles the questions "Where do we come from?", "What are we?", and "Where are we going?". Some of the salient points: Whereas some insects attained ... Read full review
Contents
WHY DOES ADVANCED SOCIAL LIFE EXIST? | 7 |
HOW SOCIAL INSECTS CONOUERED | 107 |
Inventions That Advanced the Social Insects | 120 |
THE FORCES OF SOCIAL EVOLUTION | 131 |
WHAT ARE | 187 |
WHERE ARE WE GOING? | 285 |
1 | 301 |
References 303 | 323 |
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Common terms and phrases
Academy of Sciences Africa allele altruism ancestors animals ants australopithecines bees benefit biological bonobos brain chimpanzees cognition colony color complex conflict cooperation create cultural evolution Dale Guthrie defined definition dominance Edward environment epigenetic eusocial insects evidence evolutionary evolved existence favor field figures final finally find fire first five flexible forest genes genetic genome group selection hominid Homo erectus Homo habilis Homo sapiens human nature hunter—gatherer hunting inclusive fitness inclusive—fitness theory influence Insect Societies instinct kin selection language least living mammals mate Mesozoic Michael Tomasello million years ago modern humans mutations National Academy NationalAcademy ofSciences natural selection Neanderthals nest occurred offspring organization origin of eusociality Paleolithic percent population preadaptations prehumans primitively eusocial Proceedings queen religions reproduction scientific selfish social behavior social insects solitary species Superorganism termites territory tion traits trees tribe variation wasps Westermarck effect Wilson workers
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Social Conquest of Earth |
| Author | Edward O. Wilson |
| Edition | illustrated |
| Publisher | W. W. Norton & Company, 2012 |
| ISBN | 0871404133, 9780871404138 |
| Length | 330 pages |
| Subjects | › › Science / Life Sciences / Biology Science / Life Sciences / Evolution Science / Life Sciences / Human Anatomy & Physiology |
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