by James Watson, forward by Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind
By identifying the structure of DNA, the molecule of life, Francis Crick and James Watson revolutionized biochemistry and won themselves a Nobel Prize. At the time, Watson was only twenty-four, a young scientist hungry to make his mark. His uncompromisingly honest account of the heady days of their thrilling sprint against other world-class researchers to solve one of science’s greatest mysteries gives a dazzlingly clear picture of a world of brilliant scientists with great gifts, very human ambitions, and bitter rivalries.
by Michael Corballis
The Recursive Mind challenges the commonly held notion that language is what makes us uniquely human. In this compelling book, Michael Corballis argues that what distinguishes us in the animal kingdom is our capacity for recursion: the ability to embed our thoughts within other thoughts. "I think, therefore I am," is an example of recursive thought, because the thinker has inserted himself into his thought. Recursion enables us to conceive of our own minds and the minds of others. It also gives us the power of mental "time travel"—the ability to insert past experiences, or imagined future ones, into present consciousness.
Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology
Edited by Doris V. Nitecki & Matthew H. Nitecki
This volume is based on the Field Museum of Natural History Spring Systematics Symposium held in Chicago on May 11, 1991. The financial support of Ray and Jean Auel and of the Field Museum is gratefully acknowledged. When we teach or write, we present only those elements that support our arguments. We avoid all weak points of our debate and all the uncertainties of our models. Thus, we offer hypotheses as facts. Multi-authored books like ours, which simultaneously advocate and question diverse views, avoid the pitfalls and lessen the impact of indoctrination.
By Charles Darwin
The publication of Darwin’s The Origin of Species in 1859 marked a dramatic turning point in scientific thought. The volume had taken Darwin more than twenty years to publish, in part because he envisioned the storm of controversy it was certain to unleash. Indeed, selling out its first edition on its first day, The Origin of Species revolutionized science, philosophy, and theology.
by Charles Darwin
The Descent of Man, Darwin's second landmark work on evolutionary theory (following The Origin of the Species), marked a turning point in the history of science with its modern vision of human nature as the product of evolution. Darwin argued that the noblest features of humans, such as language and morality, were the result of the same natural processes that produced iris petals and scorpion tails.
by Blake Edgar &Donald Johanson, photographs by David Brill
In the years since his dramatic discovery of "Lucy" Johanson has continued to scour East Africa's Great rift Valley for the earliest evidence of human origins. In 1975 this team unearthed the "First Family", an unparalleled fossil assemblage of 13 individuals dating back to 3.2 million years ago; and in 1986 at the Rift's most famous location, Olduvai Gorge, this same team discovered a 1.8 million-year-old partial adult skeleton that necessitated a reassessment of the earliest members of our own genus Homo.
Johanson's fieldwork continues unabated and recently more fossil members of Lucy's family have been found, including the 1992 discovery of the oldest, most complete skull of her species, with future research now planned for 1996 in the virtually unexplored regions of the most northern extension of the Rift Valley in Eritrea.
by Bear Heart
With eloquent simplicity, one of the world's last Native American Medicine Men demonstrates how traditional tribal wisdom can help us maintain spiritual and physical health in today's world.
by Donald E. Brown
This book explores physical and behavioral characteristics that can be considered universal among all cultures, all people. It presents cases demonstrating universals, looks at the history of the study of universals, and presents an interesting study of a hypothetical tribe, The Universal People.
by Herbert Spencer
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) was an English philosopher, best known for his scientific writings. Together with Charles Darwin and Thomas Huxley he was responsible for the acceptance of the theory of evolution. His well-known essay on Education: Intellectual, Moral and Physical was considered one of the most useful and profound books written on education. He projected a vast 10-volume work, Synthetic Philosophy, in which all phenomena are interpreted according to the principle of evolutionary progress. Together with Charles Darwin and Thomas Huxley he was responsible for the acceptance of the theory of evolution. Although no longer influential in biology, his extension of his theory of evolution to psychology and sociology remains important. His "Social Darwinism" was particularly influential on early evolutionary economists such as Thorstein Veblen.
by David S. Sobel & Robert E. Ornstein
A valuable new kind of prescription for health and well being. It offers easy-to-understand practical advice on improving physical health and leading a happier, more productive life. This book not only explains the important benefits of a healthy mind and body in simple, understandable language, but gives you practical ways to improve how you feel today.
by Merlin Donald
This bold and brilliant book asks the ultimate question of the life sciences: How did the human mind acquire its incomparable power? In seeking the answer, Merlin Donald traces the evolution of human culture and cognition from primitive apes to artificial intelligence, presenting an enterprising and original theory of how the human mind evolved from its presymbolic form.
edited by Neil Roughley
Kant claimed that the principal topics of philosophy all converge on one question: Was ist der Mensch? Starting with the main claim that conceptions of the human play a significant structuring role in theory construction, the contributors in this volume (renowned scholars from various disciplines - philosophy, anthropology, psychology, literary studies) investigate the roles that conceptions of the human play both in philosophy and in other human and social sciences.
