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'Offers a startlingly original argument about how we came to be the social and intelligent species we are today.' --The Judges of the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize 2010
`A breakthrough in evolutionary biology' --Daily Telegraph
`Wrangham is doing no small thing here; he's putting forward - in the most accessible way - his big new theory... Fascinating stuff, convincingly argued' --Sunday Telegraph
`Intriguing... You need never feel guilty about opting for pie over salad again' --Metro
`My father, whom I took with me [to a vegan raw food restaurant], was citing biological anthropologist Richard Wrangham's book Catching Fire before we had even scanned the menu' --Evening Standard
`Daringly unorthodox' --Sunday Times
`Catching Fire, with its treasure trove of great stories, makes for pleasurable consumption' --Times Literary Supplement
`His lucid theory is most persuasive' Independent --Independent
`Immensely enjoyable' -- Guardian
`This is one of the best popular science books I've ever read' -- William Leith, Evening Standard
`Fascinating and persuasive' -- House and Garden
'This is as unputdownable as a thriller!' --Nigella Lawson
`Fascinating ... If Wrangham's thesis is right, we really are what we eat' --Heston Blumenthal
`A breakthrough in evolutionary biology' --Daily Telegraph
`Wrangham is doing no small thing here; he's putting forward - in the most accessible way - his big new theory... Fascinating stuff, convincingly argued' --Sunday Telegraph
`Intriguing... You need never feel guilty about opting for pie over salad again' --Metro
`My father, whom I took with me [to a vegan raw food restaurant], was citing biological anthropologist Richard Wrangham's book Catching Fire before we had even scanned the menu' --Evening Standard
`Daringly unorthodox' --Sunday Times
`Catching Fire, with its treasure trove of great stories, makes for pleasurable consumption' --Times Literary Supplement
`His lucid theory is most persuasive' Independent --Independent
`Immensely enjoyable' -- Guardian
`This is one of the best popular science books I've ever read' -- William Leith, Evening Standard
`Fascinating and persuasive' -- House and Garden
'This is as unputdownable as a thriller!' --Nigella Lawson
`Fascinating ... If Wrangham's thesis is right, we really are what we eat' --Heston Blumenthal
Book Description
'Absolutely fascinating' Nigella Lawson
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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
21st century breakthrough in Evolutionary Theory?,
By
This review is from: Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human (Paperback)
What is the originality of the ideas in this book - to what extent has Richard Wrangham taken the theory of evolution forwards with the fundamental assertion that the use of fire and development of cooking was not simply an adjunct but was the key factor in advancing the evolution of homo erectus over apes and the beginning of humanity some 2 million years ago? Richard is immensely convincing.
As he says " Fleas do not suck blood because they happen to have a proboscis well designed for piecing mammalian skins ; they have a proboscis because they are adapted to sucking blood. Similarly humans do not eat cooked food because we have the right kind of teeth and guts; rather we have small teeth and short guts as a result of a cooked diet. " And he brings this together with Aiello and Wheeler's expensive tissue hypothesis " Big brains have evolved in some animals because they have small guts and small guts are made possible by high quality diets". All major scientific "discoveries" are the expression of accumulated knowledge of many diligent people. Richard Wrangham fully acknowledges his inspirations. But his combination and deep understanding of a range of sciences - from nutrition, digestion, neuroscience, archealogy to all types of anthropology - provides crucial evidence to support his theory. From his own original work among apes in East Africa, he can draw on first hand evidence but it is the rich variety of interesting examples, evidence and case studies quoted together with the clarity of explanation that makes this book fascinating reading. But the book goes beyond evolution of the biological species into social evolution with Perles's assertion that "cooking ends individual self sufficiency... without a social network defining, supporting and enforcing social norms cooking would end in chaos" He ascribes human pair bonding, the division of labour between men and women and the development of sophisticated social organisation to the use of fire and the development of cooking. And he does not shrink from voicing his opinions "cooking created and perpetuated a novel system of male cultural superiority. It is not a pretty picture." Even the epilogue with its critique of current methods of measurement of cooked food and the effects of modern day diet and cooked food on health maintains the stimulating read.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating but repetitive,
By Once Upon a Cook (England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human (Paperback)
A fascinating and thought provoking read. Richard's theory is skilfully constructed and his arguments are well supported. I found his writing style repetitive and slightly irritating - too much "egging the pudding" - which somewhat weakens the impact of his proposition. Never-the-less, I'd recommend it and suggest that he gets/uses a good editor for the next edition.
13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A good read but...,
By
This review is from: Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human (Paperback)
Richard Wrangham's theory holds out and is also backed by the anthroplogical differentiation between "eating" and "feeding" in other works by many authors. This book is written in a uncomplicated almost journalistic style. It is very simple to follow and easy to read. If you are looking for what is called popular evolutionary science, it is good. If you are looking for an academically argued work it is not.
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