- Paperback: 428 pages
- Publisher: OUP USA (26 Oct 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0195183479
- ISBN-13: 978-0195183474
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.2 x 2.3 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 991,643 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Evolution of the Human Diet
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £23.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Evolution of the Human Diet: The Known, the Unknown, and the Unknowable (Human Evolution Series) for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £23.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
The authors provide the reader with invaluable insights. The chapters are of high quality and the skilful editing touch has produced an overall consistency of style. (Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute )
Product Description
We are interested in the evolution of hominin diets for several reasons. One is the fundamental concern over our present-day eating habits and the consequences of our societal choices, such as obesity prevalent in some cultures and starvation in others. Another is that humans have learned to feed themselves in extremely varied environments, and these adaptations, which are fundamentally different from those of our closest biological relatives, have to have had historical roots of varying depth. The third, and the reason why most paleoanthropologists are interested in this question, is that a species' trophic level and feeding adaptations can have a strong effect on body size, locomotion, "life history strategies", geographic range, habitat choice, and social behavior. Diet is key to understanding the ecology and evolution of our distant ancestors and their kin, the early hominins. A study of the range of foods eaten by our progenitors underscores just how unhealthy many of our diets are today. This volume brings together authorities from disparate fields to offer new insights into the diets of our ancestors. Paleontologists, archaeologists, primatologists, nutritionists and other researchers all contribute pieces to the puzzle. This volume has at its core four main sections: · Reconstructed diets based on hominin fossils--tooth size, shape, structure, wear, and chemistry, mandibular biomechanics · Archaeological evidence of subsistence--stone tools and modified bones · Models of early hominin diets based on the diets of living primates--both human and non-human, paleoecology, and energetics · Nutritional analyses and their implications for evolutionary medicine New techniques for gleaning information from fossil teeth, bones, and stone tools, new theories stemming from studies of paleoecology, and new models coming from analogy with modern humans and other primates all contribute to our understanding. When these approaches are brought together, they offer an impressive glimpse into the lives of our distant ancestors. The contributions in this volume explore the frontiers of our knowledge in each of these disciplines as they address the knowns, the unknowns, and the unknowables of the evolution of hominin diets.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.co.uk.
5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
14 of 18 people found the following review helpful
A Lot More "Unknown" than "Known"
19 May 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I bought this book because I am interested in the proper diet for humans at our stage of evolution, but really didn't learn much in that regard. While it is clear we didn't evolve eating grains, and our ancestors consumed less omega-6 fatty acids and more omega 3's, what is not clear to me is the evolutionary effects of fructose, saturated fats, and cooked proteins. If that is because science doesn't yet know, that would explain the vagueness of the conclusions in that regard, but it also diminishes the value of the book. Also, while the essays near the end of the book addressed the difference between past human diets and today's, they sometimes lumped all animal proteins and all animal fats together, without distinguishing between today's typical grain-fed birds and animals and those raised on organic pasture land. Overall, I found the book somewhat interesting, but not particularly helpful.
If you are interested in knowing more about our ancestor's diets, and how we have evolved over the last 100,000 years, but you already know our ancestors' diets consisted of more omega-3 fatty acids and virtually no grains, this book may be of limited value to you.
If you are interested in knowing more about our ancestor's diets, and how we have evolved over the last 100,000 years, but you already know our ancestors' diets consisted of more omega-3 fatty acids and virtually no grains, this book may be of limited value to you.
Was this review helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Food & Drink > Diets & Healthy Eating > Diets
- Books > Health, Family & Lifestyle > Medical & Healthcare Practitioners
- Books > History > Cultural History
- Books > Science & Nature > Biological Sciences > Biological Science
- Books > Science & Nature > Biological Sciences > Evolution > Human
- Books > Science & Nature > Biological Sciences > Human Biology > Biological Anthropology
- Books > Science & Nature > Biological Sciences > Human Biology > Nutrition
- Books > Science & Nature > Earth Sciences & Geography > Palaeontology
- Books > Science & Nature > Medicine > Medical Sciences A-Z > Public Health & Preventive Medicine > Dietetics & Nutrition
- Books > Scientific, Technical & Medical
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Anthropology > Physical
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Sociology > Family & Social Groups
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
