The Story of the Human Body Evolution, Health, and Disease [Paperback]

In this landmark book of popular science, Daniel E. Lieberman gives us a lucid and engaging account of how the human body evolved over millions of years. He illuminates the major transformations that contributed to key adaptations to the body: the rise of bipedalism; the shift to a non-fruit-based diet; the advent of hunting and gathering; and how cultural changes like the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions have impacted us physically. He shows how the increasing disparity between the jumble of adaptations in our Stone Age bodies and advancements in the modern world is occasioning a paradox: greater longevity but increased chronic disease. And finally—provocatively—he advocates the use of evolutionary information to help nudge, push, and sometimes even compel us to create a more salubrious environment and pursue better lifestyles. 


[With charts and line drawings throughout.]“Monumental . . . an epic voyage that reveals how the past six million years shaped every part of us—our heads, limbs, and even our metabolism. . . . Through Lieberman’s eyes, evolutionary history not only comes alive, it becomes the means to understand, and ultimately influence, our body’s future.”
—Neil Shubin, author ofYour Inner Fish
 
“Fascinating. . . . A readable introduction to the whole field and great on the making of our physicality.”
—Nature
 
“Sweeping. . . . Convincingly makes the case for a wholesale rethinking of how we live our modern lives.’”
—CommonHealth, WBUR
 
“Riveting, enlightening, and more than a little frightening. . . . No one understands the human body like Daniel Lieberman or tells its story more eloquently.”
—Christopher McDougall, author ofBorn to Run

“These are not debates to gloss over or reduce to simple statements of cause and effect—they are sl“.