At the University of Chicago Seminary Co-Op Bookstore, a wonderful catacomb-like grotto with low-ceilinged labyrinthine corridors lined with books, I snagged a few readables. One of those tomes was The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution
. I've been nose-down in it all day.Absolutely fascinating.
Now I want to meet LabRat over a couple of beers more than ever.
15 comments:
Yep ... that one is on my recommend list.
You might want to try Julian Jaynes after that one ... he has some interesting notions on how the invention of writing and narrative severely effected brain evolution.
Another good one is Ghosts of Evolution ....
I am currently working on Europe Between the Oceans 9000 BC - 1000 AD.
Uh, Tam? While you're on the road, there's a little blog meet in the western Plains area, this weekend... LabRat, StingRay, LawDog (I think), Phleghmmy, Dad, and I are all attending. . .
I'd be tickled to buy you a beer, Ms. Steppin'Razor.
Forgot to mention: FarmGirl's hosting.
No need to apologize. I'm sure most of your readers, like me, have been sucked into a book or two from time to time. For me at the moment it's The Fate of Africa by Martin Meredith, an excellent examination of Africa over the fifty+ years since cmost African nations became independent. Also there is The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, another good one.
And besides, even on a slow day you get twice as much out as me!
that does sound fascinating! Thank you for the recommendation!
... I'm kinda curious what the next century or so is gonna be like, now that we're starting to "learn our own source code" as it were.
I am sure this one deserves honourable mention - Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond.
Regards.
And we just went to two of my favorite book stores in Hyde Park. There are many more.
See, Mordor in Yankeeland holds many treasures as well as orcs, goblins, giant wolves and an evil wizard who had to repeat the 4th grade.
Shootin' Buddy
*Buy* beer, Matt? Did no one tell you we're bringing something like 20 gallons of home-made?
C'mon, Tam. Point the bimmer westerly, stomp the go-button and join us!
wv: iddied, an old code in Doom for leaving booby traps.
Thanks for the book suggestions, folks....
WV: hiltio - ancient Roman hotel
Cochran & Harpending are very interesting. It had never really occurred to me before that there are people who believe that evolution is a concept to be relegated to history instead of something that they are actively living right now.
I just finished With the Old Breed at Pelelieu and Okinawa - pretty stiff jolt of action. But for actual OSS hi-jinks & fun there's The Brenner Assignment.
Have I ever mentioned I tend to get rapid-fire chatty when I drink? Although there also tends to be a disturbing amount of "Okay, uh, *hand gesture*, *lecture*"
Anything by Jared Diamond is good. I've often seen him criticized by people who apparently either didn't read the book or were so busy looking for a hateable agenda most of his points flew straight over their heads.
If you are in the area, there is a Powell's at 828 S. Wabash Ave., not like *the* Powell's in Portland, Oreg., but convenient to that area with the Field Museum, Art Institute, etc.
"...*the* Powell's in Portland..."
My Powell's sweatshirt is seventeen years old now. It's hanging in there pretty well, but I must grab a new one, next time I'm there. I know I could have one sent, but that's not nearly the same.
Powell's is the place that first made me start keeping a list of my favorite bookstores in America.
We hit the Powell's in Hyde Park while we were there. Sadly, it was right before we had to saddle up for the drive back to Free America, so I didn't have the hours to kill that it deserved. It's worth going back to see, however...
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