A Brain for All Seasons: Human Evolution and Abrupt Climate Change Hardcover - 2002
by William H. Calvin
Structured as a travelogue that takes readers around the globe and back in time, this work shows how gyrating weather patterns may have forged the path of humankind. 46 halftones. 20 line drawings.
First line
HASH(0x1111d340)
From the rear cover
One of the most shocking realizations of all time has slowly been dawning on us: the earth's climate does great flip-flops every few thousand years, and with breathtaking speed. In just a few years, the climate suddenly cools worldwide. With only half the rainfall, severe dust storms whirl across vast areas. Lightning strikes ignite giant forest fires. For most mammals, including our ancestors, populations crash. Our ancestors lived through hundreds of such abrupt episodes since the more gradual Ice Ages began two and a half million years ago--but abrupt cooling produced a population bottleneck each time, one that eliminated most of their relatives. We are the improbable descendants of those who survived--and later thrived. William H. Calvin's marvelous A Brain for All Seasons argues that such cycles of cool, crash, and burn powered the pump for the enormous increase in brain size and complexity in human beings. Driven by the imperative to adapt within a generation to whiplash climate changes where only grass did well for a while, our ancestors learned to cooperate and innovate in hunting large grazing animals. Calvin's book is structured as a travelogue that takes us around the globe and back in time. Beginning at Darwin's home in England, Calvin sits under an oak tree and muses on what controls the speed of evolutionary progress. The Kalahari desert and the Sterkfontein caves in South Africa serve as the backdrop for a discussion of our ancestors' changing diets. A drought-shrunken lake in Kenya shows how grassy mudflats become great magnets for grazing animals. And in Copenhagen, we learn what ice cores have told us about abrupt jumps in past climates. Perhaps the most dramatic discovery of all, though, awaits us as we fly with Calvin over the Gulf Stream and Greenland: global warming caused by human-made pollution could paradoxically trigger another sudden episode of global cooling. Because of the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the oceanic conveyor belt that sends warmer waters into the North Atlantic could abruptly shut down. If that happens again, much of the Earth could be plunged into a deep chill within a few years. Europe would become as cold and dry as Siberia. Agriculture could not adapt quickly enough to avoid worldwide famines and wars over the dwindling food supplies--a crash from which it would take us many centuries to recover. With this warning, Calvin connects us directly to evolution and the surprises it holds. Highly illustrated, conversational, and learned, A Brain for All Seasons is a fascinating view of where we came from, and where we're going.
Details
- Title A Brain for All Seasons: Human Evolution and Abrupt Climate Change
- Author William H. Calvin
- Binding Hardcover
- Edition First Edition
- Pages 341
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
- Date April 15, 2002
- Illustrated Yes
- Features Bibliography, Dust Cover, Glossary, Illustrated, Index, Maps, Table of Contents
- ISBN 9780226092010 / 0226092011
- Weight 1.21 lbs (0.55 kg)
- Dimensions 8.74 x 5.8 x 0.99 in (22.20 x 14.73 x 2.51 cm)
- Library of Congress subjects Human evolution, Human beings - Effect of climate on
- Library of Congress Catalog Number 2001037602
- Dewey Decimal Code 304.25
Media reviews
Citations
- Books & Culture, 05/01/2002, Page 41
- Choice, 10/01/2002, Page 319
- Discover, 06/01/2002, Page 78
More Copies for Sale
A Brain for All Seasons: Human Evolution and Abrupt Climate Change
by Calvin, William H
- Used
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780226092010 / 0226092011
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Waltham, Massachusetts, United States
- Item Price
-
SGD 4.49SGD 4.13 shipping to USA
Show Details
A Brain for All Seasons: Human Evolution and Abrupt Climate Change
by Calvin, William H.
- Used
- Condition
- Used - Good
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780226092010 / 0226092011
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Frederick, Maryland, United States
- Item Price
-
SGD 6.98SGD 5.49 shipping to USA
Show Details
A Brain for All Seasons : Human Evolution and Abrupt Climate Change
by Calvin, William H
- Used
- Condition
- Used - Good
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780226092010 / 0226092011
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Mishawaka, Indiana, United States
- Item Price
-
SGD 8.08FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
A Brain for All Seasons : Human Evolution and Abrupt Climate Change
by Calvin, William H
- Used
- Condition
- Used - Good
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780226092010 / 0226092011
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Mishawaka, Indiana, United States
- Item Price
-
SGD 9.47FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
A Brain for All Seasons : Human Evolution and Abrupt Climate Change
by Calvin, William H
- Used
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780226092010 / 0226092011
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Mishawaka, Indiana, United States
- Item Price
-
SGD 9.47FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
A Brain for All Seasons : Human Evolution and Abrupt Climate Change
by Calvin, William H
- Used
- Condition
- Used - Like New
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780226092010 / 0226092011
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Mishawaka, Indiana, United States
- Item Price
-
SGD 9.47FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
A Brain for All Seasons : Human Evolution and Abrupt Climate Change
by William H. Calvin
- Used
- as new
- Hardcover
- Condition
- As New
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780226092010 / 0226092011
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Seattle, Washington, United States
- Item Price
-
SGD 9.98FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
A Brain for All Seasons : Human Evolution and Abrupt Climate Change
by William H. Calvin
- Used
- good
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Used - Good
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780226092010 / 0226092011
- Quantity Available
- 3
- Seller
-
Seattle, Washington, United States
- Item Price
-
SGD 9.98FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
A Brain for All Seasons: Human Evolution and Abrupt Climate Change
by Calvin, William H.
- Used
- good
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Used - Good
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780226092010 / 0226092011
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Seattle, Washington, United States
- Item Price
-
SGD 9.98FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
A Brain for All Seasons: Human Evolution and Abrupt Climate Change
by Calvin, William H.
- Used
- Acceptable
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Used - Acceptable
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780226092010 / 0226092011
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Seattle, Washington, United States
- Item Price
-
SGD 9.98FREE shipping to USA