Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

An unmarked copy-" Human history has been shaped by three major revolutions: the Cognitive Revolution (70,000 years ago), the Agricultural Revolution (10,000 years ago), and the Scientific Revolution (500 years ago). These revolutions have empowered humans to do something no other form of life has done, which is to create and connect around ideas that do not physically exist (think religion, capitalism, and politics). These shared myths have enabled humans to take over the globe and have put humankind on the verge of overcoming the forces of natural selection.- Yuval Noah Harari has some questions. Among the biggest: How did Homo sapiens (or Homo sapiens sapiens, if you're feeling especially wise today) evolve from an unexceptional savannah-dwelling primate to become the dominant force on the planet, emerging as the lone survivor out of six distinct, competing hominid species? He also has some answers, and they're not what you'd expect. Tackling evolutionary concepts from a historian's perspective, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, describes human development through a framework of three not-necessarily-orthodox Revolutions: the Cognitive, the Agricultural, and the Scientific. His ideas are interesting and often amusing: Why have humans managed to build astonishingly large populations when other primate groups top out at 150 individuals Because our talent for gossip allows us to build networks in societies too large for personal relationships between everyone, and our universally accepted imagined realities?--such as money, religion, and Limited Liability Corporations keep us in line. Who cultivated whom, humans or wheat? Wheat. Though the concepts are unusual and sometimes heavy (as is the book, literally) Harari's deft prose and wry, subversive humor make quick work of material prone to academic tedium. He's written a book of popular nonfiction (it was a bestseller overseas, no doubt in part because his conclusions draw controversy) landing somewhere in the middle of a Venn diagram of genetics, sociology, and history. Throughout, Harari returns frequently to another question: Does all this progress make us happier, our lives easier? The answer might disappoint you."-Jon Foro- Minor wear on cover