West Hunter

by Henry Harpending, Gregory Cochran

Normally, some flack writes the breathless, over-the-top book description. It's his job, and it spares the author the embarrassment of having to claim that his book will give you rock-hard abs while halving your time in Purgatory. With DIY E-book publishing, there's no such escape. One must drink the bitter cup. You have to make special preparations, get into the mood. Once you convince yourself that you're really a 25-year old English major from Brown, it's not that difficult. In my case, that takes about six Black Russians. Most books have one idea, at most. In West Hunter, a compilation of the first year and a half of our blog, ideas shoot out like bolts of lightning.God, did I really say that? Compared to anything by Malcolm Gladwell, it's true enough. Henry talks about genetics and witchdoctors. I talk about prehistory and Stalingrad, the inner truth of the Conan saga, and how Avril Lavigne is like a cane toad. Not just I also discuss the likely cause of homosexuality, and why all winetasters should be Pygmies. The most important, and maybe most interesting series of posts traces our growing realization that polygamy brings about a significant higher mutation rate, through increased paternal age. You can see the actual process through which a new scientific idea is born, which is more like a drunken walk than a light bulb flashing over your head.

389 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 10, 2013

Reviews

[Ernest Barker]

I love books like this. This particular book is a series of short essays from the blog post of Henry Harpending and Gregory Cochran. At one point Cochran taking about technology in an essay titled "Low-hang fruit" says, "........hardly anybody in public life knows jack shit about technology and inventions. Try to think of pundit with a patent". From this to "Class, Caste and Genes" to "The Indo-European Advantage" Harpending and Cochran short essays on the subjects. If you are looking for in-depth information on the various subjects this book is not for you. If you like reading opinionated short pithy essays on paleontology, anthropology and evolution this book is for you. I enjoyed reading this book very much.