A History of the Human Brain

by Bret Stetka

“Crack open this book and take a read. You will be transported, illuminated, and delighted.” —Psychology Today Just 125,000 years ago, humanity was on a path to extinction, until a dramatic shift occurred. We used our mental abilities to navigate new terrain and changing climates. We hunted, foraged, tracked tides, shucked oysters—anything we could do to survive. Before long, our species had pulled itself back from the brink and was on more stable ground. What saved us? The human brain—and its evolutionary journey is unlike any other. In A History of the Human Brain, Bret Stetka takes us on this far-reaching journey, explaining exactly how our most mysterious organ developed. From the brain’s improbable, watery beginnings to the marvel that sits in the head of Homo sapiens today, Stetka covers an astonishing progression, even tackling future brainy frontiers such as epigenetics and CRISPR. Clearly and expertly told, this intriguing account is the story of who we are. By examining the history of the brain, we can begin to piece together what it truly means to be human.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Audiobook, History, Neuroscience, Anthropology, Psychology

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 16, 2021

Reviews

[Morgan Blackledge · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is essentially a fun and funny compendium of other popular evolutionary biology, psychology, and neuroscience titles.

As such, there will not be a lot of new stuff in here, particularly if you’re up on these topics.

That being said.

Author Bret Stetka does a great job of taking a disparate heap of findings and assertions, from a fairly far reaching array of disciplinary perspectives, and stitching them together in an interesting, engaging, memorable and at times laugh out loud funny deep-historical narrative.

If you’re looking for something ‘new’ here, you probably won’t find it unless you’re relatively ‘new’ to these ideas.

And there ain’t nothing wrong with that.

But even if you’ve already been there and done that.

You may still benefit from (or at minimum enjoy) the way Stetka spins this particularly vital yarn.

When I was a kid, Carl Sagan’s Cosmos turned me on to science through creative and engaging serial television production.

Later, Richard Dawkins’s early work in the communication of science to popular audiences further stoked my gnar.

The contemporary state of the art of science popularization has reached far beyond these two giants, but not without standing on their shoulders.

This book is a great example of how making science simple and fun can inspire newcomers and reinvigorate salty old cranks alike.

I actually LOVED this book.

Both as a consumer, and from the perspective of both an educator and therapist.

There’s lots to love here.

So if any of this sounds good.

Pick it up.

I think you will dig it.

Why 4/5 stars?

I was expecting to learn something new and eye popping, and beyond the praises previously heaped, I didn’t really get that ‘oh wow, that changes everything’ experience I was seeking.

Still a great book.

Just not a full 5/5.

[CanadianReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stetka has sifted through and synthesized vast amounts of material—produced by physical anthropologists and primatologists, but also by palaeontologists, archeologists, historians, evolutionary biologists, linguists, geneticists, and more—to tell how various factors, including environment, climate, diet, genetics, and social organization have impacted the development of humans across the eons. The author starts with the dawn of life on earth and a discussion of our earliest ancestors: eukaryotes (simple organisms with DNA protected within a nuclear envelope) and sea sponge-like creatures who used proteins as chemical messengers that resemble our neurotransmitters. After working through the many factors that influenced and changed the characteristics of hominins (species regarded as human, directly ancestral to humans, or very closely related to humans), the author ends the book by considering techniques for gene editing, which will likely be increasingly employed in the future to alter human beings.

The ideal reader of this book would come equipped with a basic knowledge of physical anthropology and genetics. I was not the ideal reader. I occasionally became quite overwhelmed by the detail—which is not to say I didn’t learn a great deal. I was expecting a more neuroscience-focused book and this was one dominated by the work of primatologists. The behaviour of chimps, bonobos, and our ancestors figured more prominently than the changes in cerebral architecture, neural anatomy, and function over time. When Stetka does directly address the brain, his material is mostly supportive of the factors leading to its enlargement.

Readers of Jared Diamond are likely to be satisfied by this text, but it lacks the narrative-drive and accessibility of Yuval Noah Harari’s phenomenally successful SAPIENS.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for providing me with a digital ARC.

[Nicola Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

When it comes to the brain, I think everyone has a curious interest into its origins, it’s evolution and how we’ve become the people we are today. To those people I say: this book is your perfect read! The history of the brain was just thoroughly brilliant, in the topics that were covered, the way it was written and how fantastic and interesting the author manage to convey this amazing subject.

The first section of the book - the animal collection - was like a brilliant stroll through our history, relating to how life may have started and through our evolutionary beginnings to the start of brain formation. How we may have started to diverge from primordial origins and how it’s benefited us today. It’s so interesting looking back throughout our timelines and howwe’ve got to be where we are.

Section two was all about our social brains and how this may have affected our early brain origins. From learning to live in social structures and drawing inferences between ape social structures and their brains to ours. We are a highly social species and it was incredibly interesting to see that represented in our brains. I really enjoyed learning more about the social tendencies and behaviours of bonobos and chimps and how distinct they could be from each other at times. And reading about the effect of different genes and how they could affect our brains and personalities was mind blowing!

The final section, on our diet and the consequential effect on our brains, the future evolution of our brains and where it might take us, the influence of societal structure as well as new and up coming technologies drew to the conclusion an utterly fantastic range of knowledge and information on this fascinating subject

I love how the author has written this book, using language to easily disseminate complex research and information in easier to understand ways and ones that are compelling and split into bite size chunks. I really wish I had had this book when I was studying my undergraduate degree, as there were some concepts I never understood and could never find written in a way that wasn’t confusing when I researched it! This book definitely delivered that.

Bret was great at explaining things in a succinct way and in ways that actually made sense! It’s a perfect balance between in depth science and the authors great writing style that doesn’t leave you feeling too overwhelmed with all the information covered. And there was a lot of information in here. I can’t explain how much I learnt! I love that it contains up to date and recent, new research and there’s plenty of diagrams and pictures to supplement the main text - definitely a benefit for a book like this one. The added visual aspect was great.

It flowed brilliantly and there was the inclusion of plenty of renowned scientists in their field and their research in this book which really made for an overall, well rounded brilliant read.

I was lucky enough to read this as an advanced copy, with thanks to the author and publishers on NetGalley, to give honest thoughts and review after reading.

[Sayani · Rating 3 out of 5]

A History of the Human Brain: From the Sea Sponge to CRISPR, How Our Brain Evolved
Bret Stetka
Publisher: Timber Press
ISBN: 9781604699883
Publication date: 03/16/2021
Pages: 272
**This is an ARC provided by NetGalley for book reviews.**

A popular science book about the evolutionary history of our brain written by Bret Stetka, a non-practising physician, science journalist, writer and contributor to Scientific American and NPR. Readers of Sapiens will find this a breezy read which brings together anthropology, primatology, zoology, natural history, sociology, psychology, and a bit of genetics in the mix to understand how the brain evolved from its primordial state.

The book is divided into three parts namely, the anatomical biography, the social wiring, and the cultural makeup that have led to the evolution of the human brain. The first part was a lovely trip down memory lane for me personally. From the humble origins of the sponges in the oceans possessing proteins very similar to the ones found in our brains and nervous system to the unique nine-brained octopus, we see the gradual evolution of the components of a nervous system as it rose in the oceans in fishes and migrated to the lands in higher animals. While navigating this path Stetka presents us with the latest and updated paleontological, geological, and genetic data that provide us clues about this journey. The book’s strong point lies in its treatment of primate evolution and the similarities and dissimilarities we have with the apes. Here the reader will find an exhaustive account of the discovery of hominin fossils and the evolution of Homo sapiens. Are we so different from our Neanderthal and Denisovan cousins? The first part leaves you with a respect for the rich history of our ancestors and the evolution that led to our present anatomy.

Ethology takes up the mantle in the second part of this book. How altruism, cooperation, violence, grooming, communication, tool-making, and language in social groups have played roles in shaping primate and human brains. For example, we have physiological similarities with monkeys and apes such as the presence of similar areas like Broca’s and Wernicke’s but the complexity and plasticity of our speech centres make us unique in processing and producing sophisticated language. The final section of the book traces the effects of dietary habits along with the use of fire in sprucing up the organ inside our skulls. This is the weakest section of the book and a hurried conclusion leaves the reader wanting for a bit more focused end to the book.

I recommend the book for anyone who needs a primer in neurobiology, behavior science, and primate biology. It presents the latest findings in evolutionary neuroscience and is well-written by a seasoned science writer. Despite the weak last chapters and conclusion it is unique in its format of bringing many subjects together in shaping the biology of our unique brains.

[Stetson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A History of the Human Brain is a breezy read that deftly pulls readers through vast bodies of popular science journalism, scientific literature, and whole fields of science. Bret Stetka demonstrates a great ability to digest and synthesize scientific information and conveys it clearly and convincingly to readers. He does so in a mostly balanced way, describing ongoing debates in the fields of evolution, genetics, and brain science fairly well.

I really enjoyed the work, though I found a lot of the information to be familiar or unsurprising (I have a strong background in related fields). If anything, I wished the work had expounded on many of the ideas, issues, and phenomena described. I felt enriched by the book because I was familiar with the works of many of those who Stetka referenced heavily: Pinker, Harari, Wrangham, Tattersall, etc. However, I worry readers without strong backgrounds in science may walk away from this work without as full of a picture, and those with strong backgrounds will feel unchallenged. Of course, it is hard to strike a perfect balance.

Overall, Stetka has put together a nifty, concise work of popular science on the origins of the human brain. It is worth checking out.

[Fred M · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Amazon description says the book explains “exactly how our most mysterious organ developed”. And that exact explanation turned out to be “through evolution”. Not really a surprising conclusion.

The book starts off with what events may have originally acted upon early Earth’s primordial soup to kick off initial life on Earth, continues with the increasingly complex forms of the life, throws in a couple extinction events and finally we get to the dominance of mammals on land. I’ve already read other books covering similar subject matter.

There are lots of comparison between different types of primates, such as with chimpanzees vs bonobos, chimpanzees vs apes or apes vs humans. These comparisons sometimes focused on their physical differences and sometimes on their different social behaviors with others of their kind. Indeed, I thought there was quite a bit of discussion regarding sociology-like issues. This was because one of the book’s basic premises was that humans’ big (relatively speaking) brains were due to our use of language and our interacting with large social groups. Competing theories were that bigger brains came about to allow working with tools or to enable migrating in search of food when local food sources disappeared due to climate changes or catastrophic events.

Another discussion discussed comparative brain sizes between different types of animals of similar body size. Indeed, it seemed like any theory anyone had put forth within the last 100+ years was at least mentioned in this book. But the author’s quest for completeness (and giving credit to all who came before) made for a dry read.

Ultimately, the problem is that there is no actual history of the development of humans with their relatively large brains. There are artifacts that we’ve found. There are fossils of body fragments that have been uncovered (and sometimes those body fragments are extrapolated into a whole body structure). There is also the basic randomness of evolutionary changes that resulted in the animals that now populate the planet. After that, there is only a long series of speculations (or, some might say, best guess hypotheses) as to how we got from primordial soup to where we are now. We will never know “exactly how our most mysterious organ developed”.

Bottom Line: In previous years, I’ve read “The Body” (by Bill Bryson) and “A Short History of Nearly Everything” (also by Bill Bryson). Those books also provide scientific information intended for the general readership. Bill Bryson’s books may not to go to the same depth as this book did, but the information in Bill Bryson’s books was presented in a much more readable and interesting format.

[Angie Boyter]

This is today's Audible Daily deal, so I bought it for $1.99 based on the review by Morgan Blackledge here on Goodreads and listened to the first two chapters on my daily walk. The review is very accurate!!

[bohemianrhapsodyreads · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is amazing how much we have learned about the human brain over the course of time. Yet there’s still so much that we do not know. This book gives you a succinct history of what science has learned about the brain up until the present day including the very interesting concept of CRISPR. This knowledge of the brain and present time brings up many ethical questions such as is cloning moral? If you like learning about the brain then you’ll definitely like this book and it would be great for gifting! I think this book would also be great for a school classroom.

I just reviewed A History of the Human Brain by Bret Stetka. #AHistoryoftheHumanBrain #NetGalley

[Aral Roca Gomez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesante para ver una perspectiva de la evolución de nuestro cerebro al largo de la historia y ciertas diferencias con animales.

[B. Rule · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you read much pop science in the areas of neuroscience or physical anthropology, much of this will be old hat. However, it's a pretty effective Sparks Notes of basically every book I've read in that field for the last 15 years, so it's not without some value. This would be a fantastic introduction to these subjects, as Stetka is a whiz at crisply summarizing the high-level view (even as he leaves out all of the interesting details and most of the controversies along the way). I was impressed at how efficiently he moved through the material, and the writing style is clear. He cites most of the major figures you'd want, like Tomasello, Gazzaniga, De Waal, Sapolsky, etc., along with a healthy dose of Harari's Sapiens, mercifully shorn of the bong-rip portentousness that plagued that more popular work. Stetka isn't really getting into the weeds on neuroanatomy, nor trying to pin down a precise timeline. Instead, you get general but generally correct info on what the archaeological record and current science can tell us about the evolution of hominin brains.

I liked it but I am not the right audience. I want the weird stuff, not a summary. But I can see the value in his project; it's not easy to summarize, as the field is very fast-moving and subject to lots of very open questions. If you want a one-volume overview of what the heck is going on with where our neural architecture came from, this is a good place to start. If you want a deeper dive, you won't find it here.

[Kate Morton · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was interesting and the author tried to make the subject less dry with humor and irony. I was pleased with the mix of evolution and religious beliefs.

[Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

“A history of the human brain” by Bret Stetka is a collection of knowledge all surrounding the topic of the amazing human brain and how we got from sea sponges to gene editing. I got this book in a box that gets shipped to my house every three months. It's a curiosity box, it's a box full of cool science stuff that just so happened to include this book.

The book opens talking about our close relatives in the animal kingdom. These close relatives are not just related to use by their genetics but also by their behavior and how they create their own societies. Human emotions can be very easily found and picked from their own behaviors. The book continues on the subject of our close relatives but inside describes how each step down are branches off of the previous which explains how we could evolve and for the animal we evolved from still be alive. The book also talks about how as the evolutions continued we lost hair and began to walk up right before our brains had even begun to get larger/smarter. The book also poses a question why didn’t humans go extinct but Neanderthals did. Neanderthals had bigger brains than us and were way smarter than us but someone we outlived them. It's all because Neanderthals moved until they reached water than stopped, homo-sapiens (humans today) didn't, they kept on moving and used land bridges and moved to every inch of our planet making us outlived the Neanderthals. The book also talks about how we later on developed fear sensing in the brain and learned through genetics what to fear and what not to fear. The book also talked about how mental illness, although bad on the surface, can actually be beneficial in small quantities.

The book ends with the discussion of the CRISPR gene editor and how it has been used ethically and unethically. Which I believe is an elegant way to end a book, start with the past and end with the present all in chronological order. My favorite part of the book was when the author talked about our common ancestors that they have something that no other animal has and I think that really shows just how select humans actually are.

I personally really liked the book, I love history and science so putting the two together is perfect. That is one of the things I love about our world. If you go back in time it turns from history to science to math. I think I would have loved to see instead of the present the book went further into the future and discussed maybe other possible life forms on different planets. I think people who are interested in science or maybe the human brain would really like this book due to its discussion of the brain and our human history.

[Stetson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A History of the Human Brain is a breezy read that deftly pulls readers through vast bodies of popular science journalism, scientific literature, and whole fields of science. Bret Stetka demonstrates a great ability to digest and synthesize scientific information and conveys it clearly and convincingly to readers. He does so in a mostly balanced way, describing ongoing debates in the fields of evolution, genetics, and brain science fairly well.

I really enjoyed the work, though I found a lot of the information to be familiar or unsurprising (I have a strong background in related fields). If anything, I wished the work had expounded on many of the ideas, issues, and phenomena described. I felt enriched by the book because I was familiar with the works of many of those who Stetka referenced heavily: Pinker, Harari, Wrangham, Tattersall, etc. However, I worry readers without strong backgrounds in science may walk away from this work without as full of a picture, and those with strong backgrounds will feel unchallenged. Of course, it is hard to strike a perfect balance.

Overall, Stetka has put together a nifty, concise work of popular science on the origins of the human brain. It is worth checking out.

[Bipin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An awesome read. The writing style makes the content very accessible. I am not familiar with many fields (such as primatology, anthropology, zoology etc.,) discussed in this book. The author did a very good job compiling all this information into a cohesive, concise book. I was awe-struck, like a kid at carnival, every time two dots were connected (a connection between two seemingly unrelated ideas/topics) in the book. Even though the title says the history of brain, a major portion is devoted to evolution of humans. Reading about the timeline of human evolution provided me some context over many things. One small issue I had with the book is mentioning CRISPR in the title, I feel it's a bait, because The author barely spent more than three pages talking about CRISPR. This book is definitely going to impact how I think through things in many situations. (I realize I have been saying this a lot about the books I read recently.) I was intrigued through out and would recommend this book to anyone who's looking to expand their horizons. This could very well be my gateway book to reading further about the fields discussed here in.
Thanks Pickens County Library System for letting me borrow this book.

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stetka's work is easy to understand, well-researched, and thorough even though it is not a long work.
The book is divided into three logical parts, and it makes for a quick read despite covering a pretty difficult topic. The images included with the text enhanced rather than distracted as some scientifically minded works tend to do for me.
I enjoyed the inclusion of ongoing debates within the scientific community relating to the topic or time period being discussed in each section. Stetka seems to have a way of condensing complicated science so that the general public can understand what is being discussed.
I would recommend this work for anyone interested in how humans have gotten to where we are today, to general readers with a basic interest in history, and for those willing to have an open mind and explore how our brains have grown, changed, and adapted into what they are today.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and Timber Press for a copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A History of the Human Brain is an accesible and fun look into how the brain evolved. Filled with history and science, this book kept my interest and curiosity stoked. The scientific info isn't too much for the layperson, nor is it oversimplified. Stetka offers vivid examples for the reader to "see" the behavior he discusses. The only thing missing is a diagram of the human brain, which would have been helpful to reference. I know little of neuroscience, but I came out of this book feeling like I'd learned a great deal without feeling like I'd suffered through a hard lesson.

I'd recommend A History of the Human Brain to anyone with a scientific interest or a curiosity about how humans work.

[Andrea Wenger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an astonishing accomplishment. It traces the development of the human brain from single-celled organisms to present-day questions such as designer babies and artificial intelligence.

There's a lot we don't know, and the author presents competing theories on subjects such as when symbolic language first evolved, and chicken-and-egg questions like whether tool use was a cause or an effect of bigger brains.

If you have any interest at all in human evolution or neuroscience, this book is a must-read.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read covering a lot of things with enough detail to provide an understanding of the various theories behind how we ended up the way we are.

A couple criticisms:
- Stetka has fascinating stories to tell us and does provide multiple voices to weigh in on controversial or unproven theories. But I worry that a good story or a good story teller may win over actual data. Some of the stories are highly speculative.

- Didn't realize how his use of contractions (don't, couldn't, etc) would bother me. I see contractions as a way to represent how we actually talk but out of place in printed works of non-fiction unless it is an actual quote.

[Rajarajan RJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always wanted to read about the human brain after my father died due to a Brian haemorrhage. The human brain always fascinates me like anyone else. This book on history of human brain gives a brief introduction on how human brain evolved from sponges to primates and to the current size and functions. In this book, The author refers to numerous other books which helps us to seek further. As a non medico and with less knowledge on the brain, I find a little difficult to follow. However, this is definitely a good book to read on Brain.

[Maciej Walinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book randomly caught my eye as I was walking down an aisle of my local library. As soon as I saw the title, I knew it was up my alley, and that I would enjoy it. I am happy to say my assertion proved accurate.

Stetka does something quite adept here: he makes a challenging, and I am sure to some, dry, topic quite accessible and easily digestible. For those who studied neuro or cognitive science, there won't be much in here that they are not already familiar with, although if you're like me, and haven't read a book on the topic since your undergrad days, the refresher was welcomed. Stetka also presents many interesting, more modern theories on the development of the brain in conjuction with evolutionary forces, as opposed to the former influencing the latter, which I really enjoyed learning. There are many topics addressed, including how we differed (or didn't) from our now extinct homo counterparts, to how the mind and consciousness reconcile with the physilogical organ.

All in all this is an extremely well written book that although not mind-blowingly fantastic enough to earn 5 stars, gets a solid 4.25 from me. I recommend it to anyone with a fascination as to how we developed the controling mechanism of our existence, or to those who would simply like a little refresher.

[Arnab · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clear, well-researched introduction to the evolution of the human brain, slightly marred by editing mistakes ('palate' is the faculty of taste, 'palette' is the tray used by artists to mix colors; 'to fare well' is to succeed in one's enterprise; 'to fair well' is nonsense).

Highly recommended to lay readers interested in how our most valuable organ evolved, and where it's going.

[Melisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

For anyone with an incipient interest in the topic, this book nicely summarizes classic studies and recent developments in the study of the human brain from different disciplines, as well as accounts of conversations with experts in the field. It doesn't offer any particular insight, but it contains references for those who'd like to explore further.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating tour of our history and what is currently being studied. Some middle chapters were a bit slower, maybe a little dry, but it recovers and I particularly enjoyed the ending chapter on Future Sapiens with the discussion of understanding consciousness and what it means in animals and AI.

[Fate's Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty cool science writing with a look at evolution from the perspective of brain development and a LOT of really interesting background on the human raceS (yes, plural) and what the other species of human might have been like.

[Andy McCormick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting and packs in a lot of technical information into a very short amount of time. Definitely for someone with some background in biology/neuroscience/evolution/genetics but still very interesting and thought provoking for someone without that background.

[Kico Meirelles · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book with great insights and curiosities about the brain. The book sometimes go off the trail of the brain and talk about other evolution topics, but at the end can reconnect to the main topic. The scientific info is very well explained and structured.

[Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Instructional. " A history of the human brain from the sea sponge to CRISPR. how our brain evolved.
Though I was a bit disappointed because I thought more psychology and physicality would be covered. This was primarily evolution of the brain just as the title states.

[SM Zalokar · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/4 - not too heady and well researched. Brains! 🧠 Braaaaiiiinnnnnsssssssss!!!

[Shawn Kilpatrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great summary that dives deep in just the right places to help shed some light on why we are the way we are. Enjoyable, entertaining and enlightening.

[Luke Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really good and informational. Great read for anyone interested in history, evolution, or psycology.