How Humans Evolved

by Robert Boyd, Joan B. Silk

Robert Boyd and Joan B. Silk bring their respective specialties to the groundbreaking Fourth Edition of How Humans Evolved . Using the broad perspective of behavioral ecology―how human behavior has been influenced by the evolutionary process―the authors offer a balanced discussion, drawing on updated coverage of the human fossil record. The well-structured pedagogical framework of the text, with its emphasis on overarching ideas, makes the material accessible to introductory students.

Genres: History, Anthropology, Science, Nonfiction, Evolution, Biology, School

552 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Robert Boyd is a professor of the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University.

Reviews

[Alivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book left behind in my boyfriend's sister's room when she moved out to her college apartment and decided to give it a read. For a university textbook, it's quite entertaining and easily digestible; I was able to read it straight through without looking up more than one or two concepts, and it provided a coherent and complete survey of human evolution, from Darwin's writings and theories to the behaviors and physiology of the modern !Kung and Hazda peoples. It's well-illustrated (I read the snazzy-looking seventh edition, with its matte black cover) and has short lists of suggested readings at the end of each chapter. Highly recommended if you want to learn about human heritage!
Update: One star bumped off because a friend who is very knowledgeable about human evolution flipped through this book and told me it was already wildly out of date. Get something newer if you want to be better informed. :)

[Vivian · Rating 4 out of 5]

read for anthropology class!

[Desiree · Rating 5 out of 5]

i wish every person on the planet had to read this book.

there would be no more racism.

[Kassandra Huntley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this textbook for an Anthropology class. It was well written and up-to-date on the most recent findings in the field back about 3-4 years. I found the way they presented the information to be valuable and useful for a non-anthropology major. The course work proved useful and relevant.

I thought they did a good job discussing past theories, current findings and possible directions for the field quite well. In the later chapters they discussed differing viewpoints within the field of Anthropology that gave insight into where the science developing.

[Taliarochminska · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pozdrawiam Marka xx

Overall it's a quite pleasurable book, considering how scientific it is. Liked the language used and being up to date with the latest scientific findings.
Comprehensive approach, nicely edited.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Textbook for Anth 105: Intro to Biological Anthropology

[Jime · Rating 4 out of 5]

Libro para evo hum en la u

[Roger Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fairly typical human evolution textbook and -- despite the fact that I find the subject matter fascinating -- I don't have much to say about the content because it is fairly typical. Instead, I will say something about what is not even mentioned in the book. That is the creationists. As I was reading I could not help thinking about how clueless the creationists are about this kind of material. I especially had that on my mind because just recently -- and while I was reading it -- a creationist was beating me over the head with creationism as part of his main task of beating me over the head with his religion. I find myself astounded by the ignorance of these people. They could really benefit from reading this book and books like it. It would make it difficult for them to continue with all of their straw-man arguments and complete misunderstanding of what evolution is all about. It is unlikely that they will try, though, except for the so-called creation "scientists" who do read this kind of thing just to twist what it does say into something that is false. Those so-called creation "scientists" intentionally set out to deceive, so I feel very comfortable in calling them creationist liars. It is unlikely that the truly ignorant creationists will read this material because they are wilfully ignorant. No matter how much education a scientist might have they always think they know better because they have learned their biology in church. Nevertheless, no matter how much faith they have in their ignorance the universe will keep on going ahead and being the way it is. We, the scientific minded, will continue to try to find out and understand how the universe is while the creationists will continue to try to uselessly dictate to the universe how it should be. The universe will not cooperate.

[Steven Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a terrific introduction (a textbook) to human evolution. It is written in a very accessible fashion--not just students but those in the larger public interested in the mechanism and products of human evolution will find this a useful volume.

The first part, of course, focuses on the evolutionary process, with a nice introduction to adaptation by natural selection and to genetics. Other introductory chapters introduce readers to the nature of species, phylogeny, and the synthetic theory of evolution. The discussion is well written and understandable. There are many examples to illustrate key points.

The next section explores primate evolution and behavior, to provide context for understanding human evolution and behavior. The chapter on the evolution of primate social behavior is especially helpful. Next, the authors take a look at the evolutionary lineage of humans, from primates to early hominids, to the genus Homo, to Homo sapiens. The text goes on to examine how language evolved, as well as evolution in modern humans (e.g., genetic diversity, the human life cycle, human behavior, and mate choice and parenting).

All in all, a nice introduction to the study of human evolution. Well worth taking a look at. . . .

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The initial chapters of this book were great.

My professor took issue with some of the stances in the chapters on primates - anthopodenial anyone?

She also took issue with their blatant stance as splitters in the chapters on early hominins.

After doing some research, I agree with my professor's stance on these chapters, especially the early hominins. I think it is inappropriate to state something as an absolute fact where there is a great deal of debate on the issue among academia.

This text does have great visuals!

[Rachael Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was assigned to me for a Human Evolution class, but I have used it many other times to aid in writing manuscripts. Anyone who enjoys evolutionary theory (or wants to become more educated about it), should read this book. It's a really great review of evolutionary history, evolutionary theory, population genetics, primate evolution, speciation, etc. I highly recommend it. :)

[AskHistorians]

Everything is also discussed by The Human Past, but Boyd and Silk have slightly different opinions and reading both keeps you updated not only on 'how it was' but most importantly what the current debate is and what arguments are used. Also very readable and almost compulsory for everyone into 'evolutionary anything'.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a text book, so it's not for everyone...but I found it thouroughly interesting. I learned alot too.

[sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this for a class….interesting

[Billy]

Physical Anthropology textbook which explores the evolution of the human species.

[Tim]

1 PTR (2012, New Thinking)

[دين أكل عليه الدهر و شرب]

انا شخصيا احب هذا الكتاب جدا لانه يشمل المواضيع الثلاثه - فهو يبدا بالتعريفات الاساسيه عن التطور و علاقته بالجينات و علم الوراثه - ثم ينتقل الي نظره عامه علي محموعه الرئيسيات (Primates) التي ينتمي اليها الانسان من حيث الخواص التشريحيه و التكاثر و كيفيه تطوير الذكاء. الكتاب وصل للطبعه السابعه و لكن علي النت اعتقد لن تجد الا الخامسه