For secondary and graduate level courses in evolution of human behaviour, human biology, human variation, psychology of behaviour or evolutionary psychology taught in departments of anthropology, biology or psychology. Compiled by the editor of American Anthropologist, this new edition of a well known reader published by Simon & Schuster Custom Publishing is a collection of recent studies on the biological basis of human behavior. The various readings offer a broad perspective and represent the work of scientists from many disciplines. The volume offers a critical evaluation of the question of whether the behavioral patterns we see are genetically fixed and/or racially variable. It evaluates whether experts are now better able to answer this question, or whether this renewed interest is just a resurgence of the old racism and biological determinism of the past.* NEW - Includes 18 new readings selected for their relevance to the topic. * NEW - Includes part opening essays written by the editor to introduce students to the topics being discussed. *Combines the history of human behavior and evolution in a wide variety of cultures and the study of our nearest living relatives, the non-human primates. *Illustrates the growing awareness of the complex interrelationships between environmental and cultural influences on behavior in humans and other animals. *Uses critical examples which carefully evaluate alternate approaches in an attempt to assess the available data and draw conclusions where possible. *Helps students to think critically about the question, "Why do we behave the way we do?" *The book is divided into five parts: *Part I covers genetics, human evolution, and primate evolution. *Part II examines interpretations of the early evolution of human behavior. *Part III looks at the biological basis of race and racism. *Part IV discusses the modern field of evolutionary psychology. *Part V focuses on the influences of hormones and the brain on behavior.

Table of Contents:
(NOTE: New articles are in bold.) I. INTRODUCTORY MATERIAL: EVOLUTION, HUMANS, AND PRIMATES.  1. Basic Concepts of Evolutionary Biology, from Evolution and the Diversity of Life. Ernst Mayr.  2. The Evolution of Living Systems, from Evolution and the Diversity of Life. Ernst Mayr.  3. Mitosis, Meiosis, and the Origins of Genetic Variability, from Human Evolution: An Introduction to the New Physical Anthropology. Joseph B. Birdsell.  4. Understanding the Genetic Construction of Behavior, from Scientific American. Ralph J. Greenspan.  5. The Taxonomy and Evolution of Primates, Robert W. Sussman.  6. Socioecology. Robert W. Sussman.  7. The Major Features of Human Evolution, Ian Tattersall.  8. Evolution of Humans May at Last Be Faltering,from The New York Times. William K. Stevens.  9. Selection in Modern Populations, from Human Evolution: An Introduction to the New Physical Anthropology. Joseph B. Birdsell. 10. Ghetto Legacy, from Current Biology. Sephen J. O'Brien. II. THE EVOLUTION OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR. 11. The Evolution of Hunting,from Man the Hunter. S. L. Washburn and C. S. Lancaster. 12. Men Love the Muck, Gingrich. 13. Sociobiology: A New Approach to Understanding the Basis of Human Nature,from New Scientist. Edward O. Wilson. 14. The New Synthesis is an Old Story, Science as Ideology Group of the British Society for Responsibility. from New Scientist. 15. Sociobiology: The Art of Storytelling,from New Scientist.Stephen Jay Gould. 16. Why Did Lucy Walk Erect?,from Lucy: The Beginnings of Human Kind. Donald C. Johanson and Maitland A. Edey. 17. Flesh and Bone,from Discover. Ellen Ruppel Shell. 18. Ape Cultures and Missing Links,from Symbols. Richard W. Wrangham. 19. Bonobo Sex and Society,from Scientific American. Frans B. M. de Waal. 20. The Myth of Man the Hunter/Man the Killer, Robert W. Sussman. 21. Reconstructions of Early Hominid Socioecology: A Critique of Primate Models, from The Evolution of Human Behavior: Primate Models. Richard Potts. 22. Species-Specific Dietary Patterns in Primates and Human Dietary Adaptations, from The Evolution of Human Behavior: Primate Models. Robert W. Sussman. 23. Ancient Odysseys, Michael D. Lemonick. 24. Time, Temporal Envelopes and the Middle and Upper Paleolithic Transition,from Archaeological Review from Cambridge. B. A. Schuman and P.B. Petit. 25. Deception Among Primates, Robert W. Sussman and Thad Q. Bartlett. III. THE BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF RACE AND RACISM. 26. Human Races: A Genetic and Evolutionary Perspective, Alan R. Templeton. 27. Three is Not Enough,from Newsweek. Sharon Begley. 28. Why Psychologists Should Learn Some Anthropology,from American Psychologist. Jefferson M. Fish. 29. Toward a Theory of Human Multiple Birthing: Sociobiology and r/K Reproductive Strategies,from Acta Geneticae Medicae et Gemelloligiae. J. Phillipe Rushton. 30. Differential K Theory and Racial Hierarchies,from Canadian Psychology. Frederic Weizmann, Neil Weiner, David L. Wiesenthal, and Michael Ziegler. 31. Race, Genes and I.Q. — An Apologia,from The New Republic. Charles Murray and Richard J. Hermstein. 32. The Poor Person's Guide to The Bell Curve,from Scientific American. Jeremy Bernstein. 33. Critique of The Bell Curve,from Mismeasure of Man. Stephen J. Gould. 34. What Color Is Black,fromNewsweek Tom Morganthou. 35. A Summary of the World, Anonymous. 36. New Vital Statistics Confirm Worsening of Black Health, International Society on Hypertension in Blacks, fromEthnicity and Disease. 37. Black, White, Other,from Natural History. Jonathan Marks. 38. Brave New Right,from The New Republic. Michael Lind. 39. The Nature of Human Universals, Robert W. Sussman. IV. THE NEW BIOLOGICAL DETERMINISM. 40. Male and Female,from The Moral Animal: Evolutionary Psychology and Everyday Life. Robert Wright. 41. Our Cheating Hearts,from Time. Robert Wright. 42. The Curious Courtship of Sociobiology and Feminism: A Case of Irreconcilable Differences,from Feminism and Evolutionary Biology: Boundaries, Intersections, and Frontiers. Zuleyma Tang-Martinez. 43. The Biology of Violence,from The New Yorker. Robert Wright. 44. Modern Biological Determinism: The Violence Initiative, the Human Genome Project and the New Eugenics,from Sociology of the Sciences Yearbook. Garland E. Allen. 45. Scapegoat Biology, from Discover. Bettyann H. Kevles and Daniel J. Kevles. 46. Genetic Ties May Be Factor in Violence in Stepfamilies, from The New York Times. Jane E. Brody. 47. Infant Killing as Evolutionary Strategy: Reality or Myth?,from Evolutionary Anthropology. Robert W. Sussman, James M. Cheverud, and Thad Q. Bartlett. 48. Infanticide: Let's Not Throw the Baby Out with the Bath Water,from Evolutionary Anthropology. Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, Charles Janson, and Carel van Schaik. 49. How the Human Got it's Spots,from Skeptic. Henry D. Schlinger, Jr. V. THE BRAIN, HORMONES, AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR. 50. Gray Matters,from Newsweek. Sharon Begley. 51. The Trouble with Testosterone, from The Trouble with Testosterone and Other Essays on the Biology of the Human Predicament. Robert M. Sapolsky. 52. Social Status Sculpts Activity of Crayfish Neurons,from Science. Marcia Barinaga. 53. Life at the Top: Animals Pay the High Price for Dominance,from Science. Virginia Morrell. 54. How the Brain Uses a Simple Dopamine System,from The New York Times. Sandra Blakeslee. 55. Illuminating How Bodies Are Built for Sociability, from The New York Times. Natalie Angier. 56. Hormones, Genes, and Behavior, from Proceeds of the National Academy of Science. Donald W. Pfaff. 57. Think Again, from Human Nature. John Tooby and Leda Cosmides. 58. Our Genes, Ourselves?, from BioScience. Ari Berkowitz. 59. A Gene for Nothing, from Discover. Robert M. Sapolsky.