Review by Booklist Review
Calvin is supposedly concerned with the changes in Earth's climate during recent ice ages and their effects on the evolution of the human mind, but his speculations on the future of the planet are the most worthwhile aspect of his book. He convincingly argues that the ebb and flow of the glaciers and the boom-and-bust weather cycles that accompanied them constitute some of the keys to understanding why the brain of Homo sapiens increased fourfold during these eras of glaciation. Further, although early man could rebound in population because the retreating glaciers opened up new areas for a limited population, today's billions could not. For the much-talked-about greenhouse effect or another ice age would be catastrophic to agriculture, causing millions to starve. Whereas early humans adapted to the environment following glaciation, we might be battling over limited resources, losing our culture and technology with no guarantee that future generations would ever revive them. ~--Jon Kartman
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
An eloquent, spirited look at the relationship between climate and human evolution, by the author of The Throwing Madonna: From Nervous Cells to Hominid Brain (1983). Calvin (Neurophysiology/Univ. of Washington) has one basic point to make: that ""matching wits with the fickle environment is how we became human."" He explores this thesis in large part by poking around past ice ages, seeing how glaciers, toolmaking, and larger brains (the ""Great Encephalization"" of the human stock) ""bootstrapped"" each other--that is, mutually interacted--to produce George Bush, Madonna, et al. For the most part, he argues, evolutionary leaps (i.e., punctuated equilibrium) rather than agonizingly slow change led to modern Homo sapiens, with climatic fluctuations as the ""pumping mechanism."" The upshot? A creature especially adapted to function well in diverse climates; it is our flexibility on icecap or desert that insures our survival. En route to this happy conclusion, Calvin presents a scenario of the next ice age, salutes Neanderthal man, describes an airline flightover the North Pole, and attends a convention in Hungary probing extraterrestrial intelligence. A clear, tightly organized entry in the spate of recent books about nature that double as high literature; further evidence that this may well be the golden age of science writing. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
