A brief natural history of civilization : why a balance between cooperation & competition is vital to humanity / Mark Bertness.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bertness, Mark, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nature and civilization.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (316 pages)

Place of Publication:

New Haven ; London : Yale University Press, [2020]

Summary:

A compelling evolutionary narrative that reveals how human civilization follows the same ecological rules that shape all life on Earth Offering a bold new understanding of who we are, where we came from, and where we are going, noted ecologist Mark Bertness argues that human beings and their civilization are the products of the same self-organization, evolutionary adaptation, and natural selection processes that have created all other life on Earth. Bertness follows the evolutionary process from the primordial soup of two billion years ago through today, exploring the ways opposing forces of competition and cooperation have led to current assemblages of people, animals, and plants. Bertness’s thoughtful examination of human history from the perspective of natural history provides new insights about why and how civilization developed as it has and explores how humans, as a species, might have to consciously overrule our evolutionary drivers to survive future challenges.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Why Natural History?

1. Cooperative Life

2. Life in the Food Chain

3. Taming Nature

4. The Triumph and Curse of Civilization

5. Resource Exploitation

6. Famine and Disease

7. Domination versus Cooperation

8. Our Ethnocentric, Entheogenic Universe

9. Preserving Food and Improving Health

10. Civilization on Fire

11. Unnatural Nature

Epilogue: The Natural History of Civilizations

Notes

Bibliography

Illustration Credits

Index

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-300-25264-1

OCLC:

1148871311