Human diversity : its nature, extent, causes and effects on people / Bernard Charles Lamb.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lamb, Bernard C., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ethnopsychology.

Human genetics.

Nature and nurture.

Race.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (469 p.)

Place of Publication:

[Hackensack], New Jersey : World Scientific, 2016.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"Human diversity, with its myriad of different conditions involving biology, psychology, and social structures, remains one of the biggest challenges — and opportunities — facing the species. With many government and private firms now having diversity or equality officers, programmes or committees, it is clear that human diversity is a cornerstone of policy-making at the very highest echelons. All this points to a need for proper scientific and medical information on this topic — not soft 'politically correct' sociology. This book provides the hard facts on human similarities and differences, their causes and effects on people. It covers the whole range from normal to extreme human types, and presents — for the first time — much of the author's 25 years of original research on the subject. It can also act as a family medical guide to aspects of human function, structure and disease. It covers many human topics in a humane and understandable fashion, providing much material for information and discussion. It can be used as a handbook or textbook on human diversity, but is mainly popular science for the general public. A special feature of this book is the 140 colour photos that illustrate the diversity of human life, nearly all taken by the author himself. Given the vast nature of the subject, the book seamlessly integrates relevant data from multiple disciplines including medicine, biology, anthropology, genetics, psychology, evolution, languages, sociology, history and geography. Even controversial subjects such as race, class and culture are tackled head-on with no-nonsense scientific rigour."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Contents; Acknowledgements; Chapter 1 Introduction: Scope of the Book; Types of Human Difference and Their Causes; 1.1. The aims and scope of this book; 1.2. The major types of human difference; 1.3. Examples of differences and their causes; heritability; Reference; Chapter 2 Races and Inter-Mixing, Nationalities, Cultures, Castes, Classes and Religions; 2.1. Introduction; 2.2. Cultures and nationalities; 2.3. Race; 2.3.1. Introduction; 2.3.2. Racism; 2.3.3. Racial quotas; 2.3.4. Political correctness gone wrong; 2.4. Racial mixing; Research on what it is like to be of mixed race

2.5. Religion2.6. Diversity in a school, then and now; 2.7. The origins of racial and population differences; 2.8. Race, adaptation to environment, selection, chanceand preferring one's own kind; 2.9. Races and geography; References; Recommended reading; Chapter 3 Height, Weight, Shape and Obesity; 3.1. Introduction; 3.2. Body fat and heat; 3.3. Height; 3.4. Weight and health; 3.5. Dissatisfaction with body image; 3.6. Shape, obesity and diet; References; Chapter 4 Differences Between Males and Females; Reproduction and its Production of Genetic Diversity; 4.1. Introduction; 4.2. Females

4.3. Males4.4. Fertilisation; 4.5. Diversity from reproduction; 4.6. Physical variations; 4.7. Conception through the oral route, a true virgin birth; References; Recommended reading; Chapter 5 Personal Choice, Cosmetic and Preventative Surgery, Clothing and Make-up; 5.1. Introduction; 5.2. Cosmetic surgery and other treatments; 5.3. Preventative surgery; 5.4. Clothing, hats, shoes and make-up; Chapter 6 Languages - A Rich but Frustrating Diversity; Recommended reading; Chapter 7 Names and Identity; 7.1. Introduction; 7.2. The history of surnames; 7.3. DNA sequencing and surnames

7.4. Name changes7.5. Local associations of surnames; 7.6. Russian names; 7.7. Iceland's unusual (dottier?) way with surnames; 7.8. The frequency and geography of names; 7.9. Choosing forenames; 7.10. Unusual names; 7.11. The meanings of some Christian names; 7.12. Names of Native Americans; 7.13. Initials, combinations and titles; 7.14. Permitted names and ugly names; 7.15. Nicknames; 7.16. Scripts, diacritical marks and punctuation in names; 7.17. Illegitimacy and surnames; 7.18. Consequences of name confusions

Chapter 8 Albinos, Colour Blindness and Height: How Human Characteristics are Inherited8.1. Introduction; 8.2. How an autosomal characteristic is inherited, albinism; 8.3. How a sex-linked characteristic such as red-green colour blindness is inherited; 8.4. How characteristics with continuous variation, such as normal height, are inherited; 8.5. Threshold characteristics; 8.6. The human genome; References; Chapter 9 The Brain, Intelligence, Mind, Personality, Mental Problems, Learning, Memory, Creativity, Happiness; 9.1. The brain and nerves; 9.2. Intelligence; 9.3. Stress

9.4. Mind-altering drugs

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references at the end of each chapters and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

981-4632-36-8