It feels like I’ve been on blogcation. The lack of posts confirm my suspicion. There are a couple books I read lately that I’d like to comment on, though I hope not to make book reviews the bulk of my posts. Additionally, I’ll add some personal notes.
The first book that needs commenting on is The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution.
I enjoyed reading through the book. (I enjoy most books I finish and many that I don’t). The impetus behind reading this book was to gain some understanding of the rate of human evolution. The authors do a satisfactory job in arguing that not only has evolution not ceased, but, in fact, has accelerated with the advent of agriculture. This argument rests mainly on the fact that agriculture allowed civilizations to support more people and in turn created more opportunities for advantageous alleles to occur. They then show how fast an advantageous allele can spread through a population. Overall, it’s fairly convincing and logical, though I came away from the book wanting something more rigorous, mathematical, and technically oriented. The impression left by the book is a positive one, but ultimately leaves the reader with a yearning for a more in depth discussion.
The next book on my agenda is The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond.
Jared Diamond seems to be cranking out some insightful and, perhaps. controversial books (Guns, Germs, and Steel; Collapse; The Third Chimpanzee). Regardless of any controversy, 3rdChimp reads well and provides a thorough account of the history of the human animal through its evolution and spread across the globe. For the most part it is fascinating, engaging, well paced, and a commendable construction of the human story. There are parts that are obviously more speculative, but, after all, it is the formulation and testing of hypotheses that moves our knowledge forward and thus it is worth the read.
Personal Notes:
The “Summer of Michael” is coming to its end. It’s been a highly enjoyable one, but it is time to move on… Officially I am looking for a new job, anything really. Something analytical and brainy hopefully. Beyond that, I’m exploring options of redirecting my career into the biological sciences (starting with a small step and taking a class on Human Genetics and Evolution). Yes and, football season is starting soon. College football season that is. Actually, Michigan football season to be exact. September 5th. A great birthday-eve present. It dawned on me that I have routinely touted spring as the most blissful of seasons, however, it is football season that is unequivocally the season of seasons! Go Blue!
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