Description
Book SynopsisBrings the science of biological anthropology to bear on understanding how our evolutionary history has shaped a phenomenon everyone has experienced childhood.
Tracking deep into our evolutionary history, anthropological science has begun to unravel one particular feature that sets us apart from the many, many animals that came before us our uniquely long childhoods. Growing Up Human looks at how we have diverged from our ancestral roots to stay forever young' or at least what seems like forever and how the evolution of childhood is a critical part of the human story.
Beginning with a look at the ways animals invest in their offspring, the book moves through the many steps of making a baby, from pair-bonding to hidden ovulation, points where our species has repeatedly stepped off the standard primate path. From the mystery of monogamy to the minefield of modern parenting advice, biological anthropologist Brenna Hassett reveals how differences betwee
Trade Review
Superb … and often hilarious. Growing Up Human is what happens when science meets an unusually entertaining and uninhibited writer … should be appreciated by anyone pregnant, planning to be pregnant, or who has ever had a child or been one. * Wall Street Journal *
A thought-provoking discussion about why humans experience a long childhood ... Hassett artfully dissects the sometimes problematic dogma surrounding growth and development, such as whether physical size predicts life span; debunks common myths, such as the idea that the reproductive cycles of women who regularly interact with one another will synchronize; and rejects falsehoods, such as the idea that toxins are produced during the menstrual cycle. * Science *
Bioarchaeologist Brenna Hassett’s intriguing, entertaining book looks at childhood. She examines distinctive aspects from messy mating and dangerous pregnancies to the puzzling human fondness for formal education and love of the written word. * Nature *
With characteristic wit, humour and verve, Brenna Hassett delves deep into our evolutionary past and inner nature to explain why humans are ‘the ape who never grew up’. * Alice Roberts *
Bursting with fascinating ideas and surprising facts, Growing Up Human pulls off a masterly trick, with such lucid and entertaining writing that even complex scientific ideas slip down a treat. This is human evolution at its most captivating; clever and charming, just like our amazing babies. * Rebecca Wragg Sykes, author of Kindred *
It is a comprehensive, thorough, accurate review of recent anthropological findings on everything from pregnancy and birth to lactation, tooth development, play, and learning... This is an excellent book for mothers * Choice *
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary: An Introduction Chapter 2: Pop! Goes the Weasel: Life History and Why it Matters Chapter 3: Two Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed: Making More Monkeys Chapter 4: A Froggy Would A-Courting Go: How Weird is Monogamy? Chapter 5: Georgie Porgie, Pudding and Pie: Conception and Fertility and Fat Chapter 6: Bake Me a Cake as Fast as You Can: the Joys of Gestation Chapter 7: Cackle, Cackle, Mother Goose: Having a Baby Chapter 8: See-Saw, Margery Daw: Cultural Adaptations to Birth Chapter 9: Bye, Baby Bunting: Caring for a Child the Old-Fashioned Way Chapter 10: Old Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard: the Magic of Milk Chapter 11: Hey Diddle Diddle: the Cultural Life of Milk
