Description
Book SynopsisHow did humans acquire cognition more powerful than a hunting-gathering primate needed to survive? Combining state-of-the-art research with forty years of writing about language evolution, Derek Bickerton resolves a crucial problem that both biology and cognitive science have ignored: how animal thinking escaped the prison of the here and now.
Trade ReviewBickerton is the grand seigneur of the topic of language evolution among the linguists. He writes so bloody well that one turns green with envy. He is a mastermind of the field, period. -- Eörs Szathmáry, Professor of Biology in the Department of Plant Taxonomy & Ecology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest
More than Nature Needs is terrific, provocative, controversial, up-to-date, and written with a refreshing take-no-prisoners attitude. Theories of the evolution of language are notoriously hard to test, but
Bickerton's, which embeds a serious critique of contemporary linguistics, is well worthy of serious consideration. A top-notch effort by a leader in the field, in the middle of his ninth decade.
-- Gary Marcus, Professor of Psychology and Director of the Center for Language and Music at New York University
Wide-ranging…A novel inquiry into the evolution of language…Deeply thought-provoking…Highly stimulating. -- Stephen Levinson * Science *
