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1 Technical Biology- Evolution


This title in other formats:

Men: Evolutionary and Life History

by Richard Bribiescas

Men: Evolutionary and Life History Cover

ISBN13: 9780674022935
ISBN10: 0674022939
Condition: Standard
All Product Details

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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Males account for roughly 50 percent of the global population, but in America and other places, they account for over 85 percent of violent crime. A graph of relative risk of death in human males shows that mortality is high immediately following birth, falls during childhood, then exhibits a distinct rise between the ages of 15 and 35—primarily the result of accidents, violence, and risky behaviors. Why? What compels males to drive fast, act violently, and behave stupidly? Why are men's lives so different from those of women?

Menpresents a new approach to understanding the human male by drawing upon life history and evolutionary theory. Because life history theory focuses on the timing of, and energetic investment in, particular aspects of physiology, such as growth and reproduction, Richard Bribiescas and his fellow anthropologists are now using it in the study of humans. This has led to an increased understanding of human female physiology—especially growth and reproduction—from an evolutionary and life history perspective. However, little attention has been directed toward these characteristics in males. Menprovides a new understanding of human male physiology and applies it to contemporary health issues such as prostate cancer, testosterone replacement therapy, and the development of a male contraceptive.

Menproves that understanding human physiology requires global research in traditionally overlooked areas and that evolutionary and life history theory have much to offer toward this endeavor.

Review:

In this unique book, anthropologist Bribiescas looks at how and why men are different from women. No one disputes there are differences between the sexes, but seldom are the causes of those differences considered. Bribiescas compares human males to males of other species, looking for differences and similarities. Biological factors such as reproductive tendencies, hormones, fat, muscle, and aging are explored in conjunction with cultural and historical facts at play. The application of male physiology is probed as it relates to current male health issues like prostate cancer, development of a male contraceptive, and testosterone replacement therapy. The resulting book does not purport that biology can predict or explain everything about male behavior. What it does provide, however, are several interesting and provocative suggestions as to why men tend to engage in warfare and genocide and exert control over economics and politics throughout the world.

Review:

A text that demands to be closely read, with great fascination.

Review:

Richard Bribiescas puts men under the microscope and discovers reasons for their dysfunctionality...as well as their success at accumulating social, economic, and political power. In Men, Bribiescas unravels maleness using traditional evolutionary theory alongside something called 'life history theory': an approach common in contemporary biology that seeks to understand the impact on human behavior of important life events such as growth and reproduction.

Review:

Richard Bribiescas puts men under the microscope and discovers reasons fortheir dysfunctionality...as well as their success at accumulating social, economic, andpolitical power. In Men, Bribiescas unravels maleness usingtraditional evolutionary theory alongside something called 'life history theory': an approachcommon in contemporary biology that seeks to understand the impact on human behavior ofimportant life events such as growth and reproduction.

Review:

This book aims to redress an imbalance: while in the age of feminism much insightful work has been done on women's life history, we poor chaps have been rather overlooked. Essentially, the book asks: 'What makes a man a man?' And at its heart is an attempt to find out why males, who make up 50 per cent of the population, account for 85 per cent of violent crime. In this hunt, a substantial place is set aside for that lethal substance, testosterone. Yet Bribiescas also examines the huge problem faced by men but not women--that of parental certainty...Bribiescas writes in an intelligent and thoughtful manner. Although he is an eminent scholar in his discipline, biological anthropology, his book is easily digestible by any beginner. Yet it sets out to defend an original line of thought that will be keenly debated by anyone with an interest in the field.

Review:

Bribiescas successfully merges ideas and data from the fields of anthropology, archaeology, physiology, and evolutionary biology, and applies them to a subject that is rarely addressed explicitly: life history evolution (i.e., patterns of development, reproduction, and resource allocation) in human males...Bribiescas provides an insightful overview of this overlooked aspect of human biology.

About the Author

Richard G. Bribiescasis Associate Professor of <>Anthropology at Yale University.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Chachugi's Cap

Part I. Setting the Stage

1. Change Happens

2. Birth, Death, and Everything in Between

3. The Ancestral Male

Part II. Human Male Life History

4. Stacking the Deck

5. Womb to Grow

6. Getting a Life

7. Sex and Fatherhood

8. The Male Furnace

9. Men and Medicine

10. The Old Guard

Conclusion: The Solitary Male

References

Illustration Credits

Acknowledgments

Index

Product Details

ISBN:
9780674022935
Subtitle:
Evolutionary and Life History
Author:
Bribiescas, Richard
Author:
Bribiescas, Richard G.
Publisher:
Harvard University Press
Subject:
Men
Subject:
Anthropology - Physical
Subject:
Human evolution
Subject:
Life Sciences - Evolution
Subject:
Life Sciences - Human Anatomy & Physiology
Copyright:
Series Volume:
Evolutionary and Lif
Publication Date:
November 2006
Binding:
Paperback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
2 halftones, 5 line illustrations
Pages:
306
Dimensions:
8.25 x 5.50 in

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