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The Book of Humans: A Brief History of Culture, Sex, War, and the Evolution of Us Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 101 ratings

The best-selling author of A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived investigates what it means to be human - and animal.

Evolutionary theory has long established that humans are animals: Modern Homo sapiens are primates who share an ancestor with monkeys and other great apes. Our genome is 98 percent identical to a chimpanzee's. And yet we think of ourselves as exceptional. Are we?

In this original and entertaining tour of life on Earth, Adam Rutherford explores the profound paradox of the "human animal". Looking for answers across the animal kingdom, he finds that many things once considered exclusively human are not: In Australia, raptors have been observed starting fires to scatter prey; in Zambia, a chimp named Julie even started a "fashion" of wearing grass in one ear. We aren't the only species that communicates, makes tools, or has sex for reasons other than procreation. But we have developed a culture far more complex than any other we've observed. Why has that happened, and what does it say about us?

The Book of Humans is a new evolutionary history - a synthesis of the latest research on genetics, sex, migration, and much more. It reveals what unequivocally makes us animals - and also why we are truly extraordinary.

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Product details

Listening Length 5 hours and 48 minutes
Author Adam Rutherford
Narrator Adam Rutherford
Audible.com Release Date March 19, 2019
Publisher Tantor Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B07PJY3MG2
Best Sellers Rank #267,191 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#111 in Genetics (Audible Books & Originals)
#632 in Anthropology (Audible Books & Originals)
#976 in Genetics (Books)

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4.4 out of 5 stars
101 global ratings

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Simply brilliant
5 out of 5 stars
Simply brilliant
I'm a fan of Adam Rutherford. This is my third book by him and -as I expected- offers new insights an perspectives on a topic that seems exhausted.Forget that. He comes with the very last news on it and I'm sure it will make you hallucinate with the way we humans travel from a remote past towards a very unfathomable future.I guess, and this is just a guess, that many people ask him many questions all the time. I can imagine this even in the street ("Mr. Rutherford...?" "Yes." "Well, do you guess...?") I think that's the material on which he builds his books. They are answers to that that anyone wanted to know.A deserved five star winner. Try it.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2020
    First, as much as we are animals which have evolved in the same ways, within the same world, and related to almost all other living organisms on earth, we are also spectacularly different, in degree and kind, from other species, even the great apes and all other fauna. The comparative examples given in every area of life are fascinating, occasionally humorous and always enlightening regarding our similarities and differences with many other species. These comparisons bring into clear relief the tremendous differences between humans and animals, while clearly presenting all we have in common.
    In the process, Adam Rutherford clearly elucidates the scientific method, its historical process, how the scientists and thinkers of one generation set the stage for those that follow them, and how the sharing of information, theories, tools, methodologies, critiques aimed at verifying or discovering nuances, holes and errors keep the engines of new discoveries, theories and understandings moving forward. Science is a worldwide, multi-layered, multi-faceted, collective endeavor engaged in by hundreds of thousands of people (my guess) that occurs over hundreds of years and is shared through the marvelous inventions of writing, math, painting, photography, audio and other recording media, the internet, satellites and flights into space and descents into oceans and caves.

    Adam Rutherford is a top-notch science writer for non-scientists. I love his books. This is the second I have read, and I look forward to reading the others. His writing is beautiful - at the word choice, sentence, paragraph, section and capter levels!!! The chapters in this book build upon each other, perfectly organized to set the appropriate frame of reference within both the scientific and historical contexts. The content of each chapter builds on that of the prior chapter, all contibuting to insightful synthesis and a well-documented conclusion.
    I highly, highly recommend this book.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2021
    I very much enjoyed this book and found it to be a personal augmentation to what I already know. Rutherford's style is different from many authors who write in this area. Although he is trained in the STEM sciences, he also has a command of literary style that is engaging. From time to time, I think he "elevates" humans above our status but does warn against crossing the boundaries of over-identification of other animals' behavior with our own and vice-versa. He does comparative work mostly without appealing to hierarchy. The content is supported with broad referencing. I recommend this work for neophytes who have a dictionary as well as those who know the basics of evolutionary biology and genetics.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2021
    I'm a fan of Adam Rutherford. This is my third book by him and -as I expected- offers new insights an perspectives on a topic that seems exhausted.

    Forget that. He comes with the very last news on it and I'm sure it will make you hallucinate with the way we humans travel from a remote past towards a very unfathomable future.

    I guess, and this is just a guess, that many people ask him many questions all the time. I can imagine this even in the street ("Mr. Rutherford...?" "Yes." "Well, do you guess...?") I think that's the material on which he builds his books. They are answers to that that anyone wanted to know.

    A deserved five star winner. Try it.
    Customer image
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    Simply brilliant

    Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2021
    I'm a fan of Adam Rutherford. This is my third book by him and -as I expected- offers new insights an perspectives on a topic that seems exhausted.

    Forget that. He comes with the very last news on it and I'm sure it will make you hallucinate with the way we humans travel from a remote past towards a very unfathomable future.

    I guess, and this is just a guess, that many people ask him many questions all the time. I can imagine this even in the street ("Mr. Rutherford...?" "Yes." "Well, do you guess...?") I think that's the material on which he builds his books. They are answers to that that anyone wanted to know.

    A deserved five star winner. Try it.
    Images in this review
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    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2019
    Evolutionary history and evolutionary biology are fascinating subjects, and in his latest book, Humanimal, author Adam Rutherford takes a look at what sets humans apart from the rest of the animal kingdom, and asks if we are truly as unique as we have been led to believe. Broadly speaking he looks at a variety of behaviours that are often regarded as uniquely human , ranging from speech and communication , to art and the use of tools and even sex for pleasure rather than procreation and finds examples from around the globe that show similar behaviours in animal species that will surprise you. It is fascinating to read about species of birds in Australia who have learned to use fire as a tool to flush out prey, or dolphins who use sea sponges on their snouts as protection when hunting. Rutherford clearly and simply breaks down how the genetic similarities and differences between humans and other animals may be less than many would expect, but they are enough to make us vastly different.
    Although the subject of the book is vast and complex, Rutherford does a wonderful job in breaking it down, and making it not just accessible but also fascinating to the lay reader with no background in the topic.
    “We transmit information,” writes the author, “not just via DNA down the generations, but in every direction, to people with whom we have no immediate biological ties. We log our knowledge and experience, and share them. It is in the teaching of others, the shaping of culture, and the telling of stories, that we created ourselves.”
    I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.
    6 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2019
    I find the subject fascinating. Clear, interesting and occasionally humorous. Sources cited.
    3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Amazon Customer
    3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting read
    Reviewed in Canada on August 20, 2023
    Interesting read but a bit "light"
  • Dave Hull
    3.0 out of 5 stars Not as illuminating as his previous book “A Brief History....”
    Reviewed in Canada on April 6, 2019
    I read the kindle edition and it was sent to me the day it was released. It was readable but had obvious editing mistakes. There was an unfinished or lackluster feel to the story. I really enjoyed his previous book “A Brief History....