Was exchange an early agent of human evolution or is it merely an artefact of modern civilisation? Spanning two million years of human evolution, this book explores the impact of economics on human evolution and natural history. The theory of evolution by natural selection has always relied in part on progress in areas of science outside biology. By applying economic principles at the borderlines of biology, Haim Ofek shows how some of the outstanding issues in human evolution, such as the increase in human brain size and the expansion of the environmental niche humans occupied, can be answered. He identifies distinct economic forces at work, beginning with the transition from the feed-as-you-go strategy of primates, through hunter-gathering and the domestication of fire to the development of agriculture. This highly readable book will inform and intrigue general readers and those in fields such as evolutionary biology and psychology, economics, and anthropology.
• Readable and highly interesting account of how market forces may have played a major role in human evolution • Shows how the uniquely human characteristic of trading with non-related others has shaped our destiny • Will appeal both to general readers and those from backgrounds in economics, anthropology or evolutionary biology and psychology
Contents
Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; Part I. Bioeconomics: 2. Exchange in human and nonhuman societies; 3. Classical economics and classical Darwinism; 4. Evolutionary implications of division of labour; 5. The feeding ecology; 6. The origins of nepotistic exchange; 7. Baboon speciation versus human specialization; Part II. Paleoeconomics: 8. Departure from the feed-as-you-go strategy; 9. The origins of market exchange; 10. Domestication of fire in relation to market exchange; 11. The Upper Paleolithic and other creative explosions; 12. Transition to agriculture: the limiting factor; 13. Transition to agriculture: the facilitating factor; References; Index.
Review
'… the boldness, coherence, and sweep of the book are impressive … an exhilarating and interesting read that raises powerful questions about how humans got here and how we should be studied.' Science
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