The third chimpanzee : the evolution and future of the human animal

Summary: Though we share 98 percent of our genes with the chimapnzee, our species evolved into something quiet extraordinary. Jared Diamond explores the facinating question of what in less than 2 percent of our genes has enabled us to found civilizations and religions, develop intricate languages, create art, learn science - and aquire the capacity to destroy all our achievements overnight. The Third Chimpanzee is a tour de force, an iconoclastic, entertaining, sometimes alarming look at the unique and marvelous creature that is the human animal.

Record details

ISBN: 9780060984038
ISBN: 0060984031
Physical Description: print
viii, 407 pages : illustrations, portraits ; 20 cm
Edition: 1st HarperPerennial edition.
Publisher: New York : HarperPerennial, 1993, [1992]
Copyright: 1993, ©1992

Content descriptions

General Note:	Reissued in 2006.
Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 371-391) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	Prologue -- pt. 1. Just another species of big mammal -- 1. A tale of three chimps -- 2. The great leap forward -- pt. 2. An animal with a strange life cycle -- 3. The evolution of human sexuality -- 4. The science of adultery -- 5. How we pick our mates and sex partners -- 6. Sexual selection, and the origin of human races -- 7. Why do we grow old and die? -- pt. 3. Uniquely human -- 8. Bridges to human language -- 9. Animal origins of art -- 10. Agriculture's mixed blessings -- 11. Why do we smoke, drink, and use dangerous drugs? -- 12. Alone in a crowded universe -- pt. 4. World conquerors -- 13. The last first contacts -- 14. Accidental conquerors -- 15. Horses, Hittites, and history -- 16. In black and white -- pt. 5. Reversing our progress overnight -- 17. The golden age that never was -- 18. Blitzkrieg and Thanksgiving in the New World -- 19. The second cloud -- Epilogue : nothing learned and everything forgotten? -- Acknowledgments -- Further readings -- Index.