Evolutionary Science

Peter F. Hamilton’s startling perspectives on tomorrow’s technological and cultural trends span vast tracts of space and time, his stories are as compelling as they are epic in scope, and yet they are always grounded in characters – human, alien and other – who, for all their strangeness, still touch our hearts and fire our imaginations.

Prepare for a mind-expanding journey. Discover how intelligence evolved, starting from DNA and RNA genesis, all the way to the rise of machines. Imagine a world where evolutionary principles influence machine learning algorithms, crafting Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). This provocative exploration delves deep into evolution, unlocking parallels between natural selection and the birth of computing intelligence. The narrative charts an exhilarating course from the dawn of life to an AGI-dominated future.

A prequel to the nationally best-selling Jeff Resnick Mysteries, this collection of short stories chronicles Jeff's (and his brother, Richard Albert's) backstory. What forces molded these men into the people they are today? Find out in these 11 thought-provoking tales that span from Jeff and Richard's first meeting until two years before the first book in the series, Murder on the Mind. These stories are not mysteries.

What if human intelligence is actually more of a liability than a gift? After all, the animal kingdom, in all its diversity, gets by just fine without it. At first glance, human history is full of remarkable feats of intelligence, yet human exceptionalism can be a double-edged sword. With our unique cognitive prowess comes severe consequences, including existential angst, violence, discrimination and the creation of a world teetering towards climate catastrophe. What if human exceptionalism is more of a curse than a blessing?

Drawing on insights from across the social, behavioral, and natural sciences, Michelle Baddeley explores contexts in which behavior is driven by the herd. She analyzes the rational vs nonrational and cognitive vs emotional forces involved, and she investigates why herding only sometimes works out well. With new perspectives on followers, leaders, and the pros and cons of herd behavior, Baddeley shines vivid light on human behavior in the context of our ever-more-connected world.

In this book, evolutionary psychologist Dennis Krebs explains how virtuous behaviors such as altruism, justice, honesty, loyalty, self-control, purity, and respect for authority, have evolved in humans and other species. He argues that the key to solving puzzles of morality—such as what it is, how we acquire moral traits, why we sometimes behave badly, and how we make moral decisions—lies in figuring out what adaptive functions moral traits served in early human environments and how they are influenced by social learning, culture, and strategic social interactions in the modern world.

We are all familiar with the "march of progress," the representation of evolution that depicts a series of apelike creatures becoming progressively taller and more erect before finally reaching the upright human form. Its emphasis on linear progress has had a decisive impact on public understanding of evolution, yet the image contradicts modern scientific conceptions of evolution as complex and branching.

Depuis l'apparition d'homo sapiens et la révolution cognitive il y a 50 000 ans, les capacités de notre espèce à comprendre et modifier son environnement paraissent sans limites. Un seul mystère reste inviolé : celui de la nature humaine et de sa civilisation. Ce que nous sommes vraiment, pourquoi notre espèce fait ce qu'elle fait, défie toute explication rationnelle.

A bird flits overhead. It’s an everyday occurrence, repeated hundreds, thousands, millions of times daily by creatures across the world. It’s something so normal, so entirely taken for granted, that sometimes we forget how extraordinary it is. But take that in for a moment. This animal flies. It. Flies. The miracle of flight has evolved in hugely diverse ways, with countless variations of flapping and gliding, hovering and diving, murmurating and migrating.

From the family to the workplace to the marketplace, every facet of our lives is shaped by cooperative interactions. Yet everywhere we look, we are confronted by proof of how difficult cooperation can be - snarled traffic, polarized politics, overexploited resources, social problems that go ignored. The benefits to oneself of a free ride on the efforts of others mean that collective goals often are not met. But compared to most other species, people actually cooperate a great deal. Why is this?

A groundbreaking look at the science of attraction and compatibility, challenging our most fundamental assumptions about how human mating evolved—to demonstrate the real keys to romantic attachment.

Jack returns and finds himself staring down his most formidable adversary: the high priest of the insidious Promethite Cult. This Chaos Mage, a Master of Entropy, has ambitions beyond anything Jack has ever faced. As the cult's designs unfold, promising a new world order forged from chaos, Jack is ensnared in a colossal clash against a legion of elemental and psychic titans. Every move, every choice, feels like a dance on the knife's edge, with the very essence of existence at stake.

Humans now live longer and better than ever before, and we are the most populous big animal on earth. Meanwhile, our closest living relatives, the now-endangered chimpanzees, continue to live as they have for millions of years. We are not like the other animals, yet we evolved through the same process. What are we, then? And now we have remade the world, what are we becoming? Setting out to answer this question, Gaia Vince tells a remarkable evolution story about us.

The first all-new collection of poems since 2011’s Snowflake/different streets - and following the critically acclaimed Afterglow (a dog memoir), as well as the volume of selected poems, I Must Be Living Twice - here, in Evolution, we find the eminent, exuberant writer at the forefront of American literature, upending genre in a new vernacular that enacts - like nobody else - the way we speak (inside and out) today. Evolution, with its channeling of Quakers, Fresca, and cell phones, radiates vital insight, purpose, and risk.

In 'American Awakening: Evolutionary Spirituality, Non-Duality, and Free Thinking in the Tradition of American Philosophy', meditation teacher and mystical philosopher Jeff Carreira takes you on a journey through the revolutionary and evolutionary wisdom of American philosophy. From Transcendentalism in the mid 19th century, through the rise of Pragmatism, right up to the late 20th century ideas of Richard Rorty, you will discover a radical understanding of reality based in a deep recognition of the inherent unity of mind and matter.

DIVINE THREADS: UNRAVELLING THE ORIGINS OF DIVINE BELIEFS Do you wonder why humanity has always been drawn to the mystical and the sacred? How would your understanding of the world change if you could trace the origins and evolution of divine beliefs across cultures and history? What if you could explore the minds of our ancestors and discover how their search for meaning shaped our present-day spirituality? Imagine having access to a comprehensive guide that unravels the intricate tapestry of divine thought and practice. Imagine your appreciation for diverse belief systems growing as you ...

The purpose of this book is to consider how Christians may embrace both the science of psychology and Christian theologies by looking at apparent conflicts between science and Christianity in Genesis. In the first chapter, I look at how scholars define psychology and Christianity, general methods Christians rely upon to explain how various biblical texts do not necessarily contradict scientific evidence or professional ethics, and psychological factors that can influence how Christians view the biblical sources underlying their theology and ultimately, their Christian worldview. In chapter ...

How different might the history of our species have been had our hunter-gatherer forebears failed to migrate out of Africa in time to survive 70,000 years ago when threatened by extinction due to climate change brought on by the last ice age? Simply put, we would not exist. Now, similarly threatened, we too must act quickly if we hope to survive. Yet despite all the signs of a potential greenhouse mass extinction, again due to climate change, this threat is still being ignored.

Mankind is in the midst of an enormous transition…Human evolution has always been a function of our strength, our smarts, and our ability to attract a mate. But modern technologies are now so advanced that we no longer need any of these things to survive. Evolution Ended uses evolutionary theory and brain science to explain how everything from the decline of the nuclear family to political extremism results from society’s transition from survival of the fittest to dependence on technology. This fascinating book weaves history, science, and popular culture to explore how we arrived at ...

Two years have passed since the dramatic conclusion of Operation Excise. Michael Dolan has moved home to Boston to mend when once again, the Agency comes knocking. Terrorists have launched a bioweapon in the Middle East, thousands are dying of a horrifying virus with no cure, and Dolan is the key to preventing more attacks. Only this time, everything will be done on his terms...