| Vendor | |
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Fritz Agency
Christian Dittus |
| Original language | |
| English | |
GROWING UP HUMAN
The Evolution of Childhood
The development of a foetus is an extraordinary biological process by itself, but the story of how we grow up began long before any of us were even born. Paleoanthropological science has revealed that deep in our hominid lineage we began to diverge from other primates by giving birth to fatter, more helpless infants and developed one of humanity's most striking adaptations - the evolution of childhood; a long period of dependence and social learning that makes us the animals we are today.
Beginning with how the differences between humans and our primate cousins lead to our difficult births, it moves through the science of how our unlikely babies have spurred social and cultural adaptations, right up to things like the invention of 'teenagers' less than a century ago. We learn how anthropologists can interpret the physical evidence of the experience of childhood, including the very real risks that children faced in the past, and what archaeological remains tell us about how our societies have treated children over the ages.
This is the first book to cover both the evolution of human children as biological phenomena and the cultural impact visible in the archaeological record for a popular readership. It explains why you should expect what you expect when you're expecting by examining every aspect of human development, from the evolution of our large-headed, helpless, high-fat babies right through to the social importance of childhood and adolescence, how this has changed over the millennia, and how we can interpret the story of childhood through the ages using teeth, skulls and bones.
Brenna Hassett is a bioarchaeologist and physical anthropologist currently based out of University College London, and she has years of research expertise in child health, specialising in identifying the microscopic growth patterns locked into the tooth enamel of growing children. She has built a very strong reputation for scientific communication, regularly participating in events such as New Scientist Live, the Cheltenham Science Festival, and BBC's Science in Focus. Her first book with Bloomsbury Sigma -- Built on Bones: 15,000 Years of Urban Life and Death -- was well received by critics at the LA Times, the Guardian, and the Times (UK), which named it one of the top 10 science books of 2018.
Beginning with how the differences between humans and our primate cousins lead to our difficult births, it moves through the science of how our unlikely babies have spurred social and cultural adaptations, right up to things like the invention of 'teenagers' less than a century ago. We learn how anthropologists can interpret the physical evidence of the experience of childhood, including the very real risks that children faced in the past, and what archaeological remains tell us about how our societies have treated children over the ages.
This is the first book to cover both the evolution of human children as biological phenomena and the cultural impact visible in the archaeological record for a popular readership. It explains why you should expect what you expect when you're expecting by examining every aspect of human development, from the evolution of our large-headed, helpless, high-fat babies right through to the social importance of childhood and adolescence, how this has changed over the millennia, and how we can interpret the story of childhood through the ages using teeth, skulls and bones.
Brenna Hassett is a bioarchaeologist and physical anthropologist currently based out of University College London, and she has years of research expertise in child health, specialising in identifying the microscopic growth patterns locked into the tooth enamel of growing children. She has built a very strong reputation for scientific communication, regularly participating in events such as New Scientist Live, the Cheltenham Science Festival, and BBC's Science in Focus. Her first book with Bloomsbury Sigma -- Built on Bones: 15,000 Years of Urban Life and Death -- was well received by critics at the LA Times, the Guardian, and the Times (UK), which named it one of the top 10 science books of 2018.
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Book
Published 2022-06-01 by Bloomsbury |