THE HUMAN INSTINCT

Equal parts natural science and philosophy, The Human Instinct is a moving and powerful celebration of what it means to be human.

Spend 20 minutes on the internet and you'll find a study that reveals how natural selection explains some new aspect of human behavior and that free will is an illusion. But Brown University biologist Kenneth Miller argues this is a gross misunderstanding of modern neuroscience. Natural selection only explains how our brains were shaped - not what makes us human. Professor Miller's argues in The Human Instinct that evolutionary biology, properly understood, supports the independence of human thought and action, the value of art and culture, and ultimately the significance of human existence. This lyrical celebration of what being a creature of evolution truly means restores joy and wonder to our view of ourselves - and a sense of purpose to our lives.

Equal parts natural science and philosophy, The Human Instinct is a moving and powerful celebration of what it means to be human.

Kenneth R. Miller is the critically acclaimed bestselling author of Only a Theory, Finding Darwin's God, and The Human Interest. He serves as a science advisor to The News Hour on PBS and is co-author, with Joseph S. Levine, of the nation's leading biology textbook. Among his honors are the Stephen Jay Gould Prize from the Society for the Study of Evolution, the Laetare Medal from Notre Dame University, and the Award for Public Engagement with Science from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has written two nuanced, critically acclaimed books on evolution and faith - one of which, Finding Darwin's God, has sold over 50,000 copies - and was the star witness in a landmark 2005 case that opposed the teaching of intelligent design in schools.