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Books below are organized into the
following sections (click on a topic to go to that section):
A suggested sequence of readings
for the layperson, or student new to adaptationist approaches to behavior:
 | 1. Very brief overviews:
|
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2.
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
-- essential, foundational reading. This classic and influential book provides a superbly written, intriguing,
and accessible introduction to modern evolutionary concepts. |
|
3.
The Blank Slate, by Steven Pinker
-- an outstanding review of what human nature is, and why the "blank slate"
approach to human behavior has misguided the social sciences, the humanities,
and politics for close to a century. |
....continue
your exploration of human nature with other easily accessible books:
Popular Press Overviews for the
Layperson
|
A
Devil's Chaplain : Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science, and Love
by Richard Dawkins (2003) |
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The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2003,
by Richard Dawkins
(editor), Tim Folger (editor) (2003) |
|
Darwinian Happiness: Evolution As a Guide for Living
and Understanding Human Behavior
by Bjorn Grinde (2003) |
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Darwin and Design : Does Evolution Have a Purpose?
by Michael Ruse (2003) |
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From Mating to Mentality: Evaluating Evolutionary Psychology, by Kim
Sterelny (editor), Julie Fitness (editor) (2003) |
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In the Beginning Was the Worm: Finding the Secrets
of Life in a Tiny Hermaphodite by Andrew Brown (2003) |
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Reflections of Our Past:
How Human History is Revealed in Our Genes,
by John H. Relethford (2003) |
|
The Blank Slate, by Steven
Pinker (2002) |
|
The Tangled Wing: Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit by
Melvin Konner, 2nd ed, (2002) |
More
| What Is Evolutionary Psychology : Explaining the New
Science of the Mind by Leda Cosmides & John Tooby (2001) |
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A Dictionary of Human Instincts by Nils K. Oeijord, Mitch
C. Bronston (2001) |
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Human Behavior: The New Synthesis by Mitch C. Bronston, Nils K. Oeijord
(2001) |
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Introducing Evolutionary Psychology by Dylan Evans (2000) |
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Dear Mr. Darwin: Letters on the Evolution of Life and Human Nature by
Charles Darwin, Gabriel Dover (2000) |
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The Origins of Life: From the Birth of Life to the Origin of Language
by John Maynard Smith, Eors Szathmary (1999) |
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How the Mind Works by
Stephen Pinker (1999) (also, see
audio cassett version) |
|
Minds,
Machines & Evolution by James Patrick Hogan (1999) |
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The Ostrich Factor: Our Population Myopia,
by Garrett Hardin (1999) |
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Human Instincts, Everyday Life, and the Brain: A Paradigm for Understanding
Behavior by Richard H. Wills (1998) |
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Consilience:
Unity of Knowledge, by E.O. Wilson
(1998) |
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Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion, and the Appetite for Wonder
by Richard Dawkins (1998) |
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The Animal Within Us: Lessons About Life from Our Animal Ancestors by
Jay D. Glass (1998) |
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Human Instincts, Everyday Life, and the Brain: A Paradigm for Understanding
Behavior by Richard Wills (1998) |
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The Biological Basis of Human Behavior: A Critical Review (2nd Edition),
by Robert W. Sussman (1998) |
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The Trouble with Testosterone: And Other Essays on
the Biology of the Human Predicament by Robert M.
Sapolsky (1997) |
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The Pony Fish's Glow: And Other Clues to Plan and Purpose in Nature
by George C. Williams (1997) |
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Climbing Mount Improbable
by Richard Dawkins (1997) |
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Divorce Among the Gulls: An Uncommon Look at Human Nature by William
Jordan (1997) |
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The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without
Design by Richard Dawkins (1996) |
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River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life by Richard Dawkins
(1996) |
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How Brains Think : Evolving
Intelligence, Then and Now by William H. Calvin (1996) (Also,
see his
website.) |
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The Moral Animal by Robert Wright (1995) |
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Beast and Man: The Roots of Human
Nature by Mary Midgley (1995) |
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The Third Chimpanzee
by Jared M. Diamond (1993) |
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The Ant and the Peacock: Altrusim and Sexual Selection from Darwin to Today
by Helena Cronin (1992) |
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Blueprints: Solving the Mystery of Evolution,
by Maitland Armstrong Edey (1991) |
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On Human Nature by Edward O. Wilson (1978) |
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The Selfish Gene by
Richard Dawkins (1976) |
Scholarly Overviews, Reviews, and
Textbooks
|
The Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology
by David M. Buss (Editor) (2005) |
|
Origin of Mind: Evolution of Brain, Cognition, and General Intelligence,
by David C. Geary (2004) |
|
Evolutionary Psychology, 2nd Edition
by Steven J. C. Gaulin, Donald H. McBurney (2004) |
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Evolutionary Thought in Psychology: A Brief History,
by Henry Plotkin (2004) |
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Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind, 2nd Ed.
by
David M. Buss
(2003) |
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Functional Mind: Readings in Evolutionary Psychology,
by Douglas T. Kendrick (2003) |
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From Mating to Mentality: Evaluating Evolutionary Psychology,
by Kim Sterelny (editor), Julie Fitness (editor) (2003) |
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Psychology and Evolution: The Origins of Mind by
Bruce Bridgeman (2003) |
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Evolutionism in Cultural Anthropology: A Critical History,
by Robert L. Carneiro (2003) |
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The Functional Mind: Readings in Evolutionary Psychology,
by Douglas T. Kenrick and Carol L. Luce (2003) |
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Thinking about Biology by Stephen Webster (2003) |
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The Mind Made Flesh: Essays from the Frontiers of Psychology and Evolution
by Nicholas Humphrey (2003) |
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Psychology and Evolution: The Origins of Mind
by Bruce Bridgeman (2003) |
|
The Blank Slate, by Steven
Pinker (2002) |
|
Evolutionary Psychology: The Science of Human Behavior and Evolution
by Matthew J. Rossano (2002) |
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Human Evolutionary
Psychology by Louise Barrett, Robin
Dunbar, John Lycett (2002) |
|
Evolutionary Psychology: Alternative Approaches
by Steven J. Scher, and
Frederick Rauscher (Editors) (2002) |
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The Structure of
Evolutionary Theory by Stephen Jay Gould (2002) |
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Sense & Nonsense: Evolutionary Perspectives on
Human
Behavior by Kevin N. Laland,
Gillian R. Brown (2002) |
|
(The Oxford) Encyclopedia of Evolution,
by Mark Pagel
(Editor) (2002) |
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Evolutionary
Explanations of Human Behaviour by John
Cartwright (2001) |
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Conceptual Challenges in Evolutionary Psychology:
Innovative Research Strategies by Harmon R. Holcomb
(Editor) (2001) |
More
|
Evolutionary Psychology: The Ultimate Origins of Human
Behavior by Jack A. Palmer,
Linda K. Palmer (2001) |
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Origins of Human Nature: Evolutionary Developmental
Psychology by David F.
Bjorklund, Anthony D. Pellegrini (2001 |
|
Biology, Evolution, and Human Nature by Timothy H. Goldsmith,
William
F. Zimmerman (2001) Also see their
publisher's page
for more info, or for an examination copy. |
|
Crisis in Sociology : The Need for Darwin by Joseph |
Lopreato, Timothy Crippen (2001) |
|
The Debated Mind : Evolutionary Psychology Versus
Ethnography by Harvey Whitehouse (Editor) (2001) |
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Evolutionary Psychology: A Critical Introduction by
Christopher Badcock (2000) |
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Human Biology: An Evolutionary and Biocultural Perspective,
by Sara Stinson (2000) |
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Psychology and 'Human Nature' by Peter Ashworth (2000) |
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Evolution and Human Behavior: Darwinian Perspectives
on Human Nature by John Cartwright (2000) |
|
Darwin, Third Edition, by Philip Appleman (Editor) (2000) |
|
Adaptation and Human Behavior : An Anthropolotical
Perspective by Lee Cronk, Napoleon Chagnon, William Irons (Editors)
(2000) |
|
The Things We Do: Using the Lessons of Bernard and Darwin
to Understand the
What, How, and Why of Our Behavior
by Gary Cziko (2000) |
|
Defenders of the Truth: The Battle for Science in the
Sociobiology Debate and Beyond by Ullica Segerstrale (2000) |
|
Psychology: An Evolutionary Approach by J.C. Steven
Gaulin, Donald McBurney (2000) |
|
The Darwinian Heritage and Sociobiology by Johan M.G. Van Der
Dennen,
David Smillie (Editors) (1999) |
|
Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, Twenty-fifth
Anniversary Edition by Edward Osborne Wilson (2000) |
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Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind by David M.
Buss (1999) |
|
Evolution of the Psyche (Human Evolution, Behavior,
and Intelligence) by David H. Rosen, Michael C.
Luebbert (Editors) (1999) |
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The Biological Bases of Human Behavior, by Geoffrey G. Pope (1999) |
|
Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology: Ideas, Issues,
and Applications, edited by Charles Crawford &
Dennis Krebs (1997) |
|
New Aspects of Human Ethology by Alain Schmitt
(Editor), Klaus Atzwanger (Editor), Karl Grammer
(Editor) (1997) |
|
How Humans Evolved by Robert Boyd, Joan B. Silk (1997) |
|
Human Nature: A Critical Reader by Laura L. Betzig
(Editor) (1996) |
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The Adapted Mind : Evolutionary Psychology and the
Generation of Culture by Jerome H. Barkow (Editor),
Leda Cosmides
(Editor), John Tooby (Editor) (1995) |
|
Evolutionary Social Psychology by Jeffry A. Simpson
(Editor), Douglas Kenrick (Editor) (1996) |
|
Consilience: Unity of Knowledge, by
E.O. Wilson |
|
How the Mind Works by Stephen
Pinker.(1997)
Also see
Steven Pinker vs. Stephen Jay Gould in the NYRB
Oct 9,
1997 and
Stephen Pinker vs. Alan Wolfe in Slate Magazine. |
|
Human Ethology by Irenaus Eibl-Eibesfeldt (1989) |
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Social Evolution by Robert Trivers |
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Sociobiology and Behavior, 2nd Ed. by David P. Barash |
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Sociobiology: The Abridged Edition by Edward O. Wilson (1980 |
The Nature vs. Nurture Debate
/ Nature-Nurture Interactionism
|
Nature Via Nurture: Genes, Experience and What Makes Us Human
by Matt Ridley (2003) |
|
On Our Minds: How Evolutionary Psychology is Reshaping the Nature-Versus-Nurture
Debate,
by Eric M. Gander (2003) |
|
Nature, Nurture, and the Transition to Early Adolescence
by Stephen A. Petrill, Robert Plomin, John C. Defries, and John K. Hewitt
(Editors) (2003) |
|
Darwin and the Barnacle: The Story of One Tiny Creature
and History's Most Spectacular Scientific Breakthrough
by Rebecca Stott (2003) |
|
Orgination of Organismal Form:
Beyond the Gene in Developmental and
Evolutionary Biology edited by Gerd B.
Müller and Stuart A. Newman (2003) |
| The Blank Slate, by Steven Pinker (2002) |
| Developmental Plasticity and Evolution by Mary Jane
West-Eberhard (2002) |
|
From Genotype to
Phenotype Edited by S.
Malcolm,
J.Goodship, Sue Malcolm (2001) |
|
The Dependent Gene: The Fallacy of Nature vs. Nurture
by David S. Moore (2002) |
|
Biology and Crime, by David C. Rowe (2002) |
|
The
Triumph of Sociobiology by
John Alcock (2001) |
|
Origins of Human Nature: Evolutionary Developmental
Psychology by David F.
Bjorklund, Anthony D. Pellegrini (2001) |
|
Phenotypic Evolution: Beyond Nature vs. Nurture
by
Massimo Pigliucci (2001) |
|
The Darwin Wars: The Scientific Battle for the Soul of Man
by Andrew Brown (2001) |
|
Are We Hardwired: The Role of Genes in Human Behavior
by William R. Clark, Michael Grunstein (2000) |
|
Evolution's Eye: A Systems View of the Biology-Culture Divide
by
Susan Oyama (2000) |
More
|
Necessary but Not Sufficient: The Respective Roles of Single
and Multiple
Influences on Individual Development by Theodore
D. Wachs (2000) |
|
The Relationship Code : Deciphering Genetic and Social
Influences on Adolescent Development by David Reiss, Jenae M.
Neiderhiser, E. Mavis Hetherington, R. Plomin (2000) |
|
That Complex Whole: Culture and the Evolution of Behavior. by
Lee Cronk (1999) |
|
Entwined Lives: Twins and What They Tell Us About
Human Behavior by Nancy L. Segal (1999) |
|
Levels of Selection in Evolution by Laurent Keller (Editor) (1999) |
|
Mystery of Mysteries: Is Evolution a Social Construction? by
Michael Ruse (1999) |
|
The Social Construction of What? by Ian Hacking (1999) |
|
Stranger in the Nest: Do Parents Really Shape Their Child's
Personality,
Intelligence, or Character? by David B. Cohen (1999) |
|
The Nurture Assumption: Why Children Turn Out the Way They Do
by
Judith Rich Harris (1998) |
|
A House Built on Sand: Exposing Postmodernist Myths About Science
by
Noretta Koertge (Editor) (1998) |
|
Crisis in Sociology: The Need for Darwin by Joseph Lopreato,
Timothy Crippen (1999) |
|
The Fateful Hoaxing of Margaret Mead: An Historical Analysis of
Her Samoan
Researches by Derek Freeman (1998) |
|
The Origins of Human Potential: Evolution, Development
and Psychology
by Ken Richardson (1998) |
|
Rethinking Innateness: A Connectionist Perspective on
Development
(Neural Networks and Connectionist Modeling Series),
|by Jeffrey L. Elman,
Elizabeth A. Bates, Mark H. Johnson, Karmiloff-sm (1997) |
|
Uniting Psychology and Biology: Integrative Perspectives on
Human Development
by Nancy L. Segal, Glenn E. Weisfeld , |
& Carol C. Weisfeld (Eds.)
(1997) |
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