Simply and clearly told but not in the slightest simplistic, this intriguing book looks at the third chimpanzee (us…humans) and makes you really think about how we came to exist and what we are doing to ensure our existence continues. We are human, we do dangerous things, we communicate using language, we commit genocide - have you ever wondered why, when, how? Lots of answers are here, some more questions too, you don't have to read this in one go, you can pop in and out and read a chapter at a time. There are also some really interesting diverse snapshots of information scattered among the pages. You may well find yourself sharing passages of this fascinating book out loud with family and friends, as they will probably not only learn a lot but start to ponder a few significant things too!
The Third Chimpanzee On the Evolution and Future of the Human Animal - for Young People Synopsis
The Third Chimpanzee was first published in 1991 and has been in print ever since. This new, illustrated edition is aimed at a young readership. In it, Jared Diamond explores what makes us human and poses fascinating questions including: * If we share more than 98% of our DNA with chimpanzees, how is it that we can write, read, talk, build telescopes and bombs, while we put our speechless and bomb-less close relatives in cages and zoos? * What can woodpeckers teach us about spacecraft? * Is genocide a human invention? * Why does extinction matter? * Why are we destroying the natural resources on which we depend for survival? * What hope is there for future generations? The Third Chimpanzee for Young Readers is not only a mind-boggling survey of how we came to be who we are, but a plea to the next generation to make better decisions than their parents and get us out of the mess we're in.
'Engaging, thought-provoking and bang up to the minute. if your teachers aren't recommending books like this - go out and get them anyway.' Guy Claxton, author of What's the Point of School?
'Thoughtful readers interested in any fields related to evolutionary science, anthropology, psychology, human history, and culture will find plenty to ponder.' School Library Journal
Author
About Jared Diamond
Jared Diamond was born in Boston to a physician father and a teacher/musician/linguist mother. After training in laboratory biological science he became Professor of Physiology at UCLA Medical School in 1966. However, already while in his twenties, he also developed a second parallel career in the ecology and evolution of New Guinea birds. That led him to explore some of the most remote parts of that great tropical island, and to rediscover New Guinea’s long-lost Golden-fronted Bowerbird. In his fifties he gradually developed a third career in environmental history, becoming Professor of Geography and of Environmental Health Sciences at UCLA.
As well as being renowned in academic circles, Jared Diamond is famous for his prize-winning books The Third Chimpanzee and Why is Sex Fun?, and for revolutionizing the study of global human history with Guns, Germs and Steel. His awards include a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (a ‘genius award’), and the Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction. The broad range of disciplines that he weaves into his writing – linguistics, genetics, animal behaviour, molecular biology and others – caused a reviewer to write, ‘ “Jared Diamond†is suspected of actually being the pseudonym for a committee of experts.’ In his spare time he watches birds and learns languages (he is currently learning his twelfth). He is the father of seventeen-year-old twin sons who have informed much of his outlook on life.
