Madeleine Beekman

The Origin of Language

How We Learned to Speak and Why

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

In this origin story of humanity, scientific expert Madeleine Beekman makes the case that human language evolved to solve an existential problem for our ancestors: caring for extremely premature infants.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Simon & Schuster Ltd
• Seitenzahl: 320
• Erscheinungstermin: 14. August 2025
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 162mm x 242mm x 26mm
• Gewicht: 472g
• ISBN-13: 9781398548428
• ISBN-10: 1398548421
• Artikelnr.: 72210691

Autorenporträt

Madeleine Beekman is professor of evolutionary biology and behavioral ecology emerita at the University of Sydney, Australia, Editor-in-Chief of Insectes Sociaux, and board member of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Biological Sciences. Madeleine Beekman lives in Australia’s northern tropical rainforest with her husband where she can observe cassowaries from her office. She has two adult daughters.

Rezensionen

'A rigorous examination of the evolution of human communication. Compelling, thought provoking and hugely entertaining. I learned even as I laughed.' Ashley Ward, biologist and author of The Social Lives of Animals and Sensational

'Looking for "reasons why" in biology can seem a mug's game: every little biological accident sticks around in the genome, where it rubs up against every other little biological accident, hopelessly entangling causes and effects. Happily, no one dissuaded Beekman, who weaves a gripping, well-evidenced chain of chance between our molecular biology and language, our rarest skill' Telegraph, Best Books of 2025