About this item
The epic story of how humans evolved from intimate chimp communities into a world-dominating speciesIf a chimpanzee ventures into the territory of a different group, it will almost certainly be killed. But a New Yorker can fly to Los Angeles--or Borneo--with very little fear. Psychologists have done little to explain this: for years, they have held that our biology puts a hard upper limit--about 150 people--on the size of our social groups. But human societies are in fact vastly larger. How do we manage--by and large--to get along with each other? In this paradigm-shattering book, biologist Mark W. Moffett draws on findings in psychology, sociology and anthropology to explain the social adaptations that bind societies. He explores how the tension between identity and anonymity defines how societies develop, function, and fail. In the vein of Guns, Germs, and Steel and Sapiens, The Human Swarm reveals how mankind created sprawling civilizations of unrivaled complexity--and what it will take to sustain them.
About the Author
Dr. Mark W. Moffett, called "the Indiana Jones of Entomology" by the National Geographic Society, is a tropical ecologist and research associate at the Smithsonian Institution and the Department of Human Evolution at Harvard with a passion for discovering new species and behavior in remote part of the world. Mark has sat on a deadly snake in Peru, been chased up trees by Indian elephants, defended himself with a blowgun in Colombia, been lost in Borneo and New Guinea, walked into Afganistan from Iran, seen 100 foot wide army ant swarms in the Congo, and placed a scorpion on Conan O'Brien's head. For Mark, nothing is better than a good story that presents a deep understanding of the world; his goal is to have people fall in love with the unexpected in nature, whether that's learning about the architecture of a rainforest or the life and death of societies. Mark has the Lowell Thomas Medal from the Explorers Club, the Distinguished Explorer Award from the Roy Chapman Andrews Society, Yale University's Poynter Fellowship in Journalism, Harvard's Bowdoin Prize for writing, and numerous international awards in photography. His website is http://www.doctorbugs.com
