The Story of the Human Body
Evolution, Health, and Disease
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The Story of the Human Body
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Narrated by:
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Sean Runnette
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By:
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Daniel Lieberman
About this listen
In this landmark book of popular science, Daniel E. Lieberman - chair of the department of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University and a leader in the field - gives us a lucid and engaging account of how the human body evolved over millions of years, even as it shows how the increasing disparity between the jumble of adaptations in our Stone Age bodies and advancements in the modern world is occasioning this paradox: greater longevity but increased chronic disease.
The Story of the Human Body brilliantly illuminates as never before the major transformations that contributed key adaptations to the body: the rise of bipedalism; the shift to a non-fruit-based diet; the advent of hunting and gathering, leading to our superlative endurance athleticism; the development of a very large brain; and the incipience of cultural proficiencies. Lieberman also elucidates how cultural evolution differs from biological evolution, and how our bodies were further transformed during the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions.
While these ongoing changes have brought about many benefits, they have also created conditions to which our bodies are not entirely adapted, Lieberman argues, resulting in the growing incidence of obesity and new but avoidable diseases, such as type 2 diabetes. Lieberman proposes that many of these chronic illnesses persist and in some cases are intensifying because of "dysevolution," a pernicious dynamic whereby only the symptoms rather than the causes of these maladies are treated. And finally - provocatively - he advocates the use of evolutionary information to help nudge, push, and sometimes even compel us to create a more salubrious environment.
©2013 Daniel Lieberman (P)2013 Random House AudioCritic Reviews
What listeners say about The Story of the Human Body
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Don
- 22-02-2016
This book explains a lot!
The story of human evolution, the different pathways of different species and how that relates to what we are now is one story in this book and it prepares the reader for what comes next - the q.e.d, the bottom line.
You see the author connects all that with the state of our health today, disease by disease and it is simply fascinating. It follows that if most people understood why we get so many chronic diseases they would be more inclined to act to reduce disease. With healthcare costs becoming unsustainable, people must become more accountable for allowing themselves to succumb to some diseases. This book explains why and that knowledge is, for this humble reader, life changing.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Tom Reilly
- 03-08-2015
Answering questions you have never asked!!
Simply put this book makes you think about your everyday life and the modern surroundings we have found ourselves in. Very interesting and full of facts and observations about humans that will keep you entertained.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Rob
- 07-09-2019
very detailed explanation of De-evolution
The information is presented as a continuation of lectures following the series on evolution that ends at 7000 years ago when evolutionary shaping is overtaken by cultural shaping.
I found the pace slow and at times monotonous but the message and information fascinating.
I doubt that there's a student or practitioner in the health industry who wouldn't benefit from the arguments of this book, since part of our mandate is to educate clients suffering from "Mismatched Diseases".
I will take the time to listen again and I believe many will find it worth the effort to pay attention to this powerful message.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- David
- 26-04-2017
Fascinating
A very succinct book explaining how and why we are they way we are. As a physiotherapist I would recommend it for anyone interested in their health and wellbeing plus other health professionals
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ivana Middeldorp
- 18-06-2022
Enlightening and informative. Highly recommend.
This book was enlightning and informative. I highly recommend it as I found it life-changing.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 17-06-2020
Absolutely loved it!
I absolutely loved and enjoyed this book, it was extremely informative and written and read so well. The author made everything interesting and easy to follow, while also breaking down all the complex topics covered. If you’re interested in the origins of homo sapien and everything along that comes with our history and health, then this is a must read.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Laura Tikotin
- 16-01-2015
Very informative and well written.
This book answered so many questions I didn't even know I had, and explained a lot I'd always been curious about. Every chapter makes me wants to spend years researching evolutionary biology because it sounds like the most interesting thing in the world. I'm going to listen to it at least half a dozen times, it's definitely worth it. Buy it.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- James
- 22-11-2016
Absolutely brilliant..!!
I honestly enjoyed every minute of this book and will be looking for more titles written by the brilliant Daniel Lieberman..
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Annalie
- 07-12-2018
This book has a crucial message for modern humans
The 1st part of the book is a fascinating account of the evolutionary development of the human body, explaining why modern humans have the bodies we have.
The second part of the book addresses the modern lifestyle ailments humans encounter due to cultural evolution, the changes that the human body is not adapted to handle.
The author conclude with some alternative actions by governments that may be applied to address our increasing lifestyle diseases and other ailments. Very well reasoned, food for thought and action!
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 23-06-2022
High school biology lesson
This book might be good but if you had biology in high school you would know everything that he is talking about. Was waiting for the good part, to learn something new. I had to exit the audio, felt like it was never going to get more interesting.
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