New York Times BestsellerA Summer Reading Pick for President Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity’s creation and evolution—a #1 international bestseller—that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be “human.”One hundred thousand years ago, at … it means to be “human.”
One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one—homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us?
Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this highly original book that begins about 70,000 years ago with the appearance of modern cognition. From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens integrates history and science to reconsider accepted narratives, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and examine specific events within the context of larger ideas.
Dr. Harari also compels us to look ahead, because over the last few decades humans have begun to bend laws of natural selection that have governed life for the past four billion years. We are acquiring the ability to design not only the world around us, but also ourselves. Where is this leading us, and what do we want to become?
Featuring 27 photographs, 6 maps, and 25 illustrations/diagrams, this provocative and insightful work is sure to spark debate and is essential reading for aficionados of Jared Diamond, James Gleick, Matt Ridley, Robert Wright, and Sharon Moalem.
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I have passed this on to many of my fellow teachers.
Lots of information about the history of man that I was completely unaware of.
That author provides a cultural approach to the March of civilization. It might change your perspective on our future
Loved it..learned a lot about mankind..would recommend to all school aged readers
Little wonder this has been one of the most commented books of the last few years. Mr. Harari does a titanic job of condensing human evolution into one extremely well analyzed tome. It does a masterful job of objectively placing humans within the context of nature and our place in the pecking order. It does away with all spiritual and metaphysical considerations that are so often hard for authors to avoid mixing into the analysis.
It is a text that will definitely leave with plenty of ideas to consider about how we got here, how important we really are and where does the future lie.
After reading it I can’t wait to look Mr. Harari’s follow up: Homo Deus.