Muehlenbein M.P. (Ed.) Human Evolutionary Biology

Cambridge University Press, 2010. — 627 p. — ISBN: 978-0-521-87948-4; ISBN: 978-0-521-70510-3.Wide-ranging and inclusive, this text provides an invaluable review of an expansive selection of topics in human evolution, variation and adaptability for professionals and students in biological anthropology, evolutionary biology, medical sciences and psychology. The chapters are organized around four broad themes, with sections devoted to phenotypic and genetic variation within and between human populations, reproductive physiology and behavior, growth and development, and human health from evolutionary and ecological perspectives.An introductory section provides readers with the historical, theoretical and methodological foundations needed to understand the more complex ideas presented later. Two hundred discussion questions provide starting points for class debate and assignments to test student understanding.The purpose of our text is to provide thorough and modern reviews of a wide range of pertinent aspects of human evolutionary biology and contemporary human biological variation. The history of research on human biological variation is a long one, and includes studies on general human adaptability, variations in growth patterns, body sizes and shapes, genetic diversity, and race concepts. More recently, the study of human biology has included analyses of reproductive physiology and behavior within evolutionary and ecological frameworks. Other advancements include the science of evolutionary medicine, in which evolutionary research on health and disease is used to elucidate medical research and practices.