The Thinking Ape: The Evolutionary Origins of Intelligence - Softcover

Byrne, Richard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0198522657 ISBN 13: 9780198522652

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1995

Synopsis

This text describes how human ancestors reached the point in cognitive evolution from which the evolution of modern humans was possible. Rather than speculating about the mental abilities of fossil hominids, on the basis of modern human psychology, the author explores earlier phases of evolution, with the more solid and testable evidence of human ancestry that is still alive: modern primates and other animals.

About this title

About the Author

Richard Byrne is at University of St Andrews.

Review

`...a thoroughly readable exploration of this fascinating topic, enhanced by numerous illustrations and photographs.'
Ethology, Ecology and Evolution 7: 1995

`Byrne has told us more about the intelligence of the great ape/human ancestor than we could hope to learn from the fossil record.'
Mark Lake, University of Reading, Cambridge Archaeological Journal, Vol. 6, No. 2, October 1996

`Byrne has provided both a readable review of primatology suitable for undergraduates, and an original and interesting thesis about the evolution of intelligence that will appeal to general readers as well as researchers in the field.'
Cecilia Heyes, University College London, Nature, Vol 375, May 1995

`Dick Byrne offers us an exceptionally readable potted guide to the issues and questions that have dominated thinking in this area. This is a book that is long overdue. Dick Byrne has done us a valuable service in providing an erudite, yet simply written, overview of the current state of
knowledge in this area. This book sets the scene so clearly that it will surely prove to be essential reading for anyone embarking on the study of primate cognition and behaviour.'
R.I.M. Dunbar, University of Liverpool, TREE, vol. 10. no. 10. October 1995

`The good biological thinking that motivates....Byrne's book is a pleasure to absorb. More than this it is good to see evolutionary approaches to both functional and causal explanation in the behavioural sciences being given serious thought.'
The Psychologist

`His account is eminently readable. Byrne puts difficult concepts into strikingly simple and stringent forms, yet on a level that requires some basic knowledge if one wants to follow every step. He never is tediously slow in argument...Byrne's is a fascinating and stimulating account. His
risking to take a stand in favor of the thinking ape is counterbalanced by his cautious evaluation of differing interpretations.'
Ethology 104, 353-360 (1998)

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0198522657
• ISBN 13: 9780198522652
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 276