Adaptable: The Surprising Science of Human Diversity
(Herman Pontzer, Allen Lane, £25)
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You could be forgiven for thinking a book by an evolutionary anthropologist would hold little relevance for most people. As the title suggests, the subject under discussion here is how human physiology has developed in different ways, in response to different conditions around the world – and yet it’s a highly informative read, centring on how our bodies work, and causes of, and solutions to modern maladies such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Indeed, it’s the most readable (and comprehensible) book about human biology I’ve ever read. In one chapter, for example, Pontzer describes in step-by-step detail what happens to a cheeseburger from the moment it enters your mouth to the subsequent waste disposal.
Packed as it is with similar such explanations and revelations, with a soupçon of light humour thrown in, it comes highly recommended.
This book was first reviewed in Teach Secondary magazine.