Why Are We Like This?

Zoe Kean

What can snorkelling at Shark Bay teach us about humanity? Will the secrets of our sex lives be uncovered by stick insects? What do whale societies reveal about kindness? And why did we evolve to spend a third of our life asleep?

Some questions have nipped at humanity’s heels for as long as we’ve been … well, humans. In Why Are We Like This? science journalist Zoe Kean takes us behind the scenes of the evolutionary paradoxes that make up life on this planet. Exploring with scientists, from freezing in Tasmanian sleet to a laboratory of sleeping sharks in North Queensland, we see how these evolutionary mysteries might just uncover the secrets of a better life for humans and the creatures we share the planet with.

The ancient ancestors of life on Earth faced the same challenges we do, so let’s learn a lesson or two about how they dealt with them.

Evolution is not perfect, just good enough. This book brilliantly guides you through this complexity, showing us how we evolved to be marvellously imperfect. Read this book, and learned up.

- Dr Karl Kruszelnicki

A witty and inquisitive exploration of humans’ place in the web of life.

- Tegan Taylor, health and science journalist

Release
Oct-2024
ISBN
9781742238104
RRP (AUD)
$32.99
Pages
272
Format
Paperback & ebook

Zoe Kean lives in lutruwita/Tasmania, an island at the bottom of the world. An award-winning science writer with a focus on evolution, ecology, and the environment,

NewSouth Publishing

NewSouth Publishing is the publishing division of UNSW Press Ltd, a leading Australian university press.