cover image Humanity's Descent: The Consequences of Ecological Instability

Humanity's Descent: The Consequences of Ecological Instability

Rick Potts, Richard Potts. William Morrow & Company, $25 (325pp) ISBN 978-0-688-10470-2

Who are we and where have we come from? Potts, director of the Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program, offers an academic study tracing humanity's ancestors and the forces that led to our dominance on Earth. He argues persuasively, if redundantly, that environmental instability has been the single constant shaping our interaction with nature. He is at his best when discussing characteristics that may make us unique in the animal kingdom: our acquisition of language and culture, as well as our capacity to plan for the future, particularly with respect to maintaining a viable food supply. Unfortunately, Potts concludes the book by attempting to apply his anthropological, archeological and paleontological hypotheses to current environmental issues such as global warming, habitat loss and species extinction; his treatment of both environmentalists and their opponents is too simplistic. Author tour. (May)