How To Think Like A Neandertal
Thomas Wynn and Frederick Coolidge
A Neandertal raised in a human family
would make a great fishing boat captain but a lousy police officer. He or she
could call on extensive knowledge of
local sea conditions and an ease in dealing with small crews, but an inability to
read strangers’ motives and recognize
their lies would doom a Neandertal
patrolling city streets.
So say psychologist Coolidge and
archaeologist Wynn, who boldly transform studies of stones, bones and molecules into educated guesstimates about
Neandertal thinking and personality.
In the authors’ view, Neandertals
lived in small groups and fashioned versatile stone tools, excelling at learning
complex procedures and remembering
task-relevant information but almost
never innovating. They used spears to
kill mammoths at close range, a dangerous pursuit that left behind few elders
to pass on wisdom. Surrounded by family
and friends, Neandertals probably spoke
plainly and directly, cared about their
own, had little imagination or sense of
The Art of Medicine: Over 2,000
Years of Images and Imagination
Julie Anderson, Emm Barnes and
Emma Shackleton
The images in this survey of medicine
prove an eclectic mix of the curious, the
grotesque and the breathtakingly beau-
tiful. Covering a wide array of medi-
cally related topics — such as cholera,
childbirth and charlatans — the book
presents the most captivating pieces
from pharmaceuti-
cal entrepreneur Sir
Henry Wellcome’s
vast collection.
The equally engag-
ing text reveals how
Wellcome, a fascinating figure himself
(“Born in a log cabin in Sioux Indian
country … Wellcome ended his days as a
knight of the British Realm”), set about
using his fortune to acquire an enor-
mous museum of medical artifacts.
humor and took a stoic approach to life,
the authors propose.
That put Neandertals at a disad-
vantage in competing with people for
shrinking resources in Ice Age Europe
around 30,000 years ago. Humans
operated in large communities that
fostered tool and weapon advances,
complex social thinking and men-
tal manipulation
of information,
Coolidge and Wynn
argue. No evidence
exists of violent
encounters between
Neandertals and
people, but bloody
conflicts must
have occurred, the pair assert. Clever
humans had invented gizmos to throw
spears from a distance, so Homo sapiens
won the evolutionary lottery.
These are controversial claims.
Neandertals may or may not have been
Stone Age stoics, but they overachieve
at starting arguments among today’s
evolution researchers. — Bruce Bower
Oxford Univ., 2012, 210 p., $24.99
through that museum. In addition
to drawings, paintings and photographs, the authors expertly display
and explain sculptures, carvings and
myriad other artifacts to provide a
comprehensive visual history of the
medical tradition across cultures.
Some of the first, crudely limned (and
often laughably inaccurate) anatomical
diagrams are contained here, as well as
gorgeously rendered examples of mod-
ern high-powered microscopy. Annie
Of particular interest is the book’s
exploration of pseudoscientific prac-
tices, such as phrenology, astrology and
alchemy, and their influence on the
burgeoning medical traditions of many
different societies. — Nick Bascom
Drive and Curiosity
Istvan Hargittai
The stories of 15
leading scientists are
examined for clues
to what makes some
scientists exceptional
and what fuels discovery. Prometheus
Books, 2011, 338 p., $26
Bird on Fire
Andrew Ross
The prospects for
sustainability look
bleak for the city of
Phoenix in this envi-
ronmental analysis of
the desert oasis. Oxford Univ., 2011,
304 p., $27.95
Magical Mathematics
Persi Diaconis and
Ron Graham
Learn the secrets
behind card tricks,
including step-by-step instructions
for performing them, along with
the mathematical ideas the tricks
illustrate. Princeton Univ., 2011,
244 p., $29.95
Neurogastronomy
Gordon M. Shepherd
A neuroscientist
explores how the brain
creates the sensa-
tion of flavor and
discusses the effects
of taste perception on healthy eating.
Columbia Univ., 2011, 267 p., $24.95
The Physics Book
Clifford A. Pickover
Ideas and subjects
ranging from Maxwell’s
demon to the rings
of Saturn are highlighted in short
encyclopedia-style entries with
attractive illustrations. Sterling,
2011, 528 p., $29.95
How to Order To order these books or others,
visit www.sciencenews.org/bookshelf. A click on
a book’s title will transfer you to Amazon.com.
