The full story of Natural Selection and its meaning for mothers, infants, embryos and the future.
This groundbreaking book by one of the world's leading sociobiologists radically changes the way we think about Natural Selection and maternal behaviour. Until now, evolutionary biology has focused on men, and the picture has been woefully incomplete. But recent years have seen a dramatic swing in the way Darwinians think about females - and Sarah Blaffer Hrdy has been in the forefront of that change.
Here at last is a brilliant, provocative, wide-ranging history of the female of the species - in the natural world, in primitive societies, and in hi-tech nations. Hrdy strips away the bias and looks afresh at our concept of maternity, drawing on anthropology, history, literature and myth, looking at animals, birds and insects as well as people, and exploring new developments in neuroscience and biology. She abolishes old stereotypes and radically expands the concept of female nature.
Fully illustrated, packed with examples and evidence, and richly informed by up-to-the minute science, 'Mother Nature' is a milestone in our grasp of how Natural Selection works, and how it still shapes women's choices. It delves into the ancient tensions between men and women; it transforms the debate about who needs to care for babies; it explains just what infants actually need from mothers and why. In short, Hrdy uses Darwinian theory to do for mothers and children what Darwin did for species and for males.
