Sarah Blaffer Hrdy is an emeritus professor of anthropology at the University of California at Davis and a fellow of both the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The author of three previous books, including The Woman That Never Evolved, she lives in Northern California.
“This book is a major contribution to the evolutionary biology of
our species. By including some of her own intellectual and personal
biography and attending to the history of ideas, Hrdy makes it also
a contribution to the history and sociology of science. Anyone who
thinks that working mothers and variable family arrangements are an
unnatural recent novelty should read this book. Anyone interested
in the causes (and consequences) of variation in women's behaviour,
human sexuality or human evolution must read this book. It is
superb human behavioral ecology.”—Kristen Hawkes, Nature
“The skillful prose of virtuosos like Richard Dawkins and Stephen
Jay Gould belies the difficulty of the art. For the most part Hrdy
succeeds admirably. Her style is engaging and entertaining . . .
This is not just a book for mothers but one that will challenge and
stimulate anyone interested in the relationship between parents and
children.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Thorough, thoughtful, and clearly written . . . a trove of factual
treasures . . . a cornucopia of data and ideas about the biology
and behavior of mothers great and small.”—Scientific American
“This is a splendidly thought-provoking book which will undoubtedly
establish its author as the alpha-female of evolutionary thinkers.
With one great stride Blaffer Hrdy has carried the debate about
parenting to a higher stage of adaptation. It should be required
reading for parents, feminists and evolutionary thinkers
alike.”—The Independent
“Beautifully and accessibly written, it is the product of a woman
who, before going into science, had considered becoming a
novelist.”—Natalie Angier, The New York Times
“Magnificent . . . Hrdy’s book resides in that rare space between
academic disciplines [and] enables her to combine the best of
Darwinian evolutionary biology with feminist cultural theory,
without falling into the political entrapments of either
camp.”—Kathleen O’Grady, The Globe and Mail
“Hrdy does not look at humans in isolation, but at the wider sweep
of evolutionary processes. She does not look at women in isolation,
but at the co-operations and conflicts, the adjustments and
compromises, that all humans must make, and at the evolutionary
pressures that they bring to bear on each other . . . the range of
her scholarship is both impressive and meticulous. She has
emphasized a neglected area of evolutionary theorizing.”—The Times
Literary Supplement
“[A] pure pleasure to read. Buy it. Assign it. Give it to your
congressman. This is a book that can make a difference.”—Elizabeth
Cashdan, Evolution and Human Behavior
“A truly monumental work, as elegant as it is insightful . . . a
clear and telling examination of a hitherto almost unknown
organism: the human female.”—Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, author of
The Hidden Life of Dogs
“A brilliant, liberating book on a profoundly important subject by
one of the best stylists now writing on any subject in science.”—E.
O. Wilson, author of Consilience
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