paperback, 464 pages
Published May 10, 2016 by Signal.
Destined to become a modern classic in the vein of "Guns, Germs, and Steel," "Sapiens" is a lively, groundbreaking history of humankind told from a unique perspective. 100,000 years ago, at least six species of human inhabited the earth. Today there is just one. Us. "Homo Sapiens." How did our species succeed in the battle for dominance? Why did our foraging ancestors come together to create cities and kingdoms? How did we come to believe in gods, nations, and human rights; to trust money, books, and laws; and to be enslaved by bureaucracy, timetables, and consumerism? And what will our world be like in the millennia to come? In "Sapiens," Dr. Yuval Noah Harari spans the whole of human history, from the very first humans to walk the earth to the radical -- and sometimes devastating -- breakthroughs of the Cognitive, Agricultural, and Scientific Revolutions. Drawing on insights from biology, …
Destined to become a modern classic in the vein of "Guns, Germs, and Steel," "Sapiens" is a lively, groundbreaking history of humankind told from a unique perspective. 100,000 years ago, at least six species of human inhabited the earth. Today there is just one. Us. "Homo Sapiens." How did our species succeed in the battle for dominance? Why did our foraging ancestors come together to create cities and kingdoms? How did we come to believe in gods, nations, and human rights; to trust money, books, and laws; and to be enslaved by bureaucracy, timetables, and consumerism? And what will our world be like in the millennia to come? In "Sapiens," Dr. Yuval Noah Harari spans the whole of human history, from the very first humans to walk the earth to the radical -- and sometimes devastating -- breakthroughs of the Cognitive, Agricultural, and Scientific Revolutions. Drawing on insights from biology, anthropology, palaeontology, and economics, he explores how the currents of history have shaped our human societies, the animals and plants around us, and even our personalities. Have we become happier as history has unfolded? Can we ever free our behaviour from the heritage of our ancestors? And what, if anything, can we do to influence the course of the centuries to come? Bold, wide-ranging and provocative, "Sapiens" challenges everything we thought we knew about being human: our thoughts, our actions, our power...and our future.
It's very convincing and I really appreciate the ideas and perspective on religion especially. I learned long after reading it about the complete disregard for evidence and accuracy.
Sapiens (2011, Harper) 4 stars
(Audiobook) I already knew a lot of the content but I enjoy having it from a new perspective with a variety of new anecdotes. At some points I distinctly felt like the author's biases were coming through--in fact at some points I really questioned his ideas--but otherwise an enjoyable and informative book.
Enjoyable to read and thought provoking. Because it's only 400 or so pages it necessarily is rather simple in covering millenia of human history. This, however, does not detract a great deal from my enjoyment of this book. In fact it is this very simplicity that makes tackling such an expanse of history conceivable. Definitely a worthwhile read.
