Beyond Primates New Essays on Darwin and Evolution

About this book

For readers who are prone to marvel at the wonders of the natural world, this book collects 14 essays about evolution and Charles Darwin's theories from science journalist and humorist Rebecca Coffey. Taking a fresh look at animal behaviour research, at the reproductive talents of insects, birds, microorganisms, and mammals, and at Charles Darwin’s own marriage, Beyond Primates reveals how Darwin’s theories have fared over the years and throughout the plant and animal kingdoms. Do baby animals know mother love? Why do some male spiders try to die after sex? What about yeast procreation would have surprised Darwin? What does the fact that some wasps quickly evolved the ability to recognize each others’ faces suggest about human cognitive evolution? Are human couples who claim to be monogamous but “cheat” acting like swans and seahorses? How might Darwin’s own love life have tripped him up a bit in his scientific reasoning? In fourteen essays, Coffey examines aspects of evolutionary theory, some of them long forgotten.

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Biography

Rebecca Coffey has contributed science journalism to Scientific American, Discover, Forbes, Salon, The New York Daily News, The Chicago Tribune, The Seattle Times, JSTOR Daily, Dame, Psychology Today, Vermont Public Radio, and the Genetic Literacy Project. She has appeared on syndicated talk shows like WNYC's The Takeaway, WAMC's 51 Percent, Fox News' Happening Now, The Bob Edwards Show, The Jim Bohannon Show, The Stephanie Miller Show, NPR's Air Talk with Larry Mantle, and on major-market programs produced by NPR affiliates in New York, Boston, Hartford, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Albany, and Indianapolis. She speaks at colleges and universities and at conferences, and she was an invited speaker at the 50th Congress of the International Psychoanalytic Association in Buenos Aires. This is her sixth book.