Interview with Adam Hart, author of Unfit for Purpose: When Human Evolution Collides with the Modern World
Adam Hart, author of Unfit for Purpose: When Human Evolution Collides with the Modern World, give us his book recommendations this week! Before jumping into the interview, please check out Adam's new book:
Review from Book Depository:
Stress, obesity, poor mental health, drug addiction, bowel diseases, violence and fake news; a stark checklist of modern world problems and every one of them is an echo of our evolutionary past.
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Unfit for Purpose: When Human Evolution Collides with the Modern World
In Unfit for Purpose, biologist and broadcaster Adam Hart explores the mismatch between our fundamental biology and the modern world we have created. In each chapter Adam reveals the many ways in which biological adaptations that evolved to help us survive and thrive now work against us. For example, in the modern world stress is a killer but how did 'fight or flight' instincts turn from life-savers to life-takers? Obesity might be a disease now but is it really just a troublesome side-effect of our complex evolutionary past? Whether it's the derailing of microbes in our gut, the rise of gluten and lactose intolerance, the problems of social media or the horrors of drug addiction we always seem to have one foot in the modern world and the other firmly in our evolutionary past.
By probing deep into our evolutionary legacy, exploring the science, archaeology, medicine, genetics, sociology and more, to show how, in a modern world of our own making, we find ourselves 'unfit for purpose'. But all is not lost! By unpicking the evolutionary causes of many of our current woes, it reveals some secrets of evolutionarily-informed treatments that will change the way we think about ourselves and our future.
Buy On:
Book Depository €14.40
Waterstones £16.99
Wordery $16.76
Q. Do you have a favourite smart thinking book (and why that book)?
The Big Conservation Lie by John Mbaria and Mordecai Ogada is my favourite at the moment. It details and discusses some of the main issues with the modern conservation "industry" and it is challenging, illuminating, informative and thought provoking. It should be "must read" for anyone interested in conservation.
Review From Book Depository
The Big Conservation Lie' is a wake up call focused on a field that has been 'front and centre' of many people's hearts and minds in recent years; The conservation of Africa's wildlife. It is a pursuit whose power to inspire is only rivalled by it's ability to blind it's audience to reality. This book takes the reader through Kenya's conservation 'industry' and the players therein with all their prejudices, weaknesses and commitment to causes, many of which are indistinguishable from their personalities.
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The Big Conservation Lie
It is a call to indigenous Africans to claim their place at the table where the management of their natural resources is being discussed and invites well-meaning donors to look beyond the romantic images and detect the possible role of their money in the disenfranchisement of a people.
Buy On:
Book Depository €11.47
Q. What's the most recent smart thinking book you've read (and how would you rate it)?
I am just reading Keith Somerville's excellent book Humans and Lions. I know Keith and I like the way he writes. His journalism background shines through and I can hear his voice as I read. It is a great book about our ancient and modern relationship with the "king of beasts".
Review From Book Depository
This book places lion conservation and the relationship between people and lions both in historical context and in the context of the contemporary politics of conservation in Africa. The killing of Cecil the Lion in July 2015 brought such issues to the public's attention. Were lions threatened in the wild and what was the best form of conservation? How best can lions be saved from extinction in the wild in Africa amid rural poverty, precarious livelihoods for local communities and an expanding human population?
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Humans and Lions: Conflict, Conservation and Coexistence
This book traces man's relationship with lions through history, from hominids, to the Romans, through colonial occupation and independence, to the present day. It concludes with an examination of the current crisis of conservation and the conflict between Western animal welfare concepts and sustainable development, thrown into sharp focus by the killing of Cecil the lion. Through this historical account, Keith Somerville provides a coherent, evidence-based assessment of current human-lion relations, providing context to the present situation.
This book will be of interest to students and scholars of environmental and African history, wildlife conservation, environmental management and political ecology, as well as the general reader.
Buy On:
Book Depository €34.57
Waterstones £34.99
Q. Do you have a favourite childhood book?
I am not sure how some of the attitudes and language would stand up to present day scrutiny, but the Willard Price Adventure series was rarely out of my hands as a child. I could't get enough of the stories!
Review From Book Depository:
Shark Adventure is an authorised Willard Price book by award-winning author Anthony McGowan, for 8+ readers. Full of action, adventure and animals!
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Willard Price: Shark Adventure
On a remote Polynesian island, Amazon Hunt and her cousin, Frazer, recruits of TRACKS animal protection agency, are saving rare leatherback turtles.
But an international animal smuggler wants the valuable turtles for himself. And, when a huge typhoon strikes, Amazon and Frazer face an even greater danger. Swept away into shark-infested waters, how will they save the turtles - and themselves?
Buy On:
Book Depository €5.98
Waterstones £5.99
Wordery $6.66
Q. Do you prefer reading on paper, Kindle or listening to an audiobook?
Paper - 100%! I love the ritual of reading and the way you get lost in it. For me, screens are too distracting and associated with other things.
Q. Do you have a favourite bookshop (and why that shop)?
I love bookshops especially 2nd hand shops - Moss Books in Cheltenham is a confusing warren of shelves and piles of books on the floor but I love it!
Many thanks to Adam for answering my questions and for his fascinating book recommendations! Please don't forget to check out his book Unfit for Purpose: When Human Evolution Collides with the Modern World
Daryl
Image Copyrights: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (Unfit for Purpose), Lens&pens Publishing (The Big Conservation Lie), Taylor & Francis Ltd (Humans and Lions), Penguin Random House Children's UK (Willard Price Shark Adventure)
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