On Deep History and the Brain - Softcover

Smail, Daniel Lord

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0520904362 ISBN 13: 9780520904361

Publisher: Perseus - UCAL POD, 2007

Synopsis

This is a little book about 50,000 years of human history that finally connects modern history, and medieval history, and ancient history, and what's still called prehistory . Offering a fascinating digest of the significant scientific discoveries of recent years, Harvard History Professor Daniel Lord Smail presents a new paradigm for understanding changes in human culture, commerce, hierarchy, and civilization throughout time. First he debunks all the ways in which historians have justified continuing writing about 6,000 years of history by talking about writing, civilization, or historical consciousness. Then he guides the reader accessibly through an enormous literature on recent, 'hot' work on evolution, Paleolithic studies, and neuroscience--and shows how this can change our view of history, human life, and historical writing. Lastly he shows how history of all peoples at all times can be understood through psychotropy (humans using substances or actions to alter their own brain-body states). Through fascinating stories that range from religious ritual to coffee drinking, medieval knights to nineteenth-century gin, Smail finally brings the latest developments in the humanities and sciences together to put an entirely new, holistic cast on our understanding of ourselves.

About this title

Review:

"An intelligent disquiet runs through these pages."--New York Times Book Review "A creative and compelling synthesis of ideas, Smail's book provides an engaging and invigorating analysis of our history."--Science (Aaas) "A provocative thesis... Radically rethinks the relationship between biology and culture."--London Review of Books "Relax and enjoy. It's a good read, and it makes you think."--New Scientist "[An] intriguing little book."--American Scientist

About the Author:

Daniel Lord Smail is Professor of History at Harvard University. He is the author of Imaginary Cartographies (1999), which won the American Historical Association's Herbert Baxter Adams Prize and the Social Science History Association's President's Award; The Consumption of Justice (2003), which won the Law and Society Association's James Willard Hurst Prize; and co-editor of Fama: The Politics of Talk and Reputation in Medieval Europe (2003).

About this edition

• Publisher: Perseus - UCAL POD
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0520904362
• ISBN 13: 9780520904361
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 396