The Origin of Language: How We Learned to Speak and Why - Softcover

Beekman, Madeleine

Softcover

ISBN 10: 139854843X ISBN 13: 9781398548435

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK, 2025

Synopsis

In a radical new story about the birth of our species, The Origin of Language argues that it was not hunting, fighting, or tool-making that forced early humans to speak, but the inescapable need to care for our children.

Journeying to the dawn of Homo sapiens, evolutionary biologist Madeleine Beekman reveals the “happy accidents” hidden in our molecular biology—DNA, chromosomes, and proteins—that led to one of the most fateful events in the history of life on Earth: our giving birth to babies earlier in their development than our hominid cousins the Neanderthals and Denisovans. Faced with highly dependent infants requiring years of nurturing and protection, early human communities needed to cooperate and coordinate, and it was this unprecedented need for communication that triggered the creation of human language—and changed everything.

Infused with cutting-edge science, sharp humour, and insights into the history of biology and its luminaries, Beekman weaves a narrative that’s both enlightening and entertaining. Challenging the traditional theories of male luminaries like Chomksy, Pinker, and Harari, she invites us into the intricate world of molecular biology and its ancient secrets. The Origin of Language is a tour de force by a brilliant biologist on how a culture of cooperation and care have shaped our existence.
 

About this title

About the Author

Madeleine Beekman is professor of evolutionary biology and behavioral ecology emerita at the University of Sydney, Australia, Editor-in-Chief of Insectes Sociaux, and board member of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Biological Sciences. Madeleine Beekman lives in Australia's northern tropical rainforest with her husband where she can observe cassowaries from her office. She has two adult daughters.

From the Back Cover

In this origin story of humanity, scientific expert Madeleine Beekman makes the case that human language evolved to solve an existential problem for our ancestors: caring for extremely premature infants.

Edition details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 139854843X
• ISBN 13: 9781398548435
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320