BOOKSHELF

Natural History, April, 1999

Ever Since Adam and Eve: The Evolution of Human Sexuality

By Malcolm Potts and Roger Short (Cambridge University Press, 1999; $74.95 cloth; $29.95 paper; illus.)

Physician and population expert Potts and reproductive biologist Short have taken an Encyclopedic look at human sexual and reproductive behavior. Photographs and pictures (including paintings by such artists as Vermeer, Hogarth, and Rembrandt) illuminate many of the entries.

From Brains to Consciousness? Essays on the New Sciences of the Mind

Edited by Steven Rose (Princeton University Press, 1999; $29.95; illus.)

Among the questions addressed in this volume by fourteen of the world's leading neuroscientists, psychologists, computer modelers, and philosophers are: Is memory a molecular process? Is schizophrenia a genetic disorder? Can consciousness be computed?

Darwin's Spectre: Evolutionary Biology in the Modern World

By Michael R. Rose (Princeton University Press, 1998; $27.95)

Best known for his experimental work on aging, Rose has written this book for the general reader "curious about evolution and its meaning." In it, he outlines Darwin's main achievements, describes the uses of evolutionary thought in such material realms as agriculture and medicine, and explores various Darwinian approaches to understanding human evolution and the human psyche.

Evolving Brains

By John Morgan Allman (Scientific American Library, 1999; $34.95; illus.)

The evolution and function of the human brain are neurophysiologist Allman's main focus in a well-illustrated edition that includes the latest brain-related findings in both molecular genetics and paleoanthropology.

Mapping the Mind

By Rita Carter (University of California Press, 1998; $29.95; illus.)

The recent revolution in medical imaging technology has led to important advances in neurophysiology. With the help of more than 150 illustrations, medical writer Carter charts recent developments in understanding the complex arrangements within the brain that determine behavior and control experience.

Lamarck's Signature

By Edward J. Steele, Robyn A. Lindley, and Robert V. Blanden (Helix/Perseus Books, 1998; $25; illus.)

Basing their theory (the "soma-to-germline feedback loop") on the latest immune-system research, molecular biologists Steele, Lindley, and Blanden argue that aspects of acquired immunities developed by parents in their own lifetime can be passed--Lamarckian-style---to their offspring.

A Means to an End: The Biological Basis of Aging and Death

By William R. Clark (Oxford University Press, 1999; $27.50; illus.)

Cell biologist Clark dissects the process of human aging, examining what goes on at a cellular level when an individual is stricken by genetic disorders (like Werner syndrome and Alzheimer's disease) that mimic human senescence. He also provides explanations as to why caloric restriction and reduction of oxidative stress may increase an individual's life span.

States of Mind: New Discoveries about How Our Brains Make Us Who We Are

Edited by Roberta Conlan (John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1999; $24.95; illus.)

The role of the amygdala in memory, the function of cytokines in the brain and the immune system, and the connection between manic depression and creativity are among the subjects covered in this collection of essays by eight leaders in neuroscience.

El Nino and the Fate of Civilizations: Floods, Famines, and Emperors

By Brian Fagan (Basic Books/Perseus Books, 1999; illus.)

Blamed for current worldwide climatic disruptions, El Nino has, according to archaeologist Fagan, likely influenced developments throughout history, such as the ascendancy of Sumerian and Egyptian civilizations about 3000 B.C. and the Norse abandonment of Greenland in 1500 A.D.

The books mentioned in "Natural Selections" are usually available from the Museum Shop of the American Museum of Natural History, at (212) 769-5150.