If you are interested in evolution, this book is for you. If you’d like to know why humans have sex, or get cancer, or age – then this is the book for you. If you enjoy being challenged and enlightened by an informed and passionate scientific expert, Why Are We Like This? is for you.
Zoe Kean repeatedly demonstrates the ability to communicate complex issues in a way that makes them readily understood. The ability to do this is as rare as it is valuable; her skills in this arena are on a par with such renowned science communicators as Dr Karl Kruszelnicki and Tim Flannery.
Kean explores possible answers to nine big questions from an evolutionary viewpoint. These questions are: why do we care, why do we have sex, why do we have two sexes, why do we make love, why do we get cancer, why do we age, why do we drink, why do we sleep and why do we have inner lives? The answers range from the meticulously researched to the engagingly speculative.
“To get to grips with how life on earth evolves,” Kean says, “we need to get into the nitty-gritty of deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA to its friends.’ Her explanation of exactly what DNA is and how it works is an example of science writing at its very best. The reader does not feel the need to turn to a dictionary or dig out a long-forgotten textbook. The language is direct, simple and uncomplicated; her lucid explanations treat the reader with the respect due to an equal.
The reader is cautioned not to think of evolution as goal-driven. Species, Kean writes, evolve over time to adapt to changing conditions, but they do not necessarily become ‘more advanced’. There is no end game in evolution. And, of course, there is no pretence at a definitive answer to all the questions Kean poses. She does, however, proffer some staggering insights into what has led all of us to where we are.
Kean also makes a clear distinction between research-driven conclusions or opinions and speculation, averring that both approaches have their drawbacks as well as their advantages. And scientists often disagree with each other, as she points out. Naturally, though, she is a strong advocate of using research to inform opinion and she has canvassed the work of hundreds of researchers to produce this illuminating work.
Kean is also a convincing idealist who hopes that an improved understanding of the complexities of evolution will help create a better world; many of the principles and ideas underpinning evolutionary biology are already deployed “to better treat cancer, to understand ageing and to help people get a good night’s sleep”. And, as she elucidates in the chapter on drinking, research into evolution has already contributed to breakthroughs about why we’re drawn to alcohol despite its dangers.
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Overall, this book offers a wonderful opportunity to learn about what life is and why we are what we are. As Dr Kruszelnicki is quoted as saying on the cover, it is a “brilliant guide to how we evolved to be marvellously imperfect”. Not only does it provide many thought-provoking observations into evolution, it challenges the very way we’ve always thought about the concept; it is a marvellous and instructive read.
Why Are We Like This? An evolutionary search for answers to life’s big questions, Zoe Kean
Publisher: NewSouth Publishing
ISBN: 9781742238104
Format: Paperback
Pages: 352 pp
Publication date: 1 November 2024
RRP: $32.99
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