"Daniel E. Lieberman--chair of the department of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University and a leader in the field--gives us a lucid and engaging account of how the human body evolved over millions of years, even as it shows how the increasing disparity between the jumble of adaptations in our Stone Age bodies and advancements in the modern world is occasioning this paradox: greater longevity but increased chronic disease. The Story of the Human Body brilliantly illuminates as never before the major transformations that contributed key adaptations to the body: the rise of bipedalism; the shift to a non-fruit-based diet; the advent of hunting and gathering, leading to our superlative endurance athleticism; the development of a very large brain; and the incipience of cultural proficiencies. Lieberman also elucidates how cultural evolution differs from biological evolution, and how our bodies were further transformed during the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions. The author advocates the use of evolutionary information to help nudge, push, and sometimes even compel us to create a more salubrious environment"--Provided by publisher.

What are humans adapted for? -- Upstanding apes: how we became adapted to being upright -- Much depends on dinner: how walking helped wean us off fruit -- The first hunter-gatherers: how nearly modern bodies evolved in the genus homo -- Energy in the ice age: how we evolved big brains, along with large, fat, slowly growing -- Bodies -- A very cultured species: how modern humans colonized the world with a combination of -- Brains plus brawn -- Progress and mismatch: the consequences-good and bad-of having paleolithic bodies in -- A post-paleolithic world -- Paradise lost? the fruits and follies of becoming farmers -- Modern times, modern bodies: the paradox of human health in the industrial era -- The vicious circle of too much affluence: why and how too much energy makes us -- Sick -- Disuse: how we are losing it by not using it -- The hidden dangers of novelty and comfort: how everyday innovations can damage us -- Survival of the fitter: can evolutionary logic help us better cultivate the human body's -- Future?.