Physical Anthropology 05/06

UNIT 1. The Evolutionary Perspectives 1. The Growth of Evolutionary Science, Douglas J. Futuyma, Science on Trial, Pantheon Books, 1982 Before the rise of science, the causes of orderly events were sought in the divine purposes they were thought to have served. Today, patterns and designs are seen to be the result of natural selection. 2. Darwin's Influence on Modern Thought, Ernst Mayr, Scientific American, July 2000 As Ernst Mayr points out, our conception of the world and our place in it is, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, drastically different from the Zeitgeist, or "spirit of the times," at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The one person most responsible for this change is Charles Darwin. 3. 15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense, John Rennie, Scientific American, July 2002 Opponents of evolution are trying to tear down real science by setting forth a series of specious arguments. In reality, they intend to use the intelligent-design theory as a "wedge" in order to reopen science classrooms to the discussion of God. This article consists of a series of rebuttals to some of the most common "scientific" arguments raised against the idea of evolution. 4. Profile of an Anthropologist: No Bone Unturned, Patrick Huyghe, Discover, December 1988 Patrick Huyghe reports that the skills displayed by physical anthropologists and archaeologists in the analysis of old bones have resulted in the development of a whole new field: forensic anthropology. 5. Go Ahead, Kiss Your Cousin, Richard Conniff, Discover, August 2003 Moderate inbreeding has always been the rule, not the exception, for humans. Despite the fact that close matings can unmask deleterious recessives, new research suggests that they may also confer evolutionary and social advantages. This is significant, especially when considering the social benefits. 6. Curse and Blessing of the Ghetto, Jared Diamond, Discover, March 1991 Tay-Sachs disease is a choosy killer, one that for centuries targeted Eastern European Jews above all others. Jared Diamond reports that, by decoding its lethal logic, we can learn a great deal about how genetic diseases evolveand how they can be conquered. 7. The Saltshaker's Curse, Jared Diamond, Natural History, October 1991 Physiological adaptations that at one time helped West Africans and their descendants cope with unusually high salt loss may now be predisposing African Americans to hypertension and a premature death. 8. Of Mice, Men and Genes, Robert M. Sapolsky, Natural History, May 2004 Two new studies having to do with the relationship between genes and environment shed new light on the nature-nurture debate. Although sometimes our genes seem to be about inevitability, more often they are about vulnerability and potentials. 9. What You Can Learn From Drunk Monkeys, Meredith F. Small, Discover, July 2002 A remarkable National Institutes of Health (NIH) study on alcoholism sheds insight regarding the relationship between heredity and environment. It turns out that an individual is just as likely to become an alcoholic from a bad childhood as from bad genes. UNIT 2. Primates 10.Angeloni, Elvio is the author of 'Physical Anthropology 05/06', published 2004 under ISBN 9780073079080 and ISBN 0073079081.