High-velocity, high impact ... Part sweeping saga of mammalian history; and part clapback against the tendency of much evolutionary thought to place men, and their furry mancestors, at the center of the action ... Bohannon has a poet’s voice...and a reporter’s eye. Eve is an endless source of dinner-party trivia, much of it inappropriate for actual dinner parties ... Also suggests a new way of thinking about one’s body ... Reframing human history is an ambitious job, and some of Bohannon’s concepts inch ever farther out on their speculative branches ... A love letter to the ancient, creaking wonder that is evolution. As we come off the hottest summer on record, the dream is that we continue to evolve, our species continually transforming — if we get the chance.
Bohannon manages to navigate this well, weaving millions of years of evolutionary science with ultra-contemporary language and politics ... Someday, though, our bodies may adapt once again. Our culture can change quickly, Bohannon says, but physiology does not. There is much today in our culture that has indeed changed fast.
Bohannon calls on her astounding disciplinary range to tell this epic tale. Her writing ripples with references from literature, film studies, biochemistry, cognitive science and anthropology. No wonder it took her 10 years to finish. The footnotes alone, which are particularly learned, irreverent and funny, are a masterpiece ... The author’s parting plea is that we learn more about women and girls. In the UK, unlike the US, there is still no regulation that insists women are included in medical research. Not everyone agrees with the ethical good of extending participation.
Capacious ... Engaging ... Combing scientific literature, the author finds no difference between the brains of men and women. Many species inhabit Bohannon’s fascinating chronicle, as she compares human evolution and life cycle to that of other creatures, great and small. Prodigious research informs a spirited history of humanity.
