Hrdy has taken one of the final big myths of human evolution – that childcare by men is peripheral or unimportant – and knocked it firmly on its head ... Hrdy is, without exaggeration, one of the most important thinkers in evolutionary biology since Darwin ... Her beautiful writing retains as much power to astound and educate as ever.
A rare science writer who combines mastery of her field with warm, readable prose ... Occasionally I suspected Hrdy of being too ready to take claims of male reform at face value ... There are a few confounding intrusions from recent gender politics ... Frustratingly often Hrdy is forced to make guesses that outstrip the available evidence. It will be interesting to revisit her thesis in a decade or so.
To a lay reader, some of Hrdy’s examples can be hard to appreciate as anything more than a memorable anecdote. But patterns emerge, as well as a sense that parental roles are less fixed than we might assume ... There’s something faintly reassuring about the trajectory of Hrdy’s book, her optimistic perspective about how fatherhood among humans might continue to evolve.
I turned to it seeking validation and found something much better: the complete destabilization of my concept of paternity ... For the novitiate dad, reading parts of Father Time feels a bit like having your life narrated by David Attenborough.
The reading is so nutrient-rich that you will want to pause, digest, reflect, delight, and then urgently read on ... Hrdy’s book is chock-full of fascinating details.
