Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|2009 book by Richard Wrangham}}

{{Infobox book

|name = Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human

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|language = English

|genre = [[Sociocultural evolution]] [[Anthropology]]

|publisher = [[Profile booksBooks]]

|release_date = September 2009

|media_type = Print ([[Paperback]])

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}}

'''''Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human''''' (2009)<ref>Richardis Wranghama (2009) ''Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human'', Basic Books, {{ISBN|978-0-465-01362-3}}</ref> is a book by [[United Kingdom|British]] [[primatology|primatologist]] [[Richard Wrangham]], published by [[Profile Books]] in England, and [[Basic Books]] in the USAUS. It argues the hypothesis that cooking food was an essential element in the physiological evolution of human beings. It was shortlisted for the 2010 [[Samuel Johnson Prize]].

==History of the idea==

Eighteenth-century writers noted already that "people cooked their meat, rather than eating it raw like animals". Oliver Goldsmith considered that "of all other animals, we spend the least time in eating; this is one of the great distinctions between us and the brute creation". In 1999, Wrangham published the first version of the hypothesis in ''Current Anthropology''.<ref name="Wrangham1999">{{Cite journal |lastlast1=Wrangham |firstfirst1=Richard W. |last2=Jones |first2=James Holland |last3=Laden |first3=Greg |last4=Pilbeam |first4=David |last5=Conklin‐Brittain |first5=NancyLou |date=Dec 1999 |title=The Raw and the Stolen |journal=Current Anthropology |language=en |volume=40 |issue=5 |pages=567–594 |doi=10.1086/300083 |pmid=10539941 |s2cid=82271116 |issn=0011-3204}}</ref> A short outline of the hypothesis was presented by John Allman (2000)<ref>John Allman (2000) ''Evolving Brains'', Scientific American Library, page 194.</ref> presumably based upon Wrangham (1999).

==Overview==

Humans (species in the genus ''Homo'') are the only animals that cook their food, and Wrangham argues ''[[Homo erectus]]'' emerged about two million years ago as a result of this unique trait. [[Cooking]] had profound evolutionary effecteffects because it increased food efficiency, which allowed human ancestors to spend less time foraging, chewing, and digesting. ''H. &nbsp;erectus'' developed a smaller, more efficient digestive tract, which freed up energy to enable larger [[Human brain|brain]] growth. Wrangham also argues that cooking and control of fire generally affected species development by providing warmth and helping to fend off predators, which helped human ancestors adapt to a ground-based lifestyle. Wrangham points out that humans are highly evolved for eating cooked food and cannot maintain reproductive fitness with raw food.<ref>{{cite news|urlname=https"://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/books/27garn.html?ref=books0" |title=Why Are Humans Different From All Other Apes? It's the Cooking, Stupid |work=New York Times |date=2009-05-26 |accessdate=2009-06-12 | first=Dwight | last=Garner}}</ref>

==Reception==

===Positive===

Book reviewers gave ''Catching Fire'' generally positive reviews. ''[[The New York Times]]'' called it "a rare thing: a slim book - thebook—the text itself is a mere 207 pages - thatpages—that contains serious science, yet is related in direct, no-nonsense prose",<ref name=":0">Dwight{{Cite news |last=Garner, [https://www.nytimes.com/|first=Dwight |date=2009/-05/27/books/27garn.html?pagewanted-26 |title=all "Why Are Humans Different From All Other Apes? It'sIt’s the Cooking, Stupid"], |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/books/27garn.html |access-date=2024-06-12 |work=The New York ''Times'', May|language=en-US 26, 2009|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and [[The Daily Telegraph|the ''Daily Telegraph'' (UK)]] called it "that rare thing, an exhilarating science book".<ref>Simon{{Cite Ings,web [|date=2009-10-04 |title=Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human by Richard Wrangham: review |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/6250132/Catching-Fire-How-Cooking-Made-Us-Human-by-Richard-Wrangham-review.html# "Catching|access-date=2024-06-12 Fire: How Cooking|website=The Made Us Human by Richard Wrangham: review"], the ''Telegraph'', October 4, 2009|language=en}}</ref>

===Negative===

Critics of the cooking hypothesis question whether archaeological evidence supports the view that cooking fires began long enough ago to confirm Wrangham's findings.<ref name="pmid10206901">{{cite journal|last=Pennisi |first=Elizabeth |author-link=Elizabeth Pennisi |date=March 26, 1999 |title=Human evolution: Did Cooked Tubers Spur the Evolution of Big Brains? |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=283 |issue=5410 |pages=2004–2005 |pmid=10206901 |doi=10.1126/science.283.5410.2004 |s2cid=39775701 |url=http://cogweb.ucla.edu/Abstracts/Pennisi_99.html |archiveurl=https://wwwweb.webcitationarchive.org/5wB4Lm2oa?url=web/20110310164743/http://cogweb.ucla.edu/Abstracts/Pennisi_99.html |archivedate=2011-0203-0110 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The traditional explanation is that human ancestors scavenged carcasses for high-quality food that preceded the evolutionary shift to smaller guts and larger brains.<ref name="Pennisi 99%html">[http://cogweb.ucla.edu/Abstracts/Pennisi_99.html Pennisi: Did Cooked Tubers Spur the Evolution of Big Brains?] {{webarchive |url=https://wwwweb.webcitationarchive.org/5wB4Lm2oa?url=web/20110310164743/http://cogweb.ucla.edu/Abstracts/Pennisi_99.html |date=FebruaryMarch 110, 2011 }}</ref>

Critics of the hypothesis argue that while a linear increase in brain volume of the genus ''Homo'' is seen over time, adding fire control and cooking does not add anything meaningful to the data. Species such as ''H.&nbsp;ergaster'' existed with large brain volumes during time periods with little to no evidence of fire for cooking. Little variation exists in the brain sizes of ''H.&nbsp;erectus'' dated from periods of weak and strong evidence for cooking.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gowlett|first=J. a. J.|date=5 June 2016|title=The discovery of fire by humans: a long and convoluted process|journal=Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B|language=en|volume=371|issue=1696|pages=20150164|doi=10.1098/rstb.2015.0164|issn=0962-8436|pmc=4874402|pmid=27216521}}</ref> An experiment involving mice fed raw versus cooked meat found that cooking meat did not increase the amount of calories taken up by mice, leading to the study's conclusion that the energetic gain is the same, if not greater, in raw meat diets than cooked meats.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Cornélio | first1 = Alianda | display-authors = etal | year = 2016 | title = Human Brain Expansion during Evolution Is Independent of Fire Control and Cooking | journal = Frontiers in Neuroscience | volume = 10 | page = 167 | doi = 10.3389/fnins.2016.00167 | pmid = 27199631 | pmc = 4842772 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Studies such as this and others have led to criticisms of the hypothesis that state that the increases in human brain-size occurred well before the advent of cooking due to a shift away from the consumption of nuts and berries to the consumption of meat.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/99legacy/6-14-1999a.html|title=Meat-eating was essential for human evolution, says UC Berkeley anthropologist specializing in diet|date=14 June 1999|access-date=6 December 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Mann|first=Neil|date=15 August 2007|title=Meat in the human diet: An anthropological perspective|journal=Nutrition & Dietetics|volume=64|issue=Supplement s4|pages=102–107|doi=10.1111/j.1747-0080.2007.00194.x|doi-access=free}}</ref> Other anthropologists argue that the evidence suggests that cooking fires began in earnest only 250,000&nbsp;BP, when ancient hearths, earth ovens, burned animal bones, and flint appear across Europe and the Middle East.<ref name="pmid10206901"/>

==See also==