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

Revision as of 21:13, 21 December 2015

Revision as of 19:44, 28 March 2016

Line 19:

'''''Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human''''' (2009)<ref>Richard Wrangham (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 USA. 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''. 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==

Line 24 ⟶ 27:

==Reception==

===Positive===

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 |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 |url=http://cogweb.ucla.edu/Abstracts/Pennisi_99.html|archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/5wB4Lm2oa |archivedate = 2011-02-01|deadurl=no}}</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?] {{WebCite|url=http://www.webcitation.org/5wB4Lm2oa|date =2011-02-01}}</ref>

Book reviewers gave ''Catching Fire'' generally positive reviews. The New York ''Times'' called it "a rare thing: a slim book - the text itself is a mere 207 pages - that contains serious science yet is related in direct, no-nonsense prose",<ref>Dwight Garner, [http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/books/27garn.html?pagewanted=all "Why Are Humans Different From All Other Apes? It's the Cooking, Stupid"], New York ''Times'', May 26, 2009</ref> and the ''Telegraph'' (UK) called it "that rare thing, an exhilarating science book".<ref>Simon Ings, [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/6250132/Catching-Fire-How-Cooking-Made-Us-Human-by-Richard-Wrangham-review.html# "Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human by Richard Wrangham: review"], the ''Telegraph'', October 4, 2009</ref>

===Negative===

==History of the idea==

{{expand section|date=March 2016}}

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''. 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).

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 |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 |url=http://cogweb.ucla.edu/Abstracts/Pennisi_99.html|archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/5wB4Lm2oa |archivedate = 2011-02-01|deadurl=no}}</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?] {{WebCite|url=http://www.webcitation.org/5wB4Lm2oa|date =2011-02-01}}</ref>

==Further reading==