{"product_id":"the-origin-of-language-how-we-learned-to-speak-and-why-9781668066058","title":"The Origin of Language: How We Learned to Speak and Why","description":"\u003cb\u003eIn a radical new story about the birth of our species, \u003ci\u003eThe Origin of Language\u003c\/i\u003e argues that it was not hunting, fighting, or tool-making that forced early humans to speak, but the inescapable need to care for our children.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJourneying to the dawn of \u003ci\u003eHomo sapiens\u003c\/i\u003e, evolutionary biologist Madeleine Beekman reveals the \"happy accidents\" hidden in our molecular biology--DNA, chromosomes, and proteins--that led to one of the most fateful events in the history of life on Earth: our giving birth to babies earlier in their development than our hominid cousins the Neanderthals and Denisovans. Faced with highly dependent infants requiring years of nurturing and protection, early human communities needed to cooperate and coordinate, and it was this unprecedented need for communication that triggered the creation of human language--and changed everything. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eInfused with cutting-edge science, sharp humor, and insights into the history of biology and its luminaries, Beekman weaves a narrative that's both enlightening and entertaining. Challenging the traditional theories of male luminaries like Chomksy, Pinker, and Harari, she invites us into the intricate world of molecular biology and its ancient secrets. \u003ci\u003eThe Origin of Language\u003c\/i\u003e is a tour de force by a brilliant biologist on how a culture of cooperation and care have shaped our existence. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"The Origin of Language\u003c\/i\u003e is a tour de force. At its core it seeks to explain the origin of language. But, by linking our patterns of sociality, behavior, development, and communication it is a celebration of humanity's origins. Reading Madeleine Beekman's book, you will never look at babies--and their utterances--the same way ever again.\" --Neil Shubin, evolutionary biologist and author of\u003ci\u003e Your Inner Fish\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMadeleine Beekman is professor emerita of evolutionary biology and behavioral ecology at the University of Sydney, Australia. In the academic year of 2020-21, Beekman was a resident fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin (Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin), which is where the idea for \u003ci\u003eThe Origin of Language\u003c\/i\u003e was born. She currently lives with her husband in Australia's northern tropical rainforest, where she can observe the endangered cassowary from her office. She has two adult daughters and a tiny granddaughter.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51552936952082,"sku":"9781668066058","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_1dac8ce3-eed1-401c-a4ef-6e7476e021f8.jpg?v=1754913753","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-origin-of-language-how-we-learned-to-speak-and-why-9781668066058","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}