
Pandora's Seed
The Unforeseen Cost of Civilization
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Narrated by:
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Spencer Wells
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By:
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Spencer Wells
This new book by Spencer Wells, the internationally known geneticist, anthropologist, author, and director of the Genographic Project, focuses on the seminal event in human history: mankind's decision to become farmers rather than hunter-gatherers.
What do terrorism, pandemic disease, and global warming have in common? To find the answer we need to go back 10 millennia, to the wheat fields of the Fertile Crescent and the rice paddies of southern China. It was at that point that our species made a radical shift in its way of life. We had spent millions of years of evolution eking out a living as hunter-gatherers. When we learned how to control our food supply, though, we became as gods - we controlled the world rather than it controlling us. But with godliness comes responsibility. By sowing seeds thousands of years ago, we were also sowing a new culture - one that has come with many unforeseen costs.
Taking us on a 10,000-year tour of human history and a globe-trotting fact-finding mission, Pandora's Seed charts the rise to power of Homo agriculturis and the effect this radical shift in lifestyle has had on us. Focusing on three key trends as the final stages of the agricultural population explosion play out over this century, Wells speculates on the significance of our newfound ability to modify our genomes to better suit our unnatural culture, fast-forwarding our biological adaptation to the world we have created. But what do we stand to lose in the process?
Climate change, a direct result of billions of people living in a culture of excess accumulation, threatens the global social and ecological fabric. It will force a key shift in our behavior, as we learn to take the welfare of future generations into account. Finally, the rise of religious fundamentalism over the past half-century is explained as part of a backlash against many of the trends set in motion by the agricultural population explosion and its inherent inequality.
©2010 Adaptive S.A. (P)2010 TantorListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
Now, Spencer, as someone who is captivated by your work, I ask that you get a director when reading next time that makes you "pump it up" a little with more energy as well as stay on the mic more.
I listen to many audible books and for some reason Spencer is not as loud as the others and I have to turn our little plug-in computer speakers as loud as they will go. Others with more savvy set ups will have NO problem.
That said, do not let that stop you from getting this book. It's great and we will listen to it again and again, especially as my children get a little older. I am even gifting it to 2 friends for the holidays.
Fascinating
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Really good well presented
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Should be required reading in anthropology courses
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Disappointing
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Short and unfocused, but often quite interesting.
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thought provoking and packed with information
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The Costs of Civilization
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Would you consider the audio edition of Pandora's Seed to be better than the print version?
Loved the audio but the print version would be great to annotate. There were so many insightful parts of this book that it may be the only lengthy audio book I replay in my collection. It was absolutely fascinating.5 Stars
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Decent for sciency stuff, but kind of boring
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Interesting, especially first part
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