Preface ix
1. Introduction 3
What Are Humans Adapted For?
Part I Apes and Humans
2. Upstanding Apes 25
How We Became Bipeds
3. Much Depends on Dinner 48
How the Australopiths Partly Weaned Us Off Fruit
4. The First Hunter-Gatherers 67
How Nearly Modern Bodies Evolved in the Human Genus
5. Energy in the Ice Age 94
How We Evolved Big Brains Along with Large, Fat, Gradually Growing Bodies
6. A Very Cultured Species 126
How Modern Humans Colonized the World with a Combination of Brains plus Brawn
Part II Farming and the Industrial Revolution
7. Progress, Mismatch, and Dysevolution 157
The Consequences-Good and Bad-of Having Paleolithic Bodies in a Post-Paleolithic World
8. Paradise Lost? 180
The Fruits and Follies of Becoming Farmers
9. Modern Times, Modern Bodies 209
The Paradox of Human Health in the Industrial Era
Part III The Present, the Future
10. The Vicious Circle of Too Much 251
Why Too Much Energy Can Make Us Sick
11. Disuse 293
Why We Are Losing It by Not Using It
12. The Hidden Dangers of Novelty and Comfort 318
Why Everyday Innovations Can Damage Us
13. Survival of the Fitter 347
Can Evolutionary Logic Help Cultivate a Better Future for the Human Body?
Acknowledgments 369
Notes 371
Index 433