Everyone in the field of animal and human behavior should go over this book. The authors are the very best in their line of research, the research is quite up to date, and the various authors complement one another's finding beautifully.



The relationship between human and non-human primate behavior is very important for elucidating the characteristics of individual species because, as it turns out, it is often much easier to identify a form of behavior by viewing it as part of a larger swath of behavior occuring in a variety of species, rather than viewing the behavior in isolation. It is especially difficult to problematize human behavior because, this being our own species, we tend to see as 'natural' or the simple product of human cognitive capacity, what is in fact, a highly developed adaptation (such as imitation). In this regard, it would have been nice to include a chapter or two on cooperation in various species of birds, especially nesting birds, that share much with primates in terms of social organization, intelligence, and behavior.



The book manages to avoid the back-biting and interminable recriminations that often accompany biologically oriented research into human and primate nature. There is, however, one exception. Robert Trivers attempts to save his 35 year old theory from competition by newer theories by launching a bitter attack on the newer authors (of which I am one). He does so not by dealing with the issues, but by selectively quoting out of context and attempting to make his opponents look silly and stupid. They are not. Indeed, they are without much doubt, essentially correct in suggesting gene-culture coevolutionary forces as central to cooperation in large groups of unrelated humans. This does not at all compromise Trivers' fine work, which addresses dyadic interactions alone.

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