Through a Glass Brightly

Wise, witty, literate, well-read, this is David Barash at his best. A true scholar-scientist. - Richard Dawkins, author (most recently) of Science in the Soul and The Selfish Gene David Barash's brilliant, fact-filled, and thoroughly enjoyable Through a Glass Brightly is devoted to taking us humans down a peg or two - or five or six. Every pretention we have to being bigger or better or brighter is deftly skewered and we are put in our proper place in the living world. And yet, I came away not just proud to be a human but even prouder to be part of the flow of life. Great fun and much to be recommended. - Michael Ruse, Director of the Program in the History and Philosophy of Science, Florida State University For millennia humans have groped around in the dark in search of who we are, where we came from, and what our purpose is. It was not until the Darwinian Revolution that light was shown on the true nature of human nature, and now one of our species most insightful and eloquent students of the human condition, David Barash, has penned a magnum opus that shines the light of science into the shadows that have for so long shrouded understanding. Through a Glass Brightly is destined to take its place among the pantheon of great books. - Michael Shermer, Publisher of Skeptic Magazine, columnist at Scientific American, and author of The Moral Arc and Heavens on Earth David Barash brilliantly explores the conclusion that we are a less wonderful species than is generally proclaimed, questioning everything from anthropic foolishness about the supposed specialness of the universe, nonsense about the supposed inevitabilities of human aggression, and our theistic myths about supposed free will and transcendence from biology. This wonderful, droll, utterly readable book is deeply wise and important. - Robert Sapolsky, Stanford University and author of Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worstr Unfailingly entertaining, gracefully literary, and always grounded in science, the aptly titled Through a Glass Brightly continues the David Barash tradition of explaining the limitations and promise of our own biology. Our future depends on it, and this excellent book will help chart that future. - Melvin Konner, author of The Tangled Wing and Women After All A refreshing, revelatory and poignant look at the fundamental faults of our species, that also explains our inability to make the bold decisions ensuring the long-term survival of planet Earth. A must-read for anyone who struggles to comprehend our species and its disregard for the natural world and the impact and consequences of our collective and wasteful existence. - Louise Leakey, Paleontologist and Research Professor, Turkana Basin Institute, Stony Brook University You'd think Copernicus and Darwin would have sufficed to get humanity over its superiority complex, but we are still in the middle of shaking it off. David Barash enlightens us from a solid historical and scientific perspective how far we have come and how far we still have to go. - Frans de Waal, author of Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? This engaging, energizing and enlightening treatise on man's place in nature goes a long way towards reminding all humanity that we are part of the natural world. But it issues a warning as well: if modern humans continue to ignore this simple fact, it will be at our peril. - Donald C. Johanson, Discoverer of Lucy and Founder of the Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University There could hardly be a more timely and urgent issue than the role of scientific inquiry in determining what makes humans human and our proper place in and relationship to nature. In lucid prose that explains the scientific method to anyone who cares about the difference between facts and fantasy, David Barash explores the psychological, social, and physical perils that are inevitable when human beings regard themselves as being above nature rather than a part of nature. This is a splendid tribute to a human specialness that depends not on having been created by a divine being but on our willingness to use reason to deal wisely with the rest of nature. Every literate politician in Washington should read this book. - Susan Jacoby, author of The Age of American Unreason in a Culture of Lies David Barash confronts with friendly erudition and gorgeous range the matter of what is human nature and why humans fight the facts of complicated life so eagerly. He does so with kind verve and a responsible salute to the endless role of science and literature, its mate in seeking meaning. - Lionel Tiger, Charles Darwin Professor of Anthropology Emeritus, Rutgers University, and author, most recently of The Decline of Males and God's Brain A ruthless and witty debunking of self-flattering illusions held by man over millennia that nonetheless leaves the reader feeling oddly hopeful, and almost giddy. Who knew science could be so much fun? - Rick Shenkman, author of Political Animals: How Our Stone-Age Brain Gets in the Way of Smart Politics