I was wondering if anyone here has read any of Desmond Morris' work, specifically The Naked Ape, The Human Zoo, or the Human Animal?
yes i have read some of them (at least one), but it has been at least more than 10 years ago. Therefore I can't remember that much about it, other than that the books were very entertaining.
I read the frist 2 when I was in high school (that was a LONG time ago). I'd put them, even when they were first published, in the category of pop science. These days, there are simply dated. If you're looking for a good book to read, pick something that was published in the last 5 years. The state of the art is changing VERY fast.
What subject are you interested in? I'm particularly interested in Human evolution. Some of the best books on that subject I've read are: Origins Reconsidered (Richard Leakey) Extinct Humans (Ian Tattersal) Seven Daughters of Eve (I forget who wrote it) Journey of Man (Spencer Wells) The last one was just published very recently. The first one is a bit old, but there are a few really good chapters that I still think hold up over time (it is an update about 10 or 15 yrs ago of his earlier book, Origins). If you're intereted in general Anthropology, I'm probably not the right person to recommend anything. There's a guy, van der Waal, who rights alot about Chimpanzees (and how their behavior reflects on human society), who's worth looking into. Also, Jared Diamond's book, the Third Chimpanzee has some good insights.
