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" Snakes, sunrises, and Shakespeare : "
Gordon H. Orians
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BL
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| Record Number
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625142
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| Doc. No
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dltt
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| Main Entry
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Orians, Gordon H.
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| Title & Author
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Snakes, sunrises, and Shakespeare : : how evolution shapes our loves and fears /\ Gordon H. Orians
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| Page. NO
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221 pages :: illustrations ;; 24 cm
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| ISBN
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9780226003238 (cloth : alkaline paper)
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: 022600323X (cloth : alkaline paper)
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9780226003375 (e-book)
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| Bibliographies/Indexes
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Includes bibliographical references (pages 185-205) and index
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| Contents
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Whistling for honey -- Ghosts of the African savanna -- The high cost of learning -- Reading the landscape -- The snake in the grass (... and other hazards) -- Settling down and settling in -- A ransom in pepper -- The musical ape -- The first sniff -- Ordering nature -- The honeyguide and the snake : embracing our ecological minds
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| Abstract
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"Evolutionary biologist Gordon H. Orians explores the role of evolution in human responses to the environment, beginning with why we have emotions and ending with evolutionary approaches to aesthetics. Orians reveals how our emotional lives today are shaped by decisions our ancestors made centuries ago on African savannas as they selected places to live, sought food and safety, and socialized in small hunter-gatherer groups. During this time our likes and dislikes became wired in our brains, as the appropriate responses to the environment meant the difference between survival or death. His rich analysis explains why we mimic the tropical savannas of our ancestors in our parks and gardens, why we are simultaneously attracted to danger and approach it cautiously, and how paying close attention to nature's sounds has resulted in us being an unusually musical species. We also learn why we have developed discriminating palates for wine, and why we have strong reactions to some odors, and why we enjoy classifying almost everything."--Dust jacket flap
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| Subject
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Emotions
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Evolution (Biology)-- Psychological aspects
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Aesthetics
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Human evolution
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| Dewey Classification
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152.4
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| LC Classification
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BF531.O73 2014
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