Transcendence

<p><b>* A <i>TIMES</i> BEST SCIENCE BOOK OF THE YEAR *<br></b><b><br>From the prize-winning author of <i>Adventures in the Anthropocene</i> the astonishing story of how culture enabled us to become the most successful spe</b><b>cies on Earth</b><br><br><b>'A wondrous visionary work' Tim Flannery</b> author of <i>The Weather Makers</i><br><br><b>Humans are a planet-altering force.</b> Gaia Vince argues that our unique ability - compared with other species - to determine the course of our own destiny rests on a special relationship between our genes environment and culture going back into deep time. <b>It is our collective culture rather than our individual intelligence that makes humans unique. </b>Vince shows how four evolutionary drivers - Fire Language Beauty and Time - are further transforming our species into a transcendent superorganism: a hyper-cooperative mass of humanity that she calls Homo omnis. Drawing on leading-edge advances in population genetics archaeology palaeontology and neuroscience <i>Transcendence</i> compels us to reimagine ourselves showing us to be on the brink of something grander - and potentially more destructive.<br><br>'Richly informed by the latest research <b>Gaia Vince's colourful survey fizzes like a zip-wire </b>as it tours our species' story from the Big Bang to the coming age of hypercooperation' <b>Richard Wrangham</b> author of <i>The Goodness Paradox</i><br><br><b>'Wonderful ... enlightening' Robin Ince</b> <i>The Infinite Monkey Cage</i></p>