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36th out of 60 books
—
3 voters
Neanderthals, Bandits and Farmers: How Agriculture Really Began
by
Colin Tudge
Tradition has it that agriculture began in the Middle East around 10,000 years ago, that once people realized the advantages of farming, it spread rapidly to the furthest outposts of the world, and that this led to the Neolithic Revolution and the end of the hunting-gathering lifestyle. In this book Colin Tudge argues that agriculture in some form was in the repertoire of...more
Hardcover, 64 pages
Published
October 11th 1999
by Yale University Press
(first published January 1st 1998)
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This is a short monograph (50 pages) that synopsizes Colin Tudge's argument that pre-Neolithic Revolution humans (and, indeed, hominids in general) have been modifying their environment for hundreds of millennia, and this includes "farming," of which Tudge identifies three types:
1. Horticulture: Or, more prosaically, "gardening."
2. Arable farming: The stereotypical image of the wheat or rice farmer toiling in a field.
3. Pastoral farming: Which mixes arable and/or horticultural farming with stock...more
1. Horticulture: Or, more prosaically, "gardening."
2. Arable farming: The stereotypical image of the wheat or rice farmer toiling in a field.
3. Pastoral farming: Which mixes arable and/or horticultural farming with stock...more
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This short book (53 pages) is a clearly written essay exploring the fuzzy line between mere foraging (hunting and gathering) and cultivation. The author is not an “expert” in any of the specific fields one might think necessary for such an exploration. He is not a biologist, an anthropologist, an archaeologist, an ecologist, etc. He is described merely as a “research fellow at the London School of Economics: for philosophy” and is known as a science writer. But this lack of expertise in any sin...more
This book is a really quick read but it has lots of ideas that I really enjoyed hearing. It's not like it posits anything breathtaking or mind-boggling, it's just a short journey from the 'conventional wisdom' on agriculture, but it was well written and interesting to read!
It was good, simple, and pretty informative. It was an easy read with speculation mixed in with things that are already assumed common knowledge. All in all it was only about a 45 minute read and definitely not a waste of time.
Jul 27, 2011
Catharine
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Not sure how new the information here is, but entertaining and clearly written, producing some good "a-ha!" moments.
Fascinating book about the history of agriculture. The theories about how agriculture started (and grew into what it is now) were new to me. Now I want to learn more. I'm definitely buying this book someday. $13. It was fun to read and I was exposed to a new perspective in a subject I'm fascinated by. I'd like to read more by the author, Colin Tudge, and the rest of the Darwinism Today series looks interesting, too.
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Colin Tudge was educated at Dulwich College, 1954-61; and read zoology at Peterhouse, Cambridge, 1962-65.
Ever since then he has earned a living by spasmodic broadcasting and a lot of writing—mainly books these days, but with occasional articles. He has a special interest in natural history in general, evolution and genetics, food and agriculture, and spends a great deal of time on philosophy (esp...more
More about Colin Tudge...
Ever since then he has earned a living by spasmodic broadcasting and a lot of writing—mainly books these days, but with occasional articles. He has a special interest in natural history in general, evolution and genetics, food and agriculture, and spends a great deal of time on philosophy (esp...more
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