More than Nature Needs by Derek Bickerton

This book was written to attempt an answer to a problem, Wallace’s problem, that has long bedeviled those who study evolution. Why are human brains and language so much different and more complex than would seem necessary? How could this leap, this gap, occur?

Derek Bickerton has outlined the most likely scenario yet for the development of language, probably beginning with Homo erectus. He combines common sense with developmental data and evidence, drawing parallels and noting differences be...