Cosmosapiens – John Hands
How did the universe begin, how did life emerge, and how did humans come to be? Many popular books offer confident answers drawn from a single scientific field. In Cosmosapiens: Human Evolution from the Origin of the Universe, John Hands, a writer with a background in science, spent years examining what the evidence actually shows across physics, cosmology, chemistry, biology, anthropology and neuroscience.
Hands works systematically through the story, from the origin and evolution of matter and the universe, through the formation of stars, planets and the conditions for life, to the emergence and evolution of living organisms and finally the evolution of humans and human consciousness. At each stage, he summarizes the leading scientific explanations and asks how well they are supported by evidence, distinguishing between established findings, reasonable hypotheses and speculation.
He argues that some widely accepted theories, in his view, rest on weaker evidence than is often presented, and he is critical of certain aspects of standard accounts in cosmology and evolutionary biology. Among his conclusions is that cooperation, not only competition, has played a central role in evolution, and that human evolution has been characterized by a growing complexity and consciousness, culminating in reflective thought.
Ambitious and wide-ranging, the book is extensively referenced and includes a glossary to help general readers follow its arguments.
Cosmosapiens will appeal to readers interested in the big questions of science and the limits of current knowledge. Readers should note that several of its critiques of mainstream science are contested by specialists in those fields, and that research has continued since publication.
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