An intriguing work of history, philosophy, and popular science that explores the human desire to quest.

Scientists continually look for the genetic factors that make humans so very different in appearance and behaviour from most animals - the genes that are uniquely human. Respected biochemist and author Charles Pasternak argues that such genes do not exist. Instead, he suggests that it is our desire to quest - for food and shelter, for knowledge, for wealth, for adventure - coupled with our unique physical abilities to do so that have controlled our evolution and have led humans to...

An intriguing work of history, philosophy, and popular science that explores the human desire to quest.

Scientists continually look for the genetic factors that make humans so very different in appearance and behaviour from most animals - the genes that are uniquely human. Respected biochemist and author Charles Pasternak argues that such genes do not exist. Instead, he suggests that it is our desire to quest - for food and shelter, for knowledge, for wealth, for adventure - coupled with our unique physical abilities to do so that have controlled our evolution and have led humans to...

In What Makes us Human? Charles Pasternak, an eminent Oxford scientist, asks some of the world s most brilliant thinkers to answer this perennial puzzle. Together they draw on a spectrum of disciplines including anthropology, biochemistry, philosophy, medicine, religion, and neuroscience, to consider what qualities separate man from monkey. Is it our imagination or our ability to imitate others? Is it our knack for cooking or our perpetual curiosity? Is it because we are social, scientific, or spiritual? This thought-provoking collection provides an accessible look at the big questions...