Unique in its approach, this work updates our understanding of human variation by employing both laboratory and field perspectives. Written by a team of scientists representing four continents, it reviews the way we examine and analyze human variation with special reference to genetics, growth and development, and physiology.

While most of us live our lives according to the working week, we did not evolve to be bound by industrial schedules, nor did the food we eat. Despite this, we eat the products of industrialization and often suffer as a consequence. This book considers aspects of changing human nutrition from evolutionary and social perspectives. It considers what a 'natural' human diet might be, how it has been shaped across evolutionary time and how we have adapted to changing food availability. The transition from hunter-gatherer and the rise of agriculture through to the industrialisation and...