Children Of Prometheus

Are we still evolving? Or has the advent of life-saving drugs, vaccines, clean water and other public health measures stopped evolution in its tracks? In Children of Prometheus, Christopher Wills gives a surprising answer: that the evolution of Homo sapiens is actually accelerating. He contrasts the rapid rate of human evolution with the much slower rate of our closest primate relatives, revealing in rich detail how our evolutionary path has made possible language, culture and civilisation. He examines the rapid, short-term evolutionary change taking place in people enduring the severe climate conditions of Tibet, and the selection for new abilities taking place in those participating in extreme sports. Spurred by a rapidly changing environment, and thanks to the dynamic mixing of gene pools belonging to populations previously separated for millennia, natural selection could take us even deeper into uncharted territory. Children of Prometheus reveals a human future rich with the promise of increased cultural and genetic diversity.