Nutrition and Evolution: Food in Evolution and the Future

Rating:
Summary: Excellent - supplies missing pieces of the dietary puzzle
Review: As I began to read, I had a sense of deja vu - and no wonder, it was published in the UK as The Driving Force in 1989. I lent my copy to some miserable bastard who never returned it and it's now out of print, so I'm delighted to have re-acquired it, albeit inadvertantly; I recommend it highly. Don't be put off by any philosphical excess here, theories of our origin don't matter nearly as much as the biochemistry set out in this book which can literally restore your health if you have a Western degenerative disease. Crawford and Marsh elucidate an emerging paradigm.

Rating:
Summary: A different view of evolution
Review: I know quite a bit about nutrition and the problem with our modern diet, so I was mostly interested in their theories on how nutrition has shaped evolution.

The authors present some truly astounding theories on the evolution of humankind, and argue their case well. The book is a bit slow in the beginning, but once they start talking about the evolution of life from the algae onward, hand on to your hats!

Rating:
Summary: Essential reading: myths smashed, eyes opened.
Review: This wonderful book is essential reading for anyone with an interest in evolution or high level nutrition. You will soon see clearly that evolution is not fully understood. The case is made that evolution is constrained by nutritional requirements as much as a car is by the highway (my analogy not theirs). The myth of the boundless potential of evolution is destroyed forever, and sobering limits are imposed.

Don't blame Darwin- they make it clear that he saw the "highway as well as the car", but we have deified his theory and overlooked the limitations that he actually wrote about. One feels somewhat chastened after 30 years or so of blind worship to find that evolution is not the magic amulet taught in school, but merely a powerful tool with quite mundane limitations. These limitations must be understood if one wishes to have any scientific credibility. Sadly only a minority of scientists understand these limitations, and this little book makes the opinions of many seem peurile.

The philosophical and thought provoking discussion is most stimulating- the many interesting facts and anecdotes making it most most worthwhile reading. Like a kitten, my eyes have been opened. Thank you Crawford and Marsh