Humanimal: How Homo sapiens Became Nature’s Most Paradoxical Creature; A New Evolutionary History.

British geneticist Rutherford (A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived) explores how humans resemble and differ from other living beings. Noting that the human genome has 23 pairs of chromosomes, only one pair fewer than other great apes, he presents a wide-ranging discussion of why, despite small genetic differences, human capabilities surged ahead of those of other creatures. In a section on the use of tools, for example, Rutherford considers how other animals can construct tools and use fire, abilities once thought to be unique to humans. He provides intriguing illustrations for his points, such as certain dolphins who use live sponges as nose guards when they go after prickly prey, and hawks who light twigs from wildfires so that they can spread the fire and draw prey out of hiding. In an amusing section on sex, he ponders why so little of it is actually for procreation. He also explores the human physical structures that enabled language and our development of consciousness and a sense of regret. Rutherford speculates in conclusion that our development of social culture is what may have made humans "the paragon of animals."