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Humans possess an extraordinary capacity for culture, from the arts and language to science and technology. But how did the human mind-and the uniquely human ability to devise and transmit culture-evolve from its roots in animal behavior? Darwin's Unfinished Symphony presents a captivating new theory of human cognitive evolution. This compelling and accessible book reveals how culture is not just the magnificent end product of an evolutionary process that produced a species unlike all others-it is also the key driving force behind that process. Kevin Laland tells the story of the painstaking fieldwork, the key experiments, the false leads, and the stunning scientific breakthroughs that led to this new understanding of how culture transformed human evolution. It is the story of how Darwin's intellectual descendants picked up where he left off and took up the challenge of providing a scientific account of the evolution of the human mind.

Cognition and culture. --- Human evolution. --- Social evolution. --- Allan Wilson. --- adaptive evolution. --- agriculture. --- alleles. --- animal creativity. --- animal innovation. --- animals. --- arts. --- asocial learning. --- behavioral development. --- behavioral differences. --- behavioral diversity. --- biological evolution. --- brain evolution. --- brain size. --- capuchin monkeys. --- children. --- chimpanzees. --- coevolution. --- cognition. --- communication systems. --- cooperation. --- cooperative mechanisms. --- copying. --- cultural activities. --- cultural drive. --- cultural evolution. --- cultural lineages. --- cultural practices. --- cultural processes. --- cultural production. --- culture. --- cultures. --- cumulative culture. --- dance. --- early language. --- environmental change. --- evolution. --- evolutionary feedback. --- evolved psychology. --- experimental investigation. --- experimental research. --- fish behavior. --- flexible model system. --- gene variants. --- gene-culture coevolution. --- high-fidelity transmission. --- human achievement. --- human civilization. --- human cognitive evolution. --- human culture. --- human evolution. --- human genes. --- human innovation. --- human intellect. --- human mind. --- human society. --- hunter-gatherer society. --- imitation. --- language evolution theories. --- language evolution. --- language generality. --- language. --- large-scale cooperation. --- life history. --- mathematical modeling. --- morality. --- natural selection. --- new behavior patterns. --- novel techniques. --- ratcheting. --- scientific community. --- sexual behavior. --- social learning. --- social life. --- sticklebacks. --- teaching. --- tradition. --- transmission fidelity. --- transmitted behavior.