Complexities

Susan McKinnon is associate professor of anthropology at the University of Virginia. She is the author of From a Shattered Sun: Hierarchy, Gender, and Alliance in the Tanimbar Islands and coeditor of Relative Values: Reconfiguring Kinship Studies. Sydel Silverman is president emerita of the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research and professor emerita of anthropology at the City University of New York. She is the author or editor of several books, including The Beast on the Table: Conferencing with Anthropologists and Totems and Teachers: Key Figures in the History of Anthropology.

"Complexities challenges the claim that human behavior is fixed in the human genome. The authors explore the problematic assumptions involved in a 'genes only' approach to human behavior, and they demonstrate that environment and culture are essential ingredients in all efforts to solve human problems. This balanced account of human development is essential reading for policymakers, and the fascinating case studies will provoke lively discussions in undergraduate classrooms across the country." - Elizabeth Brumfiel, Northwestern University"