The Dominant Animal by Paul R. Ehrlich and Anne H. Ehrlich

Over millions of years and through countless genetic twists and turns, humanity has evolved into the dominant animal. We have populated the globe, reshaped most landscapes, eradicated myriad populations and species of other organisms, and transformed the land surface, oceans, and climate. The vast environmental changes we have produced and the intricate cultures we have created are now shaping evolution. From the complex workings of our genes to what we eat and how we govern ourselves, we are changing our world and our world is changing us. We are creating our future. But what kind of future will it be? Today, we face the task of learning to manage the planet so that humanity can successfully transition to a sustainable future—or we will face increasingly harsh consequences.Quite an assignment, to give the necessary background for that in a single course, but by focusing on essential processes it can be done—enabling students to learn a body of scientifically grounded information that is both essential and too seldom presented at a level accessible to introductory as well as more advanced students. We believe that such basic scientific background is critical to understanding the most important processes of life and to functioning as a responsible citizen. In years to come, citizens will be called upon to consider and make decisions on topics as diverse as climate change, public health, racial and ethnic discrimination, biodiversity preservation, and building a well-governed, equitable, and sustainable society.

Homo sapiens is suffering today from a vast "culture gap." Our distant ancestors living in hunter-gatherer groups all possessed virtually the same non-genetic information in their culture. The exceptions were few—perhaps a man had a secret technique for making sharp spear points, or a woman knew a certain plant had special medicinal properties. But all that began to change when the agricultural revolution allowed increasing specialization of tasks, and in part as a result, the culture gap has grown exponentially in the past couple of centuries. Even the most educated American can't possibly store more than a minute fraction of Western culture. Given, for example, the parts of a TV set, how many of us could assemble a working set, to say nothing of describing the processes used to manufacture the parts, the sources of the materials used, or the methods by which those materials were gathered and processed?

Obviously, no one can be the repository of all of today's culture, but there clearly is a need to close critical parts of the culture gap so that we can share some basic understandings about the world. If humanity is to attain a happy and sustainable society, common science-based perceptions of the human predicament and how it can be resolved will be essential. And that means knowing how the dominant animal achieved dominance, and what that dominance portends for the future. That's where this book comes in. The Dominant Animal was designed as a teaching tool, based on a course Paul Ehrlich gives called Human Evolution and Environment. This Web site was designed to aid those who teach students in formal classes and to help enrich the experience of those students. It is divided into an open part, accessible to all, and a closed part, addressed to teachers.
dominantanimal.org