[MD] The cooking ape

[plattholden at gmail.com]

All:

Yet another twist on human evolution from a Harvard biological 
anthropologist who has written a book entitled, "Catching Fire: How 
Cooking Made Us Human," reviewed by the NY Times. The thesis in a 
nutshell: cooking increases the amount of energy our bodies obtain from 
food which gave the first cooks biological advantages "who survived and 
reproduced better than before." (Note that survival is considered "better" 
Why it's better is not addressed, just assumed. Also note the idea of 
"first cooks," supporting Pirsig's observation that in any change affecting 
the human story, "someone has to be first.")

All you Darwinians out there will no doubt find the article of interest.
It can be read at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/books/27garn.html?_r=1&hpw

Regards,
Platt