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SUMMARY:Human Origins - Dr Adam Rutherford\, Author\, Broadcaster
DTSTART:20200117T173000Z
DTEND:20200117T183000Z
UID:TALK121540@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Janet Gibson
DESCRIPTION:We like to think of ourselves as exceptional beings\, but are 
 we really any more special than other animals? Humans are the slightest of
  twigs on a single family tree that encompasses four billion years\, a lot
  of twists and turns\, and a billion species. All of those organisms are r
 ooted in a single origin\, with a common code that underwrites our existen
 ce. This paradox – that our biology is indistinct from all life\, yet we
  consider ourselves to be special – lies at the heart of who we are. Thi
 s was also the paradox that lies at the heart of Darwin's second magnum op
 us\, The Descent of Man. \n\nIn this lecture I will explore how many of th
 e things once considered (including by Darwin) to be exclusively human are
  in fact not: we are not the only species that communicates\, makes tools\
 , utilises fire\, or has sex for reasons other than to make new versions o
 f ourselves. Evolution has\, however\, allowed us to develop our culture t
 o a level of complexity that outstrips any other observed in nature\, and 
 it is the sharing of ideas that our own evolution has taken us down a path
  distinct from other species. \n\nAdam Rutherford is a science writer and 
 broadcaster. He studied genetics at University College London\, and a PhD 
 on the genetics of the developing eye. He has written and presented many a
 ward-winning series and programmes for the BBC\, including the flagship we
 ekly BBC Radio 4 programme Inside Science and The Curious Cases of Rutherf
 ord & Fry with Dr Hannah Fry. He is the author of several books about evol
 ution and genetics\, including A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived\
 , the Book of Humans and the forthcoming How To Argue With a Racist. 
LOCATION:LMH\, Lady Mitchell Hall
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