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dinner from the Neanderthal, the role of food in human evolution. Juan Luis Arsuaga

Important Notice: The little book of Neanderthal man, in this sense the title is misleading.
We talk about human evolution. It is worth mentioning that the author, Arsuaga, is one of the archaeologists who manage Atapuerca, the oldest and most important excavations in prehistoric Europe. And this book proves it.
The central theme of this book is the food, its role in our evolution. It 's a topic relatively little attention in terms of science but extremely interesting, thanks to the axiom "you are what you eat." In human history there have been two different "food revolution" that caused significant changes both biological and cultural. Arsuaga told them through two stories. In fact, two actual events, the first few million years ago, the second a few thousand years ago. And from these two facts which have led man to become what it is, the author tells us about our evolution, with a witty style and strict at the same time, able to capture the reader's attention and not let escape. There are many aspects of evolution man taken into account, some of which are not often treated in the books of this type. Scientific explanations are simple and clear, accessible to anyone with curiosity and a smattering of science education.
not only the style surprised me very positively, but also the structural choices are special. The most informative essays on the evolution of man starts with a historical overview of studies concerning the subject, then give a time frame and end up with an accurate description of what the fossils tell of our history. Arsuaga upsets this scheme one step closer towards the average reader who does not know the topic, so intrigued and not bored.
A further note on the author misses is that the book on its website. Could afford it, instead choosing two periods away from what made him famous. Then he speaks, of course, but are not particularly invasive. It seems to me a demonstration of considerable seriousness, could easily have simply ride the wave of success of Atapuerca and forget everything else. He did not and the result is superb.
... If only they had translated the title in a meaningful way ...