Darwin's Unfinished Symphony: How Culture Shaped the Human Mind

The most mysterious question in the history of mankind is how a species so different from all others arose as a result of evolution? The greatest minds, including Darwin, could not give a comprehensive scientific explanation of how our ancestors... managed to make the way from collecting apes to modern man writing symphonies, reciting poetry, and inventing unique technologies. There is an unbridgeable gap between our cognitive abilities and achievements and those of other species. Could human culture really evolve from the social learning and traditions we see in other animals? How were our minds, intellect, and language formed? Taking stock of years of research in his laboratory, behavioral and evolutionary biology professor Kevin Leyland answers these questions, bringing us closer to unraveling the mysteries of human cognition and the mind.