BEHAVE

BY ROBERT SAPOLSKY (Penguin Random House)

Behave offers the fullest picture yet of the origins of hierarchy and competition, tribalism and xenophobia, war and peace. Sapolsky’s method is to move back in time from the moment at which a behaviour occurs, through the influences that led to it. Beginning with the splitsecond reactions of the nervous system, we move to consider our response to sight, sound and smell in the minutes and seconds beforehand. Next he explains the interactions of hormones, which prime our behaviour in the preceding hours and days. He proceeds through the influences of genetic inheritance, cultural context and the evolutionary origins of our species. Throughout, he considers what causes acts of aggression or compassion, and what might help foster our best behaviour. Wise and funny, Behave is a towering achievement.