Dinner With Darwin - Food, Drink, and Evolution

"What do eggs, flour, and milk have in common? They form the basis of crepes of course, but they also each have an evolutionary purpose. Eggs, seeds (from which flour is derived by grinding) and milk are each designed by evolution to nourish offspring. Everything we eat has an evolutionary history. Grocery shelves and restaurant menus are bounteous evidence of evolution at work, though the label on the poultry will not remind us of this with a Jurassic sell-by date, nor will the signs in the produce aisle betray the fact that corn has a 5,000 year history of artificial selection by pre-Colombian Americans. Any shopping list, each recipe, every menu and all ingredients can be used to create culinary and gastronomic magic, but can also each tell a story about natural selection, and its influence on our plates--and palates. Join in for multiple courses, for a tour of evolutionary gastronomy that helps us understand the shape of our diets, and the trajectories of the foods that have been central to them over centuries--from spirits to spices. This literary repast also looks at the science of our interaction with foods and cooking--the sights, the smells, the tastes. The menu has its eclectic components, just as any chef is entitled. But while it is not a comprehensive work which might risk gluttony, this is more than an amuse bouche, and will leave every reader hungry for more."--Provided by publisher.

About the author

Jonathan Silvertown is professor of evolutionary ecology and chair of technology-enhanced science education in biological sciences in the Institute of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Edinburgh. He is the author of numerous books on ecology and evolution, including, most recently, The Long and the Short of It: The Science of Life Span and Aging, also published by the University of Chicago Press.

Product details

• Authors: Jonathan Silvertown, Silvertown Jonathan
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 30.11.2020
• EAN: 9780226760094
• ISBN: 978-0-226-76009-4
• No. of pages: 232
• Subjects: Guides > Food & drink; Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > Sociological theories; NATURE / General, Sociology, Cultural Studies, COOKING / General, Evolution, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / General, SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Evolution, Sociology: customs & traditions, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Customs & Traditions, natural history, Cookery / food & drink etc, Nature and the natural world: general interest, Cultural studies: customs and traditions, Cookery / food and drink / food writing