Provocative and poetic, Transcendence shows how a primate took dominion over nature and turned itself into something marvellous.Ĥ+ - ‘Transcendence’ is a scientific discourse on humankind’s evolutionary development as well as a look into possible ways that we might in the future overcome (transcend) limitations, especially the obstacles that we have created for ourselves.

She explains how, through four key elements – fire, language, beauty, and time – our species diverged from the evolutionary path of all other animals, unleashing a compounding process that launched us into the Space Age and beyond.

In Transcendence, Gaia Vince argues instead that modern humans are the product of a nuanced coevolution of our genes, environment, and culture that goes back into deep time. What enabled us to go from simple stone tools to smartphones? How did bands of hunter-gatherers evolve into multinational empires? Readers of Sapiens will say a cognitive revolution – a dramatic evolutionary change that altered our brains, turning primitive humans into modern ones – caused a cultural explosion. In the tradition of Guns, Germs, and Steel and Sapiens, a winner of the Royal Society Prize for Science Books shows h ow four tools have enabled humans to control the destiny of our species.

Gaia vince transcendence review