100 books like The Evolution of Beauty

By Richard O. Prum,

Here are 100 books that The Evolution of Beauty fans have personally recommended if you like The Evolution of Beauty. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of A Taste for the Beautiful: The Evolution of Attraction

Deena Emera Author Of A Brief History of the Female Body: An Evolutionary Look at How and Why the Female Form Came to Be

From my list on capturing the magnificence of female biology.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have spent my career studying the evolution of female biology. My PhD thesis was on the evolution of pregnancy and menstruation. I am currently a researcher at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging studying the evolution of menopause. I also inhabit a female body and have a personal interest in understanding how and why my own body works the way it does. As a lifelong teacher who has taught high school, college, and graduate students, I am passionate about sharing what I know with other women. I hope you enjoy these fascinating books about the female body and its amazing evolutionary history. 

Deena's book list on capturing the magnificence of female biology

Deena Emera Why did Deena love this book?

The role of the female brain in driving the evolution of animal beauty is so fascinating that I’m recommending a second book on this topic called A Taste for the Beautiful.

Michael Ryan is an animal behaviorist who uses examples not just of birds but from all over the animal kingdom to show how animals—especially females—have a sexual aesthetic that has the power to drive the evolution of their own species.

Ryan is a superb storyteller and makes the material very accessible to his reader. After reading this book, you will never think about beauty in the same way again. 

By Michael J. Ryan,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked A Taste for the Beautiful as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From one of the world's leading authorities on animal behavior, the astonishing story of how the brain drives the evolution of beauty in animals and humans

In A Taste for the Beautiful, Michael Ryan, one of the world's leading authorities on animal behavior, tells the remarkable story of how he and other scientists have taken up where Darwin left off, transforming our understanding of sexual selection and shedding new light on animal and human behavior. Drawing on cutting-edge science, Ryan explores key questions: Why do animals perceive certain traits as beautiful and others not? Do animals have an inherent sexual…


Book cover of Mother Nature: Maternal Instincts and How They Shape the Human Species

Deena Emera Author Of A Brief History of the Female Body: An Evolutionary Look at How and Why the Female Form Came to Be

From my list on capturing the magnificence of female biology.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have spent my career studying the evolution of female biology. My PhD thesis was on the evolution of pregnancy and menstruation. I am currently a researcher at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging studying the evolution of menopause. I also inhabit a female body and have a personal interest in understanding how and why my own body works the way it does. As a lifelong teacher who has taught high school, college, and graduate students, I am passionate about sharing what I know with other women. I hope you enjoy these fascinating books about the female body and its amazing evolutionary history. 

Deena's book list on capturing the magnificence of female biology

Deena Emera Why did Deena love this book?

Mother Nature completely changed the way I think about motherhood. As a mother of 4 kids, I am consumed both by my maternal responsibilities and with guilt for not meeting those responsibilities perfectly.

In this paradigm-shifting book, Hrdy takes her readers on a journey through human history and the animal world to reveal a different view of motherhood than the one mothers are conditioned to have—that mothers should sacrifice everything for their children.

Hrdy uses evolutionary theory, experimental evidence, and examples from nature to show how mammalian and primate mothers evolved to skillfully deal with the competing demands of survival and motherhood. Our bodies and brains are exquisitely built to balance our own needs with those of our children.

By Sarah Blaffer Hrdy,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Mother Nature as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Mother Nature is the big new popular science book for the end of the millennium. It starts from the standpoint of Darwinist evolutionary theory, but turns it on its head. It is the first such major book by a women, qho ia professor of SocioBiology at the University of California, trained in Anthropology and an expert on Primates in particular. She's also one of the few women members fo the US Academy of Sciences. It's not for nothing that Nature is known as Mother Nature. Evolution is controlled, Hrdy demonstrates, not by the male of species, but by the female…


Book cover of Ancient Bodies, Modern Lives: How Evolution Has Shaped Women's Health

Deena Emera Author Of A Brief History of the Female Body: An Evolutionary Look at How and Why the Female Form Came to Be

From my list on capturing the magnificence of female biology.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have spent my career studying the evolution of female biology. My PhD thesis was on the evolution of pregnancy and menstruation. I am currently a researcher at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging studying the evolution of menopause. I also inhabit a female body and have a personal interest in understanding how and why my own body works the way it does. As a lifelong teacher who has taught high school, college, and graduate students, I am passionate about sharing what I know with other women. I hope you enjoy these fascinating books about the female body and its amazing evolutionary history. 

Deena's book list on capturing the magnificence of female biology

Deena Emera Why did Deena love this book?

Ancient Bodies, Modern Lives is an academic but accessible book about how our evolutionary history has shaped women’s health.

Trevathan tackles issues that are relevant and important to women, such as early puberty in girls, breast cancer, the difficulties encountered during pregnancy and childbirth, and the symptoms experienced during the menopause transition.

Her thesis—which has shaped much of my own work and writing—is that many of the health challenges women face today are the result of a mismatch between our ancient bodies and modern lifestyles. Trevathan helps readers understand what these mismatches are and suggests lifestyle changes that can improve our health and well-being. 

By Wenda Trevathan,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Ancient Bodies, Modern Lives as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

How has bipedalism impacted human childbirth? Do PMS and postpartum depression have specific, maybe even beneficial, functions? These are only two of the many questions that specialists in evolutionary medicine seek to answer, and that anthropologist Wenda Trevathan addresses in Ancient Bodies, Modern Lives.

Exploring a range of women's health issues that may be viewed through an evolutionary lens, specifically focusing on reproduction, Trevathan delves into issues such as the medical consequences of early puberty in girls, the impact of migration, culture change, and poverty on reproductive health, and how fetal growth retardation affects health in later life. Hypothesizing that…


Book cover of The Descent Of Man

Michael Ruse Author Of Why We Hate: Understanding the Roots of Human Conflict

From my list on why such nice people as we are so nasty.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was raised a Quaker in England in the years after the Second World War. Quakers don’t have creeds, but they have strong beliefs about such things as the immorality of war. In the 1950s there was also huge prejudice, particularly against homosexuality which was then illegal. Issues like these gnawed at me throughout my 55-year career as a philosophy professor. Now 82 and finally retired, I'm turning against the problems of war and prejudice, applying much that I've learnt in my career as a philosopher interested in evolutionary theory, most particularly Charles Darwin. For this reason, intentionally, Why We Hate: Understanding the Roots of Human Conflict is aimed at the general reader.  

Michael's book list on why such nice people as we are so nasty

Michael Ruse Why did Michael love this book?

Understanding human nature – nice and nasty – demands that we dig into the past, and this brings us at once to evolution. What are we and why are we? The powerful conceptual tool that we use for explanations is Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution through natural selection. The Descent of Man is about human evolution. At times it reads very much like something out of the nineteenth century – Charles Darwin’s discussion of women makes your hair stand on end (and, if it doesn’t, it should). But the central doctrine of evolution through natural selection brought on by the struggle for existence is right there and once you grasp that, you have grasped the key to unlocking the main issues.

By Charles Darwin,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Descent Of Man as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Descent of Man, Darwin's second landmark work on evolutionary theory (following The Origin of the Species), marked a turning point in the history of science with its modern vision of human nature as the product of evolution. Darwin argued that the noblest features of humans, such as language and morality, were the result of the same natural processes that produced iris petals and scorpion tails.


Book cover of Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life

Alex Rosenberg Author Of How History Gets Things Wrong: The Neuroscience of Our Addiction to Stories

From my list on for getting a grip on our reality.

Why am I passionate about this?

Even before I became a philosopher I was wondering about everything—life the universe and whatever else Douglas Adams thought was important when he wrote The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe. As a philosopher, I’ve been able to spend my life scratching the itch of these questions. When I finally figured them out I wrote The Atheist’s Guide to Reality as an introduction to what science tells us besides that there is no god. In How History Gets Things Wrong: The Neuroscience of Our Addiction to Stories I apply much of that to getting to the bottom of why it’s so hard for us, me included, to really absorb the nature of reality. 

Alex's book list on for getting a grip on our reality

Alex Rosenberg Why did Alex love this book?

Easier to read than On the Origin of Species, this book connects Darwin’s overwhelmingly significant explanatory insight to the last fifty years of advance in our understanding of biology, psychology, social science, and the nature of the mind. Dennett is a brilliantly ingenious builder of images and metaphors that really enable you to grasp Darwin’s breakthrough, one at least as important as Newton’s and Einstein’s, but more relevant to understanding the meaning of life. 

By Daniel Dennett,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Darwin's Dangerous Idea as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life Daniel C. Dennett argues that the theory of evolution can demystify the miracles of life without devaluing our most cherished beliefs.

From the moment it first appeared, Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection has been controversial: misrepresented, abused, denied and fiercely debated. In this powerful defence of Darwin, Daniel C. Dennett explores every aspect of evolutionary thinking to show why it is so fundamental to our existence, and why it affirms - not threatens - our convictions about the meaning of life.

'Essential and pleasurable for any thinking…


Book cover of Darwin and the Emergence of Evolutionary Theories of Mind and Behavior

Geoffrey M. Hodgson Author Of Darwin's Conjecture: The Search for General Principles of Social and Economic Evolution

From my list on the seismic implications of Darwinism for social science.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always wondered why people choose and act in particular ways, from heroism and altruism to selfishness and greed. Human society is a kaleidoscope of changing actions and fortunes. Social science tries to explain why. But I was dissatisfied with its answers. Then I discovered writers who used evolutionary ideas to help explain social and economic change. I realized that evolution did not mean reducing everything to biology. I became fascinated by Darwin’s deeper and wider ideas about human society, cooperation, and motivation. I read widely and joined with others of similar mind. It is an exciting and rewarding intellectual landscape to explore. I strongly recommend a long visit.

Geoffrey's book list on the seismic implications of Darwinism for social science

Geoffrey M. Hodgson Why did Geoffrey love this book?

I often find well-researched histories of ideas invaluable as quarries for enhanced understanding and intellectual inspiration. This book is an exceptionally useful history of some key Darwinian ideas. Its principal focus is on evolutionary theories of mind, morality, and behavior, which have massive implications for the further development of the social sciences today. Richards sketches the intellectual background of Darwin’s thought in the nineteenth century, showing how he distanced himself from utilitarian approaches to moral and psychological analysis. The contrast with Herbert Spencer is particularly pertinent. But even more so, Darwin’s anti-utilitarianism remains highly relevant today, as much of social science – especially economics – is still dominated by utilitarian ideas. This history of thought defends evolutionary approaches to morality and it is explosive in its implications.

By Robert J. Richards,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Darwin and the Emergence of Evolutionary Theories of Mind and Behavior as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

With insight and wit, Robert J. Richards focuses on the development of evolutionary theories of mind and behavior from their first distinct appearance in the eighteenth century to their controversial state today. Particularly important in the nineteenth century were Charles Darwin's ideas about instinct, reason, and morality, which Richards considers against the background of Darwin's personality, training, scientific and cultural concerns, and intellectual community. Many critics have argued that the Darwinian revolution stripped nature of moral purpose and ethically neutered the human animal. Richards contends, however, that Darwin, Herbert Spencer, and their disciples attempted to reanimate moral life, believing that…


Book cover of Why We Run: A Natural History

Sam Murphy Author Of Run Your Best Marathon: Your trusted guide to training and racing better

From my list on challenge the status quo about how to run.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I was a journalist, writing about health and fitness for women’s magazines and national newspapers, I had a strong sense that much of the advice being doled out by personal trainers and other ‘experts’ was dubious, to say the least. I decided to see for myself, embarking on an Exercise and Sport Science degree and training as a running coach. Two decades on, with a handful of running books and a 13-year-strong column in Runner’s World to my name, I still like to delve into the science underpinning physical activity to see if it really stands up, and if so, for who, and under what circumstances?  

Sam's book list on challenge the status quo about how to run

Sam Murphy Why did Sam love this book?

American marathon legend Bill Rodgers is quoted on the back cover of Why We Run saying, “This is not a how-to book, it’s a why book.”

He’s right, and Heinrich answers the question of why through a fascinating blend of biology, anthropology, philosophy, and psychology. It’s both a universal inquiry and a personal one: the book gets its narrative thread from Heinrich’s build-up towards competing in a 100km race, through which we are introduced to his experimental training methods and the thinking behind them.

I’ll leave you to find out how the race pans out…

By Bernd Heinrich,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Why We Run as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“Each new page [is] more spellbinding than the one before—this is surely one of the most interesting books I’ve ever read.”—Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, author of The Hidden Life of Dogs

When Bernd Heinrich decided to write a memoir of his ultramarathon running experience he realized that the preparation for the race was as important, if not more so, than the race itself. Considering the physiology and motivation of running from a scientific point of view, he wondered what he could learn from other animals.

In Why We Run, Heinrich considers the flight endurance of birds, the antelope’s running prowess and…


Book cover of Forbidden Archeology

Ken Goudsward Author Of Fermi's Paradox Is Bullshit: the Evidence for Extraterrestrial Life

From my list on rational UFO stories.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a child, I was fascinated with astronomy but discouraged from investigating the UFO phenomenon due to religious reasons. Not until I was in my forties, did I begin to see the strange Biblical hints of what ended up in my writing my book UFOs In The Bible. Along the way, my research led me to diverse related topics including Sumerian mythology and astrobiology which have resulted in a few more books (and more to come). I see logic as a fundamental tool for this line of investigation, and so, I embrace books that engage with the evidence logically. I firmly believe we must all make room for experiencers to tell their stories without recrimination.

Ken's book list on rational UFO stories

Ken Goudsward Why did Ken love this book?

This book is not about UFOs. It is not even clear if Cremo believes in UFOs or not. However, one of the tenets of the ancient alien hypothesis is that not only are UFOs a real phenomenon now, they (and we) have been here for thousands upon thousands of years. To this end, it is tangentially interesting to dig into suppressed archaeology and out-of-place artifacts. Forbidden Archaeology is the go-to for those topics, with over 900 pages of painstakingly researched and presented evidence from the geological record that mainstream archaeologists deny, ignore, or rely on handwaving to dismiss. A must-have for any ancient aliens fan.

By Michael A. Cremo, Richard L. Thompson,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Forbidden Archeology as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Over the centuries, researchers have found bones and artifacts proving that humans like us have existed for millions of years. Mainstream science, however, has suppressed these facts. Prejudices based on current scientific theory act as a 'knowledge filter', giving us a picture of prehistory that is largely incorrect.

Scientific Establishment Found Guilty of Witholding Evidence

The evolutionists’ “knowledge filter” at work over the last 200 years has left us with a radically altered view of our human origins and antiquity. Since 1993, when the controversial book, Forbidden
Archeology, was first published it has shocked the scientific world with its extensive…


Book cover of How to Argue with a Racist: What Our Genes Do (and Don't) Say about Human Difference

Dashka Slater Author Of Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed

From my list on facing down extremism, online and off.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve spent the past ten years reporting and writing true crime narratives about teenagers and hate, first in The 57 Bus and now in Accountable. My research has led me into some fascinating places and has left me convinced that we cannot prevent what we don’t understand. In both books I found that the young people who harmed others weren’t the stereotypical grimacing loners I’d always associated with hate and extremism. Instead, they were imitating behaviors that we see all around us. Being young, with brains that aren’t fully developed in important ways, and lacking the life experience that teaches us a more nuanced understanding of the world, they are ripe for radicalization.

Dashka's book list on facing down extremism, online and off

Dashka Slater Why did Dashka love this book?

When researching the online radicalization that drew in one of the teenagers I write about in my book, I understood how easy it would be to fall victim to fake science about race if you weren’t armed with the real science.

Rutherford’s pocket-sized book refutes common lies and misconceptions about human difference in a manner that is easy to understand without glossing over the complexity of genetics.

By Adam Rutherford,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked How to Argue with a Racist as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This authoritative debunking of racist claims that masquerade as “genetics” is a timely weapon against the misuse of science to justify bigotry—now in paperback

Race is not a biological reality.
Racism thrives on our not knowing this.

In fact, racist pseudoscience has become so commonplace that it can be hard to spot. But its toxic effects on society are plain to see: rising nationalism, simmering hatred, lost lives, and divisive discourse. Since cutting-edge genetics are difficult to grasp—and all too easy to distort—even well-intentioned people repeat stereotypes based on “science.” But the real science tells a different story: The more…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in human evolution, natural selection, and Charles Darwin?

Human Evolution 49 books
Charles Darwin 57 books