Reviews for the Human Swarm

“Homo sapiens is a small-group social animal that physically seems to be limited to personal relationships with a few individuals. Nonetheless humanity is struggling to deal with societies of billions as human technologies now pose existential threats tied to those numbers. In The Human Swarm Mark Moffett presents an intriguing overview of the biological roots and cultural evolution of this now-critical situation.”  —Paul R. Ehrlich, Bing Professor of Population Studies at Stanford and author of The Population…

“The Human Swarm is a book by a biologist that should fascinate any thoughtful reader and deserves to be taken seriously by psychologists and social scientists alike.” —Roy Baumeister, one of the most cited living psychologists and author of Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength

“Our times are filled with garage start-ups that become Silicon Valley behemoths overnight. Such scaling-up pales in comparison to humans going from hunter-gatherer bands to our globalized world in the blink of an evolutionary eye – and thus now, a stranger a continent away can be killed when we press a button operating a drone, or rescued when we press a button marked “Donate now.” In The Human Swarm, Mark Moffett charts the…

—Donald Johanson, author of Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind and the founder of the Institute of Human Origins

“Moffett argues his points well and provides a well-researched and richly detailed account of why societies have been a fundamental part of the human experience since our earliest ancestors. Highly recommended for fans of Jared Diamond’s Collapse and Yuval Harari’s Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind.” —Library Journal, Starred Review

“This fine work should appeal to anyone curious about human societies, which is basically everyone.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review 

“A fascinating exploration of how members of human societies identify who belongs and why most believe that their society is superior… A delightfully accessible and ingenious series of lessons on humans and our societies.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review