the explorers journal - The Explorers Club

A d a m ’ s T o n g u e
How Humans Made Language,
How Language made Humans
by Derek Bickertone
304 pp • New York: Hill and Wang,
2009 • iSBN-10: 0809022818 ISBN-13: 978-
0809022816 • $27.50
Derek Bickerton, professor
emeritus of linguistics at the
University of Hawaii, writes a
compelling, if irreverent, analysis
of the various theories of
the development of language
in his new book, Adam’s
Tongue, How Humans Made
Language, How Language
made Humans. He takes into
account the recent discoveries
that humans are not alone
in the ability to communicate:
elephants, sea lions, parrots,
great apes, dolphins, ants,
bees, and many other species
use a variety of methods
to transmit information. Yet,
somehow it is only ourselves
who have developed a communication
system that has
allowed us to remain in the
driver’s seat on Earth.
“If humans got language,”
Bickerton writes, “they can
only have gotten it because
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they had some pressing need
for it.” But what was the need
Bickerton debunks most theories
because they do not meet
the criteria of uniqueness
(why did only our ancestors
develop this ability), ecology
(what was happening in the
environment that produced
the spark), credibility (the first
sounds had to have meaning
beyond grooming or alarm
for it to evolve), and selfishness
(using language had to
benefit the speaker and the
group). Bickerton offers some
thought-provoking scenarios
as to how and why language
developed based on how species,
especially our own, are
affected by and also change
their environment, which in
turn causes speciation.
T h e A s t r o n a u t ’ s
C o o k b o o k
by Charles T. Bourland &
Gregory L. Vogt
220 pp • New York: SPringer, 2010 •
ISBN: 978-1-4419-0623-6 • $29.95 • reviewed
by Angela M.H. Schuster
In this delightful compendium—penned
by Charles
T. Bourland, former head of
NASA’s space-food program,
and Gregory Vogt, a NASA
educator and writer—we are
presented with all manner of
things about space-food from
how dishes are prepared for
astronauts to the challenges
of designing food delivery
systems that function in zero
gravity. Along with numerous
recipes that have nourished
our space program participants,
the volume is peppered
with trivia and profiles of various
astronauts and their favorite
delights—shrimp cocktail a
hands-down favorite.
K 2
Life and Death on the World’s
Most Dangerous Mountain
by Ed Viesturs with David Roberts
352 pp • New York: Broadway Books,
2009 • ISBN-10: 0767932501, ISBN-13: 978-
0767932509 • $26
Known as the “savage mountain,”
K2 is the second highest
mountain in the world and one
of the most lethal, claiming one
in four climbers who attempt its
summit. Located in Pakistan’s
the explorers journal