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Evolutionary Psychology (2nd Edition) Steven Gaulin, Donald McBurney
ISBN 0131115294 (Hardback) Aug 2003, 416 pages

The second edition of Evolutionary Psychology is the only text on the market that shows the relevance of evolutionary thinking to the entire range of psychological phenomena, and it does so at a level appropriate for students new to the field. The authors—representing the disciplines of both psychology and anthropology—present their material in the manner similar to a traditional introductory text: they first provide the foundation for understanding the fundamentals of modern evolutionary theory; then systematically apply this theory to learning, cognition, perception, emotion, development, pathology, and more. Each chapter deals with the particular topic by illustrating how an evolutionary approach illuminates behavior as a response to problems faced by humans in our evolutionary past.

Now, this is course literature and as such I wouldn’t normally mention it. But it is a rare work of extreme aptitude and the topic is as poignant as ever so why not. Evolutionary Psychology is also ironically the logical fusion of my combined studies in social psychology and biology over the last six years.