The main title evokes, probably deliberately, the inspirational literature on ‘How to win friends’ and suchlike, yet as is evident from the name of the publisher it is of course nothing of the kind.  Its theme is evolutionary psychology [EP], and the author is one of its most distinguished exponents. EP is a relatively new discipline, and it has plenty of critics. Not long ago I attended a lecture by a distinguished speaker on the topic of Darwinism, and he spent a lot of his time explaining why EP is an absurd distortion of true Darwinian theory.   This book consists of an adapted collection of popular science articles, with the aim of making EP more widely known and to dispel misconceptions.

The reader’s interest is captured right from the first page of the first chapter, in which he relates how he came to discover Darwinism, as well as providing a general  introduction  to the history of .evolutionary theory. Glimpses of his personal background, and especially his Scottish roots, recur throughout the book, being skilfully woven into the narratives. These consist of a rich tapestry of varied topics, designed to show how evolutionary theory can throw light on many spheres of  individual and  social life; as such, they do not lend themselves to a summary, and only a few examples can be given.

The chapter that gave rise to the book’s title starts out by referring to the internet that links vast numbers of people by networks like Facebook. Yet he shows that from the distant past to the present the number of substantive social relationships that can be formed is around 150, which is now known as ‘Dunbar’s number’. It recurs in traditional communities and many modern social institutions such as business, the military, and university circles. He links this to the limits of human cognitive abilities.

Another topic for which Dunbar is well known concerns ‘gossip’ in a broad sense, including story-telling. Far from being ‘idle’, he suggests that it  fulfils an important social function by cementing the unity of groups. This helps to account for our interest in the doings of our neighbours, as well as for the popularity of ‘gossip columns’ in the media.

What makes this book so intriguing is that Dunbar surprises readers by establishing links between disparate spheres which, even if at present only speculative, seem plausible.  For instance, beginning with the fact that neural connections are selectively enhanced in childhood as a result of particular experiences, he goes  on to suggest that  old-fashioned teaching that involved rote learning of poetry and Latin grammar may have improved memory.  Of course, we don’t know if memories were really better in the old days, but it’s quite possible. Let me just list a few more topics:

• How far are chimpanzees capable of ‘mind-reading’?
• What lonely-hearts ads tell us about the mating game.
• What might be the evolutionary function of kissing?
• Why should we worry about the increasing extinction of languages?
• How to predict the chances of presidential candidates from their faces and their heights.

Much of the discussion is based on research findings, presented simply and clearly.  There are many excursions into other disciplines such as history, archaeology, art, politics, and others: the range of the author’s interests is impressive. The style is elegant, with refreshing touches of humour. This is popular science at its very best.

© 2010 Gustav Jahoda

Gustav Jahoda, Ph.D. is Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. His main fields of interest are cross-cultural and social psychology, especially the development of social cognition. He is the author of A History of Social Psychology (Cambridge University Press).