Weighty & detailed tome describing stone-age man's cultural transition from hunter-gatherer to farmer societies across several regions of the world. The individual treatment of the world's regions at times leads to a bit of repetition when certain cultural patterns were repeated across those regions. I felt this was especially noticeable when presenting some of the low-level archaeological evidence, although this was perhaps due to my lack of deep interest in archaeology than any failing of the book's. However I also didn't immediately warm to the author's device of inserting a modern-day traveller into the vignettes that were described in order to translate the archaeological evidence into what the contemporary society would have been like. Due to the scale of the subject matter (the development of human civilisations across the globe) I appreciate why it was done & eventually felt that I would have been lost without the perspective it afforded. The book also did a really good job of capturing the genuine intrigue over how humans populated & settled certain continents & it attempted to interpret these puzzles using the evidence found in the archaeological record. It also highlighted the immense scale over which the cultural transitions occurred, sometimes tens of thousands of years passed without any discernable 'progress'. There was also an important thread that ran through the book as to what progress is & why it wasn't inevitable that we ended up where we are now. Ultimately though, for me, the book could have narrowed its focus & described more richly the societies under consideration but although large the book did keep my interest until the end.
3/5.
Concise, witty & informative discussion on a lack of numeracy in most people. It explores the reasons why people may shy away from numbers & it details some of the principles that most people would find useful & should probably become more familiar with, & thereby shows that they are not all that difficult. I enjoyed the discussion on how maths should be taught in schools as well as the mental challenge posed by some of the (few & straightforward) proofs detailed. Another one that most people should have a quick read through on their path to enlightenment!
