Biology, Culture and Economics

Academics like me are well known for living in intellectual silos. This is not to say, however, that they totally dismiss different ways of thinking about the topics they study. Rather, given their increasing time demands, scholars have difficulties keeping up with the rapidly growing body of empirical and theoretical literature on any topic. This is unfortunate because there is much to learn from reading materials outside one’s discipline. For a social scientist such as myself, Human Evolution and Male Aggression: Debunking the Myth of Man and Ape, written by two biologists specializing in animal behaviour, taught me many lessons and I will liberally cite it in some of my future writings on male violence in private and public places.

It is often said, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Upon receipt of Anne Innis Dagg and Lee Harding’s path-breaking offering, I immediately assumed that these two seasoned researchers were attempting to add further support to...