The Human Organism

The hybrid textbook/Anthology The Human Organism covers essential topics in evolution including evolutionary theory, basic genetics, primates, paleontology, and human variation. the book uses a variety of materials ranging from Darwin's original works to peer-reviewed articles and pop science writing to make the information interesting, timely, and relevant.

The text serves two important purposes. First, it teaches students that evolution is pertinent to daily life, and that understanding evolutionary concepts can help them make informed health decisions, improve their relationships, and increase their understanding of others. Second, the book stimulates critical thinking by teaching students the important differences between primary and secondary source material. It encourages them to analyze authors' data, research, and conclusions.

All materials were chosen to emphasize the important connections between evolution and contemporary human existence. Accessible to students with little or no previous exposure to the subject matter, The Human Organism is well suited to general education biological anthropology courses.

Elizabeth Weiss earned her Ph.D. at the University of Arkansas. She is a professor of anthropology at San José State University, where she teaches courses on human evolution, human variation, primates, mummies, and bioarchaeology. Her research focuses on the study of skeletal anatomy to understand the effects of biology and environment on humans in order to draw conclusions about activity patterns and disease. Dr. Weiss has written three books and over two dozen articles for prestigious anthropology and medical journals including the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, and the Journal of Comparative Human Biology: Homo.