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Reviews
Why We Get Sick: The New Science of Darwinian Medicine by George C. Williams, Randolph M. Nesse
courts_hodge's review
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Despite reading this purely as revision for my Evolutionary Medicine exam, I thoroughly enjoyed it. This book covers a range of topics from the evolutionary theories behind why we get disease, why pregnancy is so hard, why we’re susceptible to allergies and why we are at risk of mood disorders.
The book is written in a way where even those who have a lack of science knowledge are able to understand it - it is highly accessible and has moments of humour throughout. It felt less like reading a textbook and more like reading a fun forum.
I think this book covers important perspectives that perhaps many people have never considered; how can we harness diseases like cancer before understanding why they exist in the first place? Understanding our species biological development is essential to developing future medical care - plus, it doesn’t hurt to be more knowledgeable about your own body!
The book is written in a way where even those who have a lack of science knowledge are able to understand it - it is highly accessible and has moments of humour throughout. It felt less like reading a textbook and more like reading a fun forum.
I think this book covers important perspectives that perhaps many people have never considered; how can we harness diseases like cancer before understanding why they exist in the first place? Understanding our species biological development is essential to developing future medical care - plus, it doesn’t hurt to be more knowledgeable about your own body!
cari_mac's review
3.0
This book offers a great introduction to evolutionary medicine but often fails to account for the role of culture in evolution. Nessie and Williams explanations of pregnancy, mating, childbirth, and child-rearing are often reductive and do not account for power differentials present between men and women in human societies or the role of the medicalization of birth in removing knowledge and power from gestational parents.
Theoretically, I often find the explanation of the Environment of Evolutionary Adaptiveness to be quite reified and overly simplistic. Nessie and Williams do not explain, for example, that populations are continually evolving to meet the needs of our current ecological niches. I appreciate that they complicate the simple fact that we do not know what the EEA actually looked like and that there were likely many EEAs due to the variation in niches present, but ultimately find this theory lacking and in-explanatory.
Theoretically, I often find the explanation of the Environment of Evolutionary Adaptiveness to be quite reified and overly simplistic. Nessie and Williams do not explain, for example, that populations are continually evolving to meet the needs of our current ecological niches. I appreciate that they complicate the simple fact that we do not know what the EEA actually looked like and that there were likely many EEAs due to the variation in niches present, but ultimately find this theory lacking and in-explanatory.
polyglot's review
4.0
Interesting! Nice to see why bad things happen. Everything has a reason when looked at from the bigger picture perspective. Even things that have zero advantage to be born with may be a consequence of some other advantage they give or used to give to Stone Age man. Nicely presented scientific book that's not too heavy to process for those not in the field. Also a good call to arms to get more investment in this unfortunately neglected aspect of biology.
aminowrimo's review
4.0
I found this book being thrown out after a course at school, so of course I took it. Given that the book was published in 1994, there are certainly things out of date, but it raised many interesting questions to think of in relation to disease, and has made me more interested in evolutionary medicine.
settingshadow's review
4.0
A really excellent, if slightly outdated, resource on the Darwinistic underpinings of our responses to disease. By far the best part of the book was the table categorizing disease responses (protective v. quirks v. secondary purpose). The book may have been made slightly stronger if it stuck more strictly to the topic of disease; however, as an introduction to the rigorous scientific ideas behind Darwinism, it was made richer by the discussions of pregnancy, foodstuffs, kin altruism and selfish gene phenomena. Thoroughly enjoyable, although not much new for the already versed reader.
icallaci's review
4.0
This book was written in 1994, so some of the information is dated. For example, the authors mention (multiple times) that dietary fat causes heart attacks. I'm glad I read it, but I suspect much of the information it contains has been superseded by more current research.