Intro -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Prologue -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Introduction -- 2. The Fruits of Fermentation -- 3. On the Inebriation of Elephants -- 4. Aping About in the Forest -- 5. A First-Rate Molecule -- 6. Alcoholics Aren't Anonymous -- 7. Winos in the Mist -- Postscript -- Sources and Recommended Reading -- Index
Summary
Alcoholism, as opposed to the safe consumption of alcohol, remains a major public health issue. In this accessible book, Robert Dudley presents an intriguing evolutionary interpretation to explain the persistence of alcohol-related problems. Providing a deep-time, interdisciplinary perspective on today's patterns of alcohol consumption and abuse, Dudley traces the link between the fruit-eating behavior of arboreal primates and the evolution of the sensory skills required to identify ripe and fermented fruits that contain sugar and low levels of alcohol. In addition to introducing this new theo