By Randolph M. Nesse and George C. Williams. 291 pp. New York, Times Books, 1995. $24. ISBN 0-8129-2224-7 (Published in England as Evolution and Healing: The New Science of Darwinian Medicine). By Niles Eldredge. 244 pp. New York, John Wiley, 1995. $27.95. ISBN 0-471-30301-1.
Why We Get Sick is the result of a collaboration between a practicingphysician and an evolutionary biologist. A model of scientificpopularization, it acquaints readers with some fundamental ideasof evolutionary theory and suggests ways to apply this perspectiveto medical problems. The introductory chapters set out, in anextremely clear and nontechnical way, the basic principles ofevolutionary biology, modern population biology, and behavioralgenetics. Nesse and Williams then probe the evolutionary significanceof various aspects of disease. Their discussion runs throughassorted issues — for instance, our idiosyncratic foodpreferences and ability to deal with environmental . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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