原来我们所有的情绪都其来有自，喜、怒、哀、乐都是早就被决定好的！
 
我们看到蛇的时候会因为恐惧喘不过气还会跳起来。我们看到日出时会停下脚步，赞叹眼前的美景。这些反应都不是意外。事实上，许多人类对自然的反应早就被深植在悠久的进化史中：我们会害怕蛇是因为毒液很危险；我们欢迎日出是因为我们知道暗夜里的掠夺危机已经消失。我们对许多事物的审美感偏好都是挥之不去的自然选择结果：不论是我们想打造的花园风格、喜爱的食物和追求的娱乐，全部都是。
 
在这本不凡的著作中，演化生物学家Gordon H. Orians 探索了进化在人类回应环境时所扮演的角色，他先说到为什么我们有情绪，再讲到演化发展如何影响我们的美感。作者表示，我们今天所有的情绪都是几世纪前就形塑好的，人类的祖先在非洲草原上决定住的地方、寻找食物和安全之地、在打猎小组中交际…这些选择与决定塑造了今日的我们。从这个时期开始，我们的好恶便缠进我们脑中，对自然的反应决定了生死。他丰富的分析解释了为何我们会模仿祖先在公园和花园中打造热带草原；为何我们会明知危险却依然想靠近， 还有对自然声响的密切关注让我们成为非比寻常的音乐物种。我们同时也会学到为何我们会发展出口味挑剔的酒、为何对某些气味反应特别强烈，以及为何我们喜欢分类。 
 
《蛇、日出和莎士比亚》用达尔文至现今认知神经科学的生物观点，分析我们对景观、声音、气味、植物与动物的喜好。本书将转化我们看待自然世界的观点与彼此间的关连性。
 
好评
“Gordon Orians’s book provides great insight and understanding of the role of human evolution in our species emotions and behaviors.  It extends his pioneering work in evolutionary biology to many aspects of human activity that includes our preferences, predilections, fears, hopes, and aspirations.  We recognize in this book how our ecological mind has meshed with our cultural and creative selves to produce our distinctive species.”
(Stephen R. Kellert, author of Birthright: People and Nature in the Modern World)
 
“No scholar better understands the intimate linkage between evolutionary biology and the human condition, and none has expressed it in a more interesting and well illustrated manner than Orians.”
(Edward O. Wilson, Harvard University)
 
“One of the most interesting and surprising ideas I have ever come across is that what biologists call ‘habitat selection’ is the same as what artists and landscape architects call ‘environmental aesthetics.’ The human eye for beauty is not an inexplicable preference for arbitrary shapes and colors but may be explained as an instinct for choosing surroundings that are safe, healthful, and informative. The eminent zoologist Gordon Orians, who originated this powerful idea, now treats us to a cornucopia of hypotheses on why certain things please the eye, ear, and tongue and others terrify, repel, or disgust them. This is a lovely contribution to our understanding of aesthetics and should keep scientists, artists, and humanities scholars debating its ideas for years to come.”
(Steven Pinker, author of The Better Angels of Our Nature)
 
“ A neat, thought-provoking volume.”
(New Scientist)
 
“Orians argues that our emotional responses to aesthetics in nature are hardwired and an evolutionary legacy of our animal origins. Here, he explores the relationship between our ‘ghosts of environments past’ and our view of the world.”
(Times Higher Education)
 
“Orians has written a concise, thoughtful, and stimulating analysis of the human connectedness to nature and other organisms. Through clear writing and diverse examples, he hypothesizes and demonstrates how various forces markedly affected human evolution and shaped human nature. Readers will be better informed and sensitized regarding who humans are in their lengthy behavioral adaptations and development. . . . Highly recommended.”
(Choice)
 
关于作者
Gordon H. Orians 住在西雅图，是华盛顿州立大学的生物学名誉教授。他是好几本书的作者和编辑，作品包括近期的：Red-Winged Blackbirds: Decision-making and Reproductive Success 和 Life: The Science of Biology。