Book Review Mighty Oaks from Little Acorns Grow

In the Preface to the book “Primate Ecology ” (1977), its editor, Tim Clutton-Brock, states that the volume grew out of the regular ruminations that occurred at a primate field workers ’ discussion group. The book became a “classic”; part of its success is due to the approach taken by the various contributing authors. It was simple and straightforward, and the authors all agreed to focus on a uniform topics coverage list. The belief was that such coverage would allow for a consideration of inter- and intraspecific differences in the feeding and ranging behavior of primates. The book served as a stimulus for a proliferation of focused and invaluable field studies. Good ideas and approaches can pay off with dividends. In the Preface to the presently reviewed volume, it is made clear that its impetus was a symposium entitled “Human Evolution and Human Development, ” which was held in October 2012 at the University of Notre Dame. This is expanded upon in Chapter 1: The book delves into several issues. First, it probes the question of whether there is an optimal range of infant and childhood care and what it might look like…A second question is whether some societies have stepped out of the optimal range fo