congenital amusia 274–5
consciousness
Cartesian Theatre 266
qualia 22
Consciousness Explained (Dennett) 266
constants, fundamental 28, 30, 48
constellations 170
context, art 275
cooperation, altruism 213–14, 215
cornea 268
corporations, identity 96
cosmology see universe
counting, combinatorics 48–9
cowboys 121, 138
cows 93, 117
Crawford, Michael 92
creation myths 247
creativity, cultural evolution 94, 107
creodonts, co-evolution 310
Crick, Francis 185
Cro-Magnon man 114
Cubism 265
cults 222, 344
culture
children’s subculture 115
cultural evolution 89–100
cultural identity 96–8
and evolution 89–90
global multiculture 250
importance of storytelling 155, 327
memetics 330
music 270–1
Cumulative Audience Paradox 313–14
cytosine 52
D
‘Dame à la Capuche’ 275
dance 265, 269
dark matter 20
Darwin, Charles 133, 249
Davies, Paul 194
Dawkins, Richard 328, 331
De Incessu Animalium (Aristotle)241–2
deafness 154
Dear, Steven 288
Dee, John 65, 66, 70, 71, 73, 169
Deep Throat 304
definitions, fuzziness 235–6, 330–1
democracy 98
Dennett, Daniel 266
d’Errico, Francesco 131
Descartes, René 19–20, 76, 77, 266*
destiny 164–5, 166, 171
deterministic systems 165, 169, 303–5
Devil 158
Diamond, Jared 88
Diaspora 141
Dick, Philip K. 312
dictatorships 98, 311–12
Dido 46
digital communications 181–4
Dinah 139–40
dinosaurs 312
The Discworld Companion 207
Discworld novels
Carpe Jugulum 341
The Colour of Magic 166
Equal Rites 24
The Fifth Elephant 111–12
Hogfather 98, 340
Interesting Times 139–40, 217*
The Last Continent 135
The Light Fantastic 139
Lords and Ladies 43, 96–7, 158, 207, 286, 311–12
Mort 207
Pyramids 206, 207, 208
Reaper Man 205, 207
Small Gods 136, 139, 207, 208–9, 218–21
Sourcery 207
Thief of Time 21*, 302
The Truth 292
Wyrd Sisters 323
diseases 329
alchemy 67
parasitic 155
diversity
adaptive radiation 133–4
human 122, 132–3
divination 66, 168
DNA 329, 330–1
Cohen family 141–3
and evolution 94
genomes 185–7
human evolution 88–9
meaning 188
mitochondrial DNA 123–4
phase space 51–4
polyphyletic species 122
dogs
breeds 122, 133
domestication 117, 118–20
free will 165
hunting in packs 94–5
sense of smell 286
Dolly the Sheep 31
domestication of animals 117–21
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor 221
drama 282–3, 333, 340–1
The Driving Force (Crawford and Marsh) 92
dryopithecines 108
duality, Cartesian 20
dynamical systems
evolution 308–9
historical dynamic 301–3, 308, 311–12, 327–8
phase spaces 43–8, 303–4, 305
re-running systems 311–12
E
ears, hearing 268–9, 270, 273, 290
Earth, shape of 46
East Anglia 121–2
echo-location 287–9
ecology, biospheres 55, 56–7
economics
Law of Supply and Demand 51
phase space 50–1
teaching with lies 293
education 291, 293
lies-to-children 291, 293
medieval Europe 69
‘three R’s’ 69
eggs, scrambling 190, 191, 194
Egypt, ancient 120, 169
Eichmann, Adolf 136, 262, 264
Einstein, Albert 114, 136, 192, 193–4, 249, 262
electron-volts 29*
electrons, models of atom 247–8
Elements (Euclid) 65
evolution 110–12, 308–9
lungs 110*
Elixir of Life 66–7
Elizabeth I, Queen of England 65
embryos 188, 235, 236
Emerald Tablet 66
emergent behaviour
co-evolution 310
complex systems 303, 307
complicity 154–5
evolution 308–10
historical dynamic 303, 308, 311–12, 327–8
re-running systems 311–12
emotions, art and 275
empathy 285–6, 289
empiricism 70
endorphins 275
energy
carbon formation 27, 29–30
electron-volts 29*
Laws of Thermodynamics 189–93
phase spaces 44–8
potential energy 45
work cycles 57
engineering, ancient Greece 70, 237–8, 242, 243
Enlightenment 76
Enoch 125*
entertainment, storytelling as 327
entropy
information 189, 192–3
thermodynamic 189–90, 192–3
universe 193–6
epigenetics 185
essential fatty acids, and human evolution 92
E.T. 117
ethics, cloning 31
Ethics (Spinoza) 77
Euclid 65
Euripides 341
Europe
Ashkenazi Jews 141
human evolution 113–14, 122
music 270
twentieth-century history 311
Eve
existence of 125
‘mitochondrial Eve’ 122–4
pre-formation theory 72
evil, elimination of 107
evolution
adaptive radiation 133–4
‘alternate universe’ stories 312
altruism 213–14, 215
apes 107–8
co-evolution 119–21, 310
competition 214–15
and complexity 54, 57
cultural evolution 89–100
dynamics of 308–9
elephants 110–12
extinction 133–4
genomes 185–6
gracile and robust forms 109–11, 113
humans 87–8, 108–9, 112–14
lying and 284–6
memes 328–33
phase space 55
predictions 309–10
exformation, context 187
exotic matter 315
experiments
interpreting 197–8
scientific method 239–41, 243–4, 248
extelligence
cultural evolution 89–90, 99
eliminating evil 107
future possibilities 166
memetics 330
overcommitment strategy 216
symbiosis and 118
‘time-binding’ ability 156, 166
extended present, and sense of music 274
extinction
genetic diversity 133–4
Neanderthals 134–5, 137
eyes
colour vision 290
vision 266–8, 273–4
F
failure, learning from 78–9
fairies 158, 247, 343
fairy stories
function of 74, 152, 155, 342
hidden meanings 115–16
Falla, Manuel de 264
false narratives 28
fantasy stories 75
fatalism 149, 167–8, 171
Father Christmas 97–8
fatty acids, and human evolution 92
feminism, myths 79
‘feral’ children 283
Fermi, Enrico 314*
Fermi Paradox 314
feudalism 76
Feynman, Richard 262
Feynman diagrams, time travel 315–16
fiction
‘alternate universe’ stories 312–13
getting inside another person’s mind 282
time travel 313–14
see also storytelling
Figments of Reality (Stewart and Cohen) 89, 119, 136, 174, 288
films
background music 262–3, 265
narrative imperative 341
‘primitive’ tribes in 265
watching 273–4
finches 133
Finnegan’s Wake (Joyce) 50*
fire 57
Fire Dance (Falla) 264
First Law of Thermodynamics 189, 190
fish, adaptive radiation 133–4
Fisher, Ronald Aylmer 213, 214
flames 57
Flintstones 264
Florida 27
food, and human evolution 92
Ford Model T 118
forest elephants 110–11
forests 107–8
fortune-telling 168
fossils
apes 107, 108
hominids 88
free will 164–6
animals 165
laws of physics and 174–5
paradoxes of 168–9
tests for 174
tribalism and 167, 170–1
Freemasons 71*, 238
French language 269
frequencies
hearing 268
pitch and harmony 270
Freud, Sigmund 264
Fritz, Jonathan 288
fruit 217*
fundamental constants, physics 28, 30, 48
future possibilities
attitudes to 164–75
chaos theory 304–5
cheating predictions 307–8
determinism 303–4
free will 165–6
‘time-binding’ ability 156, 166, 215
time travel 313–16
see also predictions
G
gaits, patterns of movement 270
Galápagos islands 133
galaxies, and cold dark matter 20
Galen 67
Galileo Galilei 242–3, 245
Gandhi, Mahatma 86*
Garden of Eden 276
gardens 153
gases, thermodynamics 48, 54–5, 56, 189–93, 195–6
Geffrye Museum, London 134
general relativity, theory of 314–15
Genesis 125*
genetically modified organisms 118
genetics
altruism 213–14, 215
basic unit 330–1
cloning 31
Cohen family 141–3
and culture 93–4
DNA 51–4, 185–8
and evolution 94
human diversity 122, 132–3
immune system 124–5, 131–2
mitochondrial DNA 123–4
Y-chromosome 141, 142–3
genomes
DNA phase space 51–4
human evolution 88
information 185–7
meaning 188
Georgiadis, Nicholas 110–11
Germany, World War II 311, 312
Gerrold, David 314
gibbons 108
goats 117
God 171
images of 342, 344
as lord of knowledge 236
monotheism 172, 247
pantheism 77
personification of 211–12
proof of existence 197
and rules of physical world 77
Gödel, Escher, Bach (Hofstadter) 187
gods 205–6
polytheism 172
Golan Heights 276
gold, alchemy 67, 68
Good Samaritan 116
gorillas 88, 108, 124, 276
Gould, Stephen Jay 312–13
gracile apes 112–13
gracile forms, evolution 109–11, 113
Grandfather Paradox, time travel 313, 316
gravity 73
cold dark matter 20
distribution of matter in universe 193–6
potential energy 45
relativity 314
solar system 303
Greece, ancient 99
alchemy 66
engineering 70, 237–8, 242, 243
plays 341
Renaissance and 65–6, 69
Gregorian chants 270
Grimm Brothers 115, 155
Grotte Chauvet 275
group behaviour, cultural evolution 94–5
guanine 52
Guardian 273
Guilds 71*
guilt 139
Gulliver’s Travels (Swift) 222
gypsies 137
H
Hamlet (Shakespeare) 271
Hanging Gardens of Babylon 237
Haplochromis burtoni 133
‘Happy Birthday to You’ 328, 329
Hardy, Alister 92
harmony, music 270, 274
Harris, Rolf 276
Harrison, Harry 312–13
Hausa tribe 116–17
Hawaii 265
Haydn, Joseph 263
healing 68
hearing 268–9, 270, 273, 290
heat energy 189, 190
heaven, ‘right way to heaven’ 157
Heinlein, Robert A. 314
helium, carbon formation 28–30
Hell 221, 222
Heller, Joseph 311*
heretics 221
Hermes Trismegistos 66, 72
Hermeticism 72, 73
Hero of Alexandria 70
heroes 157–8
hidden knowledge 71–2
Hinduism 169
history
‘alternate universe’ stories 312
historical dynamic 301–3, 308, 311–12, 327–8
rules 302–3, 308
storytelling 309
teaching with lies 293
History of Science in China (Needham) 172
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Adams) 304
Hitler, Adolf 311
Hivites 139–40
Hofstadter, Douglas 187
Hogan, Craig 30
Hollywood 79, 121, 136, 265, 266
Holy Wars 222
homeopathy 71, 72
hominids 88, 113
Homo 112–13
Homo erectus 88, 113, 122, 150
Homo ergaster 88, 113
Homo habilis 88, 113
Homo heidelbergensis 88
Homo neanderthalensis 88
Homo rudolfensis 88
Homo sapiens 32, 88, 113, 122, 150, 342, 345
Homo sapiens neanderthalensis 113–14
Homo sapiens sapiens 114
honey 284
honour 138
horns, co-evolution 310
horoscopes 65, 66
horses
bounding 241–2
co-evolution with humans 121–2
domestication 117, 118
trotting 242, 243–4
hospitals 291
house-martins 116
hover-flies 284
Hoyle, Fred 29–30
hula dances 265
Human Genome Project 185
humans
brains 90
cloning 31
co-evolution with animals 119–22
creativity 107
cultural evolution 89–100
cultural identity 96–8
domestication of animals 117–21
early population size 122–5
evolution 87–8, 108–9, 112–14
genetic diversity 122, 132–3
genome 52–3, 185–6
importance of storytelling 116–17
mitochondrial DNA 123–4
puberty rituals 134–7
racial differences 122
regard for children 117
total number of 52
use of alternative scenarios 149–51, 155–6
hunting, dogs 94–5
hydrochloric acid 66
hyenas 109
hypercolumns, visual cortex 267
hypotheses, scientific method 239–41, 248–9
I
ice ages 108
iconic figures, storytelling 74, 155
ideas, memes 328–33
ideologies, memetics 332
ignorance 72
illusions, magicians 72
immortality, Elixir of Life 66–7
immune system, genetics 124–5, 131–2
India 107
music 270
Indian elephant 110, 111
infinity 49
information 182–4
context 187–8, 192–3
entropy 189, 192–3
genomes 185–7
and meaning 184–5
universe as 196–8
Information Age 181–2
innocence, primitive tribes 264
innovation
cultural evolution 94
genetic evolution 55, 57
Inquirer 292
Inquisition 172, 218, 220, 221–2, 245
intelligence
and human evolution 89–90, 99
lies 286
memetics 330
interbreeding, species 110, 111
Internet 96, 329
Inuit, storytelling 74
invertebrates, play 119
invisibility, cold dark matter 20
Iran 96
Is God a Virus? (Bowker) 331
Islam 157
Israelites 139–40
J
Japanese, speech development 269, 290
Java 88
jazz 263, 264, 265
Jehovah 167, 210, 211–12
Jews
Cohen family 138–9, 141–3
Judaism 210–12
Kabbala 66, 76*
rituals 136–7
‘Shema’ prayer 331*
verbal ability 137
journalism 291–2, 325–6
Joyce, James 50*
Judaism 210–12
Judgement Day 72
jukeboxes 187–8
justice 340
K
Kabbala 66, 76*
karma 171
Kauffman, Stuart 54–5, 56–7, 77, 78, 305
Kelley, Edward 68
Kenya 275
Kepler, Johannes 66
Keynes, John Maynard 239
kings 89
Kinsey, Alfred 142
Kipling, Rudyard 120
Kismet 171
knowledge, ontology 211
Koran 156
!Kung 132–3, 269
L
language
chimpanzees and 88
development of 283
hearing sentences 273