Neurobiologist and primatologist Robert Sapolsky has spent his professional life attempting to understand the underpinnings and science behind human behavior, studying wild baboon populations as well as the complex workings of the human brain. The professor of biology and neurology at Stanford University and MacArthur Foundation "Genius Grant" recipient is the author of several books on various aspects of behavior -- and his latest, "Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worse," seems like a summation of his knowledge on the subject.
With precise language and a wicked sense of humor, Sapolsky examines behavior for good or ill in the brain's processes during adolescence, childhood, and beyond -- as well as how one's birth experience (and one's cultural backbround) can affect brain development. He also attempts to understand complex behavioral questions of tribalism, hierarchy, and competition; morality versus free will; and conflict versus peace.
