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Letter to Editor
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Author : Yuval Noah Harari
Language : English
Published by : Harper
Price : INR 388
Pages : 464
ISBN : 9780062316097
“100,000 years ago, at least six human species inhabited the
earth. Today there is just one US.”
This provocative book challenges everything we believed and
makes us rethink all that we have ever read. This is a book
which is entertaining and yet challenging all our concepts.
The Homo sapiens brain is 2% of the body weight but consumes
25% of the body energy. Walking erect paid its price: There was
high mortality in childbirth because the large head of the baby
lead to death and early birth lead to better survival. Early birth
meant that the baby needed to be looked after. Therefore, the
mother had to look after the baby, and this could only be possible
in a tribal system where the mother could be looked after.
Evolution thus favored forming strong ties and large tribes.
Yuval Noah Harari is an Israeli Professor of History at
the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He wrote “Sapiens”
originally in Hebrew and was later translated to other languages
including English. The book is organized into four main parts
covering last 70,000 years of human history. In 466 pages,
Harari takes us through an exciting journey through human
history.
This is a summary of the book:
• The cognitive revolution  –  Harari argues that it is our
ability to talk and believe in collective myth that led to the
unprecedented growth of the human species. He argues
that it is this ability that enabled us to be the only dominant
human species on the planet. This part also takes a look
at the day‑to‑day lives of early humans and explores the
link between human growth and extinction of other animal
species
• The agricultural revolution  ‑  Harari argues that for the
farmers, this revolution mainly offered suffering and
death. This is an interesting conclusion since we think
about agricultural evolution as a major achievement of
the human species. In more recent times, we have even
started romanticizing farming and agriculture. This part
also covers the evolution of language and bureaucracy
• The unification of humanity  –  Harari argues that even
though human culture has been in constant flux through
© 2017 Journal of the Practice of Cardiovascular Sciences | Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow
the centuries, there has always been a definite direction to
where we are going. Humans across the planet now form
one large family. This part also explores the roles played
by money, religion, and imperial vision in the unification
of humanity
• The scientific revolution – This section explores some of
the reasons behind rapid industrial and scientific growth
of European nations. Harari argues such a rapid advance is
made possible by our acceptance of the fact that we know
little about the world around us. It is our acceptance of
ignorance that fuelled rapid scientific innovations
Harari writes that 100,000 years ago, H. sapiens was just
one of a number of different human species, all competing
for supremacy. Just as today, we see different species of
bears or pigs, there were different species of humans. While
our own ancestors lived mainly in East Africa, our relatives’
homo neanderthalensis, better known as Neanderthals,
inhabited Europe. Another species, Homo erectus,
populated Asia, and the island of Java was home to homo
soloensis. Each species adapted to its own environment.
Some were big, fearsome hunters, while others were
dwarf‑like plant gatherers. Today, of course, there is just
one human species alive. How did we H. sapiens become
so successful and others did not? About 70,000 years
ago, H. sapiens underwent a “cognitive revolution,”
Harari writes, which gave them the edge over their rivals
to spread from East Africa across the planet. What made
H. sapiens so successful is that we are the only animals
who are capable of large‑scale cooperation. We know how
to organize ourselves as nations, companies, and religions,
giving us the power to accomplish complex tasks
• H. sapiens have the special ability to unite millions of
strangers around commons myths. Ideas such as freedom,
human rights, gods, laws, and capitalism exist in our
imaginations, yet they can bind us together and motivate
us to cooperate on complex tasks.
In summary, this is a book worth reading, with its
thought‑provoking stories and sometimes unusual ideas, witty
language, and its conclusion.
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Sapiens: Book Review

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Udbhav, Rachna1 Website:
  DPS RK Puram, New Delhi, India, Department of Pediatrics,
1 www.j‑pcs.org
AIIMS, New Delhi, India.
E‑mail: udbhav@gmail.com
DOI:
10.4103/jpcs.jpcs_19_17

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How to cite this article: Udbhav, Rachna. Sapiens: A brief history of
humankind. J Pract Cardiovasc Sci 2017;3:61-2.
© 2017 Journal of the Practice of Cardiovascular Sciences | Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow

62 Journal of the Practice of Cardiovascular Sciences  ¦  Volume 3  ¦  Issue 1  ¦  January-April 2017