Adaptable

The Surprising Science of Human Diversity

By: Herman Pontzer

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Paperback | 5 February 2026 | Edition Number 1

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Why are our bodies so diverse? The internationally renowned expert in evolution revolutionizes our view of what makes us human

As an evolutionary anthropologist conducting ground-breaking research with human populations around the globe, Herman Pontzer has come to see much more clearly how our genes and environments combine to shape our bodies and our health: for better or worse. In this book, he takes us on a tour of the human body and the surprising ways it can change in response to its environment: from the Andean groups who have developed increased lung capacity to the Sama divers who have larger spleens. He also highlights the critical ways we misinterpret biological adaptations: from healthcare, race and IQ to sex and gender.

With so much of our wellbeing and public discourse centred on human biology, a clear understanding of the distinction between socially constructed and genetic differences is more important than ever. This timely reappraisal of an overlooked science is an essential guide to our remarkable bodies.

About the Author

Herman Pontzer is a professor of evolutionary anthropology and global health at Duke University. He is an internationally recognized researcher in human energetics and evolution. He is the author of Burn.

Industry Reviews

Adaptable is ambitious, wide-ranging, and fun to read. Pontzer has a gift for explaining complicated and nuanced topics in fresh ways, and he tackles all the big questions about how our bodies work with a delicate—and entertaining—touch

Alex Hutchinson, author of Endure

Pontzer has written a dazzling guide to the human body, in all its weird and wonderful glory. This is the fascinating story of how our bodies—products of evolutionary history and genes, environment and culture—work and why they differ. Brimming with wit and wisdom, Adaptable is essential reading for anyone interested in how we humans came to be the way we are

Kate Wong, senior editor at Scientific American

Adaptable is the book I've been waiting for. It answers questions that nag us today about the human condition and describes how we got here. It’s an engaging and down-to earth read that bristles with up-to-date and thoughtfully provocative scholarship

Nina G. Jablonski, author of It's Just Skin, Silly!

An engrossing, richly informative exploration of human biological diversity . . . it challenges us to rethink universal health benchmarks

Manvir Singh, New Yorker

Ambitious, controversial, there's a line of humour running through it too . . . every "miraculous protein robot", as Pontzer calls us, should read the book . . . I learned a lot and greatly enjoyed the tour

Michael Le Page, New Scientist

Remarkable . . . takes the provocative ideas about metabolism and many others and puts them into the broader context of how evolution has shaped human bodies

Alok Jha, Economist Podcast

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