The Dragons of Eden
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 The Dragons of Eden cover |
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| Author | Carl Sagan |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Non-fiction |
| Publisher | Random House |
| Released | 1977 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 263 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0394410459 |
The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence is a Pulitzer prize[1] winning 1977 book by Carl Sagan. In it, he combines the fields of anthropology, evolutionary biology, psychology, and computer science to give a well balanced perspective of how human intelligence evolved.
One of the more interesting parts of the book is the search for a quantitative way of measuring intelligence. He shows that the ratio of brainmass/bodymass is an extremely good indicator, with humans having the highest and dolphins second (pp.38–40, hardback ed.). It does break down, however, at the extremely small end of the scale. Because a certain minimum size is needed to sustain life, smaller creatures (ants in particular) place disproportionally high on the list.
Here, "intelligence" refers to those mental capacities wherein humans excel.
