Citation
Leslie, Paul W. (2021). Major Review of: "Biodemography: An Introduction to Concepts and Methods".
American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 176(2), 334-337.
Abstract
Biology and demography share a deep history and mutual influence, seen obviously in the impact of Charles Darwin's reading of Robert Malthus while developing his theory of natural selection, and in Alfred Lotka's work in the early 1900s modeling population dynamics. There is little more “biological” than reproduction and mortality, but biology and demography diverged during the last century as demography became increasingly associated with the social sciences. Mainstream demography bought into a sort of “demographic uniformitarianism,” where biology might be acknowledged as influencing demographic characteristics in extreme cases (e.g., famines or high rates of sterility induced by sexually transmitted infections), but largely ignoring biological pathways as relevant to understanding demographic variation. More recently, there has been something of a reunification, or at least a reacquaintance, resulting in a recognizable field of biodemography that addresses the intersections of biology and demography. Biological and evolutionary anthropology have contributed to this, especially through reproductive ecology and human behavioral ecology. However, more is possible.
URL
https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24350Reference Type
Journal Article
Year Published
2021
Journal Title
American Journal of Physical Anthropology
Author(s)
Leslie, Paul W.
Article Type
Review
ORCiD
Leslie - 0000-0001-9856-4602
