Upcoming ISAW Library Public Events

11/06/2025 05:30 PM ISAW Lecture Hall
Gold pendant showing a woman looking left with words circling the woman, in imitation of a Roman coin

Beyond the Silk Road

Or, Why One Rhinoceros Fewer from India Would Not Have Hurt the Ancient Economy

Sitta von Reden

This lecture will take place in person at ISAW. Prof. von Reden will offer alternative ways of thinking about why we find Chinese silk in Palmyra, Egyptian glass vessels in Afghanistan, and Roman coins in Thailand and Vietnam.
RSVP
12/04/2025 05:30 PM ISAW Lecture Hall
Book cover of Nature's Greatest Success

Nature’s Greatest Success

How Plants Evolved to Exploit Humanity

Robert N. Spengler

The domestication of plants in prehistory allowed humanity to demographically expand, form dense population congregations (urbanism and social hierarchies), and advance the arts and sciences. For millennia, humans drove the evolution of domestication traits in crops and animals. Archaeologists, ecologists, and geneticists are all working to develop new theories about how domestication in antiquity occurred; one of these theories – the ecological release hypothesis – suggests that crops and animals evolved traits of domestication as a response to humans simply removing predators and herbivores. Dr. Spengler will briefly explore a few key themes in this theory and the rich history of domestication and culture, which he traces in his recent book, Nature's Greatest Success: How Plants evolved to Exploit Humanity.
RSVP
Search Events:

When