BIOB38H3 Lecture 1: BIOB38 - Lecture 1
27 Oct 2016
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Document Summary
All humans depend on agriculture for food: urban industrial societies depend on food surplus generated by farmers and herders, plants feed the world. Agriculture is the principle enterprise of humankind through most of recorded history. It remains to be the most important global economic activity. In some parts of asia and africa > 80% of labor force engaged in agriculture. Hunter-gathering: not that time consuming, a few hours per day, there are time for leisure (tools, art, abundant resources (few deficiencies, low impact on infectious disease (hunter-gatherer populations below density to sustain infectious disease) Paleontological evidence of plants: cereal carvings, pottery. Agricultural (cid:858)invention(cid:859: first agricultural revolution, transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture and settlement, neolithic revolution, climate change theory, climate has changed through the past years. Conclusion: there is no consensus on the reason of the switch, no mutual exclusion between models, no reason to assume one factor only, potentially different cause inn different parts of the world.
