Domestication of Animals and Impacts on Humans

I cannot imagine a compilation of manuscripts, as are outlined in this monograph, that would not repeat in one form or another, the notion that plant and animal domestication is the most important development in human history. Were this not true, then why even develop the Harlan II symposium? And yet, for all its well-accepted importance, so many crucial questions about the nature, direction, speed, and origins of these domestication events remain unanswered. However, as this volume so amply illustrates, now is a marvelous time to be a scientist (or indeed a nonscientist) with even a tangential interest in this topic. The chapters of this section, on the domestication of animals, and the impact of these events on human populations, bear ample testimony to this interest.