Steven M. Platek, Julian Paul Keenan and Todd K. Shackelford (eds), Evolutionary Cognitive Neuroscience MIT Press, Cambridge, 2007, 620 pp, $68.00, ISBN 0-262-16241-5 Mitch Parsell Published online: 12 March 2009 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009 This volume of 21 chapters offers an introduction to the emerging area of evolutionary cognitive neuroscience. The volume covers a broad range of topics divided into six parts: 1. An overview of the fundamental principles of evolution—natural and sexual selection, adaptation, and fitness—as applied to the study of cognition; 2. An examination of neuroanatomy through the lenses of ontogenetics and phylogenetics; 3. Reproduction and kin recognition; 4. Spatial cognition and the evolution of language; 5. Self-awareness and social cognition; and, 6. The ethical implications of evolutionary neuroscience. Parts 1–2 present the evolutionary groundwork, parts 3–5 examine particular areas of cognition that are especially important to humans as a species, while part 6 offers conjectures about the morality (and immorality) of this new discipline. I will not discuss part 6 as it seems a rather speculative outlier. As is to be expected of such a volume the entries vary greatly in quality. Generally, papers by those summarising their own empirical research tend to be of higher quality, while those papers aiming to explain the foundational concepts or summarise the available literature are the weaker entries. There are a few glaring exceptions to this general rule. On the one hand, Chap. 2 by Robin Dunbar on the basics of cognitive and brain evolution is one of the better entries in the volume. It explains some complex neurology in an understandable manner, and it remains approachable to the non-specialist without descending to over-simplification. On the other hand, Chap. 17 by the usually brilliant Simon Baron-Cohen is far from his usual standard. The paper summarises his recent hypothesis concerning autism: M. Parsell (&) Department of Philosophy, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia e-mail: mparsell@scmp.mq.edu.au 123 Minds & Machines (2009) 19:275–278 DOI 10.1007/s11023-009-9141-y