This authoritative book proposes a methodological and theoretical strategy for developing sociological explanations of the socio-cultural universe. Jonathan H. Turner and Alexandra Maryanski discuss the problems that persist in explaining the socio-cultural universe using only biological and psychological approaches and outline new strategies for understanding the evolution of human beings and their biological nature.

Through exploring human evolution, human nature, human behaviours and patterns of social organisation, Turner and Maryanski demonstrate that evolutionary explanations of behaviours and patterns can be drawn from modern synthesis in biology. They also explain why certain dimensions of the socio-cultural universe can only be understood using purely sociological approaches to evolutionary analysis. They expertly analyse alternative biologically-based strategies for explaining the evolution of human beings and a purely sociological strategy for understanding the emergent properties of human socio-cultural formations.

Innovative in its approach, this timely book will be of great interest to scholars interested in the fields of science and technology studies, sociology and sociological theory, cultural sociology, social psychology, and social policy. It will also be highly beneficial to those looking to better understand the optimum methodological strategies for understanding the biology of human nature.