Sapiens: THE MULTI-MILLION COPY BESTSELLER

BookReviewsFromHeart @ Blogger It's quite rarely when you came across a person or a book which just amazes you and a part of it just housed into your mind and brain. By the way , What do know about Humans(us) ? I was taught,like many others, in school that Homo Sapiens is the scientific name for Humans. Homo Sapiens -the species Sapiens(Wise ) of the genus (Homo) and is the only living human species on earth but none of them debriefed us anything about the conditions in which we actually arose . Were there exist only Homo Sapiens or there exist other human species too ? 100,000 years ago,at least, six human species inhabited the earth. Today, there's just one. Us. And What injected in the minds of kids at a very young age , including me, is that it's the climate which causes the extinction of many animal species . But is it a complete truth ? Few tried to find . Honestly, I didn't but this book answered so many answers to the questions which were not even budded in our brain . Magnum Opus this book is a wide-ranging and bold work of non-fiction which challenges everything we thought we knew about being human from our thoughts to our actions and even our future . Sapiens tabled the answers of intricate questions raised from curiosity while studying the history of our own species. Book is divided into four major parts- The Cognitive Revolution, The Agriculture Revolution, The Unification of Humankind & The Scientific Revolution . Every Part is further divided into subparts & gives ample description on the mentioned topics. In the first section, The Cognitive Revolution , Author talks about the existence of other human species that exist before Homo Sapiens and how Homo Sapiens turned out to be the environment serial killer which had annihilated many species including his own siblings and many other animals.This section also reveals the way of living of our ancestors and the little myths they create to bind the humankind. Next comes , The Agriculture Revolution, which explains that how our ancestors who were foragers and had the only aim to hunt and live renounced their practice of living a nomadic life and settled to sow and grow . How this decision of settling at a place for farming turned out to be the most decisive moment in the history of humankind which changed the aberrated the history and most importantly how Agriculture turned out to be the biggest fraud of history . our ancestors who usually stay in a band of 15-20 eventually start living in a group of 100s when the agriculture flourished , And after the agricultural revolution, human societies grew ever larger and more complex .Myths and fictions accustomed people, nearly from the moment of their birth, to think in a certain way and to observe certain rules. They thereby created artificial instincts that enabled millions to strangers to cooperate effectively and this network of artificial instincts is called 'Culture'. The Unification of Humankind holds the contents which were put into action many years ago to unite the mankind either with the help of 'Culture' or 'Religion' or 'Nations'. This section also enlightens about the crucial role played by different religions sprouted in the different part of the world to add more and more strangers in a community. Harari in this section depicts how Mythology helped in maintaining law & order while money gave us something we can really trust. And the last section , The Scientific Revolution, which stretched for about 2nd half of the book gave us a clear glimpse of the beginning of the scientific revolution which introduced humans to their actual capabilities of being the wisest species on earth. Samen which lands us on the moon to manufacturing weapons of mass destruction. So Sapiens is a must read , thrilling and breathtaking account of our extraordinary history - from insignificant apes to the rulers of the world. It's quite rarely when you came across a person or a book which just amazes you and a part of it just housed into your mind and brain. By the way , What do know about Humans(us) ? I was taught,like many others, in school that Homo Sapiens is the scientific name for Humans. Homo Sapiens -the species Sapiens(Wise ) of the genus (Homo) and is the only living human species on earth but none of them debriefed us anything about the conditions in which we actually arose . Were there exist only Homo Sapiens or there exist other human species too ? 100,000 years ago,at least, six human species inhabited the earth. Today, there's just one. Us. And What injected in the minds of kids at a very young age , including me, is that it's the climate which causes the extinction of many animal species . But is it a complete truth ? Few tried to find . Honestly, I didn't but this book answered so many answers to the questions which were not even budded in our brain . Magnum Opus this book is a wide-ranging and bold work of non-fiction which challenges everything we thought we knew about being human from our thoughts to our actions and even our future . Sapiens tabled the answers of intricate questions raised from curiosity while studying the history of our own species. Book is divided into four major parts- The Cognitive Revolution, The Agriculture Revolution, The Unification of Humankind & The Scientific Revolution . Every Part is further divided into subparts & gives ample description on the mentioned topics. In the first section, The Cognitive Revolution , Author talks about the existence of other human species that exist before Homo Sapiens and how Homo Sapiens turned out to be the environment serial killer which had annihilated many species including his own siblings and many other animals.This section also reveals the way of living of our ancestors and the little myths they create to bind the humankind. Next comes , The Agriculture Revolution, which explains that how our ancestors who were foragers and had the only aim to hunt and live renounced their practice of living a nomadic life and settled to sow and grow . How this decision of settling at a place for farming turned out to be the most decisive moment in the history of humankind which changed the aberrated the history and most importantly how Agriculture turned out to be the biggest fraud of history . our ancestors who usually stay in a band of 15-20 eventually start living in a group of 100s when the agriculture flourished , And after the agricultural revolution, human societies grew ever larger and more complex .Myths and fictions accustomed people, nearly from the moment of their birth, to think in a certain way and to observe certain rules. They thereby created artificial instincts that enabled millions to strangers to cooperate effectively and this network of artificial instincts is called 'Culture'. The Unification of Humankind holds the contents which were put into action many years ago to unite the mankind either with the help of 'Culture' or 'Religion' or 'Nations'. This section also enlightens about the crucial role played by different religions sprouted in the different part of the world to add more and more strangers in a community. Harari in this section depicts how Mythology helped in maintaining law & order while money gave us something we can really trust. And the last section , The Scientific Revolution, which stretched for about 2nd half of the book gave us a clear glimpse of the beginning of the scientific revolution which introduced humans to their actual capabilities of being the wisest species on earth. Samen which lands us on the moon to manufacturing weapons of mass destruction. So Sapiens is a must read , thrilling and breathtaking account of our extraordinary history - from insignificant apes to the rulers of the world.

Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens is one of those rare books that changes the way you see the world. It’s not just history — it’s a mirror that reflects who we are, why we live the way we do, and what it might mean to be human. What struck me most was Harari’s ability to strip away the familiar and reveal the strangeness of our everyday beliefs, values, and habits. Harari brilliantly distinguishes between natural orders and imagined orders. Natural laws, like gravity, exist whether or not you believe in them. But ideas like equality, freedom, or money are imagined — they only work if we all collectively believe in them. His example of money as a psychological construct — a system that “converts matter into mind” — was especially powerful. It forces you to see that much of civilization runs on shared stories rather than physical truths. The book also satirizes our modern consumer lives. On page 129 (Hardcover), Harari points out that vacations are a form of romantic consumerism — in ancient Egypt, no man would think of fixing a relationship by taking his wife on holiday to Babylon. Instead, he might build her a lavish tomb. Today’s pyramids aren’t stone monuments but suburban homes with lawns or glittering penthouses. We rarely question why we desire them, only that we do. Equally fascinating is his take on knowledge and exploration. Harari contrasts medieval certainty with the modern embrace of ignorance. Columbus thought he already knew the world, even when he stumbled on a new continent. The real breakthrough came with Amerigo Vespucci, who had the humility to admit, “We don’t know.” That simple admission of ignorance was the true dawn of modernity. Harari sees poetic justice in the fact that two continents bear Vespucci’s name, honoring not conquest but curiosity. The book also dives into faith, science, and morality with unforgettable examples. Biblical lines like “the poor you will always have with you” and “it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” highlight timeless tensions in wealth and ethics. Meanwhile, Harari draws on Harlow’s famous monkey experiments to show how emotional bonds outweigh mere survival needs — even in animals. Toward the end, Harari asks the deepest questions: what is happiness? He rejects the idea that it’s simply a balance of pleasure over pain. Instead, happiness is about seeing life as meaningful. Our values shape whether we see ourselves as “slaves to a baby dictator” or as parents nurturing a new life. He draws on Nietzsche’s insight — “if you have a why to live, you can bear almost any how” — and Buddhism’s warning that suffering comes not from pain itself, but from the restless craving to prolong pleasure and avoid loss. Harari suggests that happiness may simply be synchronizing our personal illusions of meaning with the collective ones around us. Sapiens is extraordinary because it doesn’t just tell you history — it rewires your sense of history, meaning, and self. From pyramids to consumerism, from empires to money, from happiness to suffering, Harari invites us to question everything we take for granted. This is not just a book; it is a lens through which life itself looks different.

The book has a very catchy start with a brief talk about “the Big Bang”. After shortly explaining the physics and chemistry of life coming into existence on planet earth, it narrows down towards the single topic – Sapiens. Thereafter, all the chapters and topics talk about Homo Sapiens. This book is a journey about Homo-Sapiens becoming the most dominant and to-be-scared-from species on Earth. Harari has penned down all his knowledge on this area in a way which I would like to call – smartly subtle, where he has left the readers to think. My personal favourite is the chapter on Agricultural Revolution, explaining how humankind became slave to their food (wheat) – you will feel a sense of tension mixed with humour while reading it! Apart from this, there are some areas on which readers’ views might differ totally. My personal view is different about whenever the book talks about Aryan Invasion. As per my view, Aryan Invasion is a cooked-up story and the book seems to be supporting it. The most questioning area for me: As discussed with some of my professors, the Mahabharata war happened some 5000 years ago, of which this book has no mention at all. This leaves my mind in a highly puzzled state – when did Mahabharata war actually happen? Did it happen or not? If it did, how can such a massive event go unnoticed by the writer? How does this fit in together? This doesn’t make sense at all!! Is there a parallel universe where Mahabharata happened, which has its own history? Wallah!! This is where the book has increased my inquisitiveness manifold. Coming to the most calming topic the book talks about: Chemical Happiness. Harari has brilliantly explained how Biologists understand happiness, which is nothing but the level of three hormones in our body – serotonin, oxytocin and dopamine!! This biological logic behind happiness takes away the earnestness from so-called wise words and quotes - “motivation”, “feel good”, “be happy”, “live life to the fullest”. Logical happiness has become my new cool these days! In a nutshell, I loved the way Harari has compiled the facts from around the world and bonded them in this book. He has not put up his opinion anywhere, rather, he has just told us what he knows, leaving us open to think and to accept or not accept. I would say, this book is a must read to generate inquisitiveness within and to go crazy SAPIENS! - One of the Sapiens on Planet Earth!

This book can very well be reviewed and summed up in one sentence: We (Home Sapiens) have screwed this planet big time and unfortunately there is no going back hence it all is coming to an end - very soon. I do not like reading horror at all and this unfortunately is one of the scariest books I have ever read in my life - it scared the shit out of me big time the way Yuval has covered the History, where and how it all started to the present and a glimpse on the future too as in which direction we are heading. I am sure if you have read this book - you will totally agree with me here. Totally loved the clarity of his thoughts and how subtly he has put his point forward - kudos to him. For some reason I have postponed my reading of Darwin's "Origin of Species", got it like two years back, still has it on my Kindle, have read couple of books inspired by his theory yet I am yet to read the one which started it all I guess. I have even read Matt Ridley's "The Red Queen" which talks about the similar subject but isn't scary like this one. And let me finish this by saying that I am NOT AT ALL looking forward to Yuval's next "Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow" that title itself is telling the whole story and imagine how scary it will be :). As I picked up this one which came highly recommended from loads of people, found it a little boring and a kind of a slow starter. I always thought Yuval must be a Japanese, Chinese or a Korean may be but to my shock and surprise he turned out to be an Israeli. Wow! I guess this is my first from someone from that part of the world and its incredible. The kind of research he must have done to come out with this perfect book which should be kept in a indestructible titanium box (should be Nuclear resistant too), so once the Homo Sapiens disappear from the face of this planet like the Dinosaurs did and a lot of animals and birds are getting extinct by the day do too - whoever finds this planet later should get an idea who we were and what we did to this planet. He hasn't left anything that needs a mention and has covered so much in those little over 400 pages that I found it incredible. The book after a boring and slow start just keeps getting better and by the time it ends - I actually wanted it to go on and on and I believe thats what he did with the sequel which I vow not to read as I have such a fragile heart and just cant take chances. This book should be made a mandatory read in school and colleges right before the next generation comes out and does exactly the same thing what we did and joins our hands in further destroying this planet. Although he doesn't offer any kind of solution in this one but at least we know what we are doing wrong now. But the $ million question remains unanswered - Are we listening to him and the likes? Is there a way all this can be stopped? Terrific book and a must must read for all. A definite 5/5 from me with a double thumbs up recommendation. If you have read it already - do let me know how you liked it and are you planning to read the sequel? :)

Yuval Noah Harari is one of the finest scholars ever. Sapiens is without doubt, the best Popular Science book ever written. Harari introduces our earth to us from the very beginning. He next deals with the other species preceding the Homo Sapiens. The information he provides are a result of painstaking research and rigorous reading which proves his scholarship. He talks about the Homo Erectus, Homo Habilis, Homo Rudolfensis and Homo Neanderthalis before talking about us, the Homo Sapiens. Through evidence Harari shows that we have been the most dominant species on earth for the last 10,000 years. The book is divided into four sections. Section One begins with the Cognitive Revolution where Harari explains how the human body changed physiologically. The early humans lost a great deal of energy for their complex digestive system. They had to digest large chunks of raw food. Gradually however, we leant to cook our food which helped save energy so that we could do other things. This helped to improve our brains and we became more intelligent as a species. Section Two deals with the Agricultural Revolution as we learnt to harvest and thus produce our own food. We learnt to tame animals for the first time instead of wasting hours chasing after them. Section Three deals with the unification of mankind as we established connections through trade, commerce and conquests. Section Four deals with the Scientific Revolution as man produced the first sophisticated medicines, weaponry, and travel equipments. Do not be put off by the length of the book or by the heavy subjects it deals with. Harari's lucid prose ensures that his readers have a good time. The way he combines information, elucidation, and sheer valuable insight makes this book truly unique and remarkable. This is not just a book on anthropology. Rather it is a book that tackles issues of biology, economics, chemistry, physics, literature, technology and history. It is a whole compendium of knowledge. That is because it deals with human progress through the ages. So naturally Harari has to talk about all the aspects that man has encountered since the beginning of time. I can personally assure you that this is the best non fiction book you'll ever read irrespective of your tastes. I read various books from autobiographies, fiction, fantasy fiction, sports books, love stories to science fiction. Despite my varied tastes this book happens to be one of my favorites. Do yourself a favour. Read this book.

Homo sapiens Before billion year all included in this book harari was so brilliant brain.so i think all people own understanding know learning our universe birth so let go and buy this book ♥️♥️

This is one of those rare books which is superbly written, intelligent and mind-altering. I am convinced by this author's arguments and my view of the human condition has changed permanently. I thought this would be a book that would delve lavishly in later human evolution, but it is does not. It discusses it briefly and moves on, concentrating its effort on the times of agricultural revolution and forward. It is a masterpiece of anthropology. "Ever since the Cognitive Revolution, Sapiens have thus been living in a dual reality. One the one hand, the objective reality of rivers, trees and lions; and on the other hand, the imagined reality of gods, nations and corporations. As times went by, the imagined reality became ever more powerful, so that today the very survival of rivers, trees and lions depends on the grace of imagined entities such as United States and Google." "Unlike lying, an imagined reality is something that everyone believes in, and as long as this communal belief persits, the imagined reality exerts force in the world. [...] Most millionaires sincerely believe in the existence of money and limited liability of companies. Most human-rights activists sincerely believe in the existence of human rights." I have never considered the extent of the imagined reality we all live in before. I have never equated my belief in human rights with the belief in Vishnu, or considered that a corporation too is all in our collective heads. The author moves on through history and gives plenty of new perspectives on events. "Most people today successfully live up to the capitalist-consumerist ideal. The new ethic promises paradise on the condition that the rich remain greedy and spend their time making more money, and that the masses give free rein to their cravings and passions - and buy more and more. This is the first religion in history whose followers actually do what they are asked to do. How, though, do we know that we'll get paradise in return? We've seen it on television." These are just a few tidbits of insight and perspective. I absolutely loved this book! Highly recommended to anyone curious about the human condition.

About 13.5 billion years ago, matter, energy, time and space came into being what is known as the Bing Bang. The story of these fundamental features of our universe is called physics. About 300,000 years after their appearance, matter and energy started to coalesce into complex structures, called atoms, which then combined into molecules. The story of atoms, molecules, and their interactions is called chemistry. About 3.8 billion years ago, on a planet called Earth, certain molecules combined to form particularly large and intricate structures called organisms. The story of organisms is called biology. About 70,000 years ago, organisms belonging to the species Homo sapiens started to form even more elaborate structures called cultures. The author tells about three important revolutions that shaped the course of history: the Cognitive Revolution started about 70,000 years ago. The Agriculture Revolution sped it up about 12,000 years ago. The Scientific Revolution, which got underway only 500 years ago. This book tells the story of how these three revolutions have affected humans and their fellow organisms. It's an excellent book with all the facts and figures which we don't know. This book is thought-provoking and changes one's thoughts about history. The author tries to sum up as much as he can in this book but in my opinion, a single book is not enough for the brief history of humankind. It never will be. Although, the book is filled with the author's opinions. He believes that Earth is better off without humans. Some part of the book is very intriguing and some are so boring that you wish to stop reading. There is a lack of information about Neanderthals which made me unsatisfied. I like the scientific revolution part very much. This book tells how we evolve and about our genes and other interesting stuff. It's a must-read. This is the thrilling account of our extraordinary history - from insignificant apes to rulers of the world in which fire gave us power, gossip helped us cooperate, agriculture made us hungry for more, mythology maintained law and order, money gave us something we can really trust, contradictions created culture and science made us deadly.

👌🏻

Informative, interesting and simply written for those curious about evolution. To be read and reread

Brilliant!

英語の原書は難解な単語に構文と長い文が多くて1ページ読むのにすごく時間がかかるから大変だと思ってる人に本書はおすすめ。420ページ以上ある本だが、まず一文が短く、段落も短い。あまり難解な語彙は出てこないので気楽に読める。論旨明快で、一体どういうことだと頭をひねることもない。北村一真氏がこれからは大学入試の材料としてお目にかかることが多くなりそうと予言していたので買って読んでみたが、たった1日で50頁近く読み飛ばせた・・・しかも、なんとなく意味がわかるレベルではなく、完璧に読みこなせた上でだ。いや満足、満足。充実感たっぷり！その上、実に興味深い内容で、語り方も上手い。速読で大量に読んで英語力を養いたい人は、是非試して見るべし。どうでもいいけど、著者のハラリ氏はゲイなんだね。でもオックスフォードで博士号を取った歴史学者だ。だから文章も軟らかくウイットに富んでるのかもね。

I love this book as it has a lot of insight on many things that we may normally miss. It describes and breaks down human behavior and how it may have been developed and it sure DOES start RIGHT at the bottom. Very informative and I recommend this book!! The only thing that sometimes really throws me off is that (he may be right, but I doubt it) this man thinks he knows exactly how 'sapiens', or rather, those early stages of them, like neanderthals, used to act and behave all of those millions of years ago. That is, let's face it, completely impossible to EXACTLY know and/or interpret ... even for him. Anything could have happened back then. It can be compared to how people thought certain things about animals that in the end were completely different to what they actually did in the wild. I still recommend this book.