We develop a generic iterative map model of coupled oscillators based on simple physical processes common to many such systems. The model allows us to understand, from a unified perspective, the range of different outcomes reported for experiments by Huygens and modern realizations of his two coupled clocks.

Mother apes—chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, humans—dote on their babies. And why not? They give birth to an infant after a long gestation and, in most cases, suckle it for years. With humans, however, the job of providing for a juvenile goes on and on. Unlike all other ape babies, ours mature slowly and reach independence late. A mother in a foraging society may give birth every four years o...

more intelligible parts deal, vividly at times, with exchanges between people. A number of passages show valuable insight and at times the author writes clearly, simply and with great power. At other times the content evades understanding; or else it consists of poetic sequences of words. Consider the following: 'My selfbeing, my consciousness and feeling of myself, that taste of myself, of I a...