General introduction to contemporary physical anthropology. Fields include; genetics and evolutionary theory; human variation; human evolution; and the biology, behaviour and evolution of primates. Covers the following topics in detail; the human genome project; quantitative genetics and sexual orientation; the evolution of cystic fibrosis genes; nutritional adaptation; critiques of the "small but healthy" hypothesis; primate behavioural ecology; evolutionary significance of parent-child co-sleeping; pollution and human biology; and the emergence and re-emergence of infectious disease.