Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language

What a big brain we have for all the small talk we make. It's an evolutionary riddle that at long last makes sense in this intriguing book about what gossip has done for our talkative species. Psychologist Robin Dunbar looks at gossip as an instrument of social order and cohesion–much like the endless grooming with which our primate cousins tend to their social relationships.