"Few writers have so far even attempted a general overview of animal communication, so Marc Hauser's book is timely if not overdue. Hauser brings to the task a formidable knowledge of the field (his bibliography contains some 1,500 items) plus a lucid style and an infectious enthusiasm that carry one smoothly through an immense maze of information and make complex biological theories accessible even to the uninitiated. For anyone concerned with the comparative study of communication, this book is likely to remain an indispensable source for some time to come."
-- Derek Bickerton, Nature

Bound to become a classic and to stimulate debate and research, The Evolution of Communication looks at species in their natural environments as a way to begin to understand what the real units of analysis of communicating systems are, using arguments about design and function to illuminate both the origin and subsequent evolution of each system. It lights the way for a research program that seriously addresses the problem of how communication systems, including language, have been designed over the course of evolution.