Following the narratives explored in Hominescence, Incandescent and The Bough, Michel Serres continues and concludes his 'grand story' of humanity and humanism. This book weaves together and condenses the overriding philosophical narratives of the previous books and reflects upon Serres' own humanist theoretical system. With characteristic breadth and imagination, in telling the story of humanity, Serres also tells us why Orpheus lost his friend Euridyce; why Eve was really tempted in the garden of Eden, the history of Fetishism and how human being learned to think.

The book offers a challenge to the reader: a challenge to live in the fullness of one's humanity.

Michel Serres is Professor in the History of Science at Stanford University, USA, and a member of the Académie Française. A renowned and popular philosopher, he is a prize-winning author of essays and books, such as The Five Senses, Genesis, and Biogea.

Randolph Burks is a philosopher specializing in phenomenology and philosophies of the body and nature. He has translated several works by Michel Serres, including Biogea, Variations on the Body, The Foundations Trilogy and The Hermaphrodite (forthcoming).