We were apes before we were humans. But humans were the onetime
apes who ultimately mastered fire and cooked. Primatologist and
anthropologist Richard Wrangham says that in evolutionary terms,
that made all the difference. And not just because it put flambé
on the menu. Fire meant proto-humans could cook. Cooking, he
says, meant they could get dense, empowering nourishment. Then
came bigger brains, a different body and — voila! — homo
sapiens. Complete, he says, with a social structure built around
that fire.