"The Ritual Animal is a compilation of decades of work on ritual. This work has been foundational for understanding religion, imitation, and group identity and behavior. Modes Theory, and the supporting empirical work, has laid the groundwork for many different avenues of research." -- Emily Burdett, Assistant Professor,ÂFaculty of Science, University of Nottingham "Probably the most impressive and important overview of work in the science of culture (not just religion or ritual) that exists today." -- Justin Lane, Senior Researcher, Center for Modeling Social Systems "Reaching across disciplinary and methodological divides, as well as across geographic and historical boundaries, The Ritual Animal brings a wealth of scholarship in the human sciences to bear on our understanding of ritual." -- Jonathan Lanman, Senior Lecturer,ÂSchool of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics, Queen's University Belfast "Whitehouse's call for multidisciplinary and problem-centered approaches to research is especially important if our species is to thrive in the coming centuries." -- Jennifer Larson, Professor of Classics, Kent State University "Whitehouse's Ritual Animal is an extraordinarily rich array of arguments, references to earlier research, empirical evidence, experimental results, and modeling." -- Luther H.

Martin, Emeritus Professor, Cognitive Science of Religion, University of Vermont "Harvey Whitehouse and his collaborators have built an extensive research program investigating rituals from a cognitive and evolutionary perspective. The Ritual Animal presents a compelling synthesis." -- Mark Stanford, Research Fellow, National University of Singapore "Whitehouse shows how his magisterial theory concerning modes of religiosity also offers a rich and compelling account of the social and psychological foundations of the formation of and the cooperation within human groups. Elegantly written, clearly argued, and deeply insightful, The Ritual Animal is an intellectual feast" -- Robert N. Mccauley, Emory University "From big-data mining of the worlds historical and ethnographic record to field studies spanning the tribal cultures of New Guinea to the war zones of the Middle East, the reader of The Ritual Animal discovers the science underlying the seemingly arbitrary and irrational rituals that bind together friends or strangers or even humanity as a whole." -- Scott Atran, CNRS "In a magisterial survey from pre-history to mass society, from birth to the afterlife, from football fans to terrorists, Harvey Whitehouse offers a compelling, ambitious and testable theory of why we human beings devote so much time and effort to activities with so little instrumental benefit." -- Paul Harris, Harvard University.