Stephen Jay Gould, the noted Harvard biologist, has made the observation that within the last generation or so we have begun to witness the realization of essentially biological or 'evolutionary' limits to human performance in certain areas. The argument for limits to performance is grounded in the recognition that people in advanced industrialized societies have already realized the potential set by evolutionary history in respect to such dimensions as average life span and average height. Further, Gould argues, we may be approaching evolutionary limits to certain dimensions of human performance; hence, male athletes, for example, like thoroughbred horses before them, appear to be approaching the natural limit represented by the time it takes to run a mile (Kentucky Derby winners averaged 2:06.4 during the 1910'S and 2:02.0 for the past ten years).
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2025 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.