Becoming Human: Evolution and Human Uniqueness - Softcover

Tattersall, Ian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0192862146 ISBN 13: 9780192862143

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2000

Synopsis

One of the traits that distinguishes us from our nearest relatives is our curiosity about the origins of our species. In this new paperback, Ian Tattersall (author of The Fossil Trail) discusses human uniqueness, investigating the origins of those characteristics and processes that so clearly distinguish human beings, such as creativity, language, and consciousness. Taking the reader around the world, stopping in France to examine 30,000-year-old cave paintings, in Africa to see where our earliest ancestors left their bones, and in remote forests to spy on our closest living relatives, the great apes, Tattersall uncovers what it is that makes us really different and what the future might hold for our species.

About this title

Review:

Monogamy. Bipedalism. Tools. Language. Intelligence. Why on earth did we develop all those tricks? Though it's trendy to underplay the differences between humans and other species, most of us just can't help noticing our often-striking peculiarities and wondering how they arose. Palaeontologist Ian Tattersall's story of human origins is as compelling as a well-designed museum exhibit--no surprise, as he is Curator of Anthropology for the American Museum of Natural History. His prose, while not flashy, is satisfyingly clear and unapologetically fascinated with its topic. Covering genetics, evolutionary theory, primate anatomy and archaeology, Becoming Human explains how and why our ancestors adapted to their surroundings to produce such clever, talented, immodest progeny. If you find it preposterous that a dumb, skinny ape can go from foraging for fruit and fleeing from lions to splitting the atom and solving Rubik's cube in just five million years, this book might change your mind. --Rob Lightner

Review:

"In this superbly written book, Ian Tattersall combines his unique knowledge of the human fossil record, Paleolithic archaeology, primate behavior, prehistoric art, as well as the workings of the human brain and our extraordinary cognitive powers, to offer a convincing scenario of how we have come to hold dominion over the earth."--Donald Johanson (author of From Lucy to Language) in Scientific American "An ambitious effort . . . Tattersall meets the challenge commendably."--The San Diego Union-Tribune "Although many popular anthropological accounts of the human species have been written, few are as engaging as that of Ian Tattersall."--Natural History

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0192862146
• ISBN 13: 9780192862143
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 276