How We Got Here: From Bows and Arrows to the Space Age - Softcover

Hallpike, Christopher

 
9781438908335: How We Got Here: From Bows and Arrows to the Space Age
Softcover
ISBN 10: 1438908334 ISBN 13: 9781438908335
Publisher: AuthorHouse, 2008

Synopsis

Only 10,000 years ago, our ancestors were small groups of hunter-gatherers, with bows and arrows and stone tools. Today, we live in vast nations with all the power of modern science and industry, and the ability to send men to the Moon and to destroy all life on the planet. In the history of the world, 10,000 years is the blink of an eye, yet it has seen the total transformation of human existence. That extraordinary revolution is just as interesting as the Big Bang, or the origin of life, and this book is a clear and concise explanation of how it happened. Human culture was something completely new in the history of the world, and has evolved in a unique way. Darwin's theory of evolution can tell us nothing at all about this very strange process, that went far beyond any mundane struggle for physical survival by 'naked apes'. The picture of Stonehenge, built with enormous labour for no material reward, illustrates one of the central themes of this book - the fundamental importance of the human imagination to the development of science, that made possible the modern mastery of nature.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Synopsis

Only 10,000 years ago, our ancestors were small groups of hunter-gatherers, with bows and arrows and stone tools. Today, we live in vast nations with all the power of modern science and industry, and the ability to send men to the Moon and to destroy all life on the planet. In the history of the world, 10,000 years is the blink of an eye, yet it has seen the total transformation of human existence. That extraordinary revolution is just as interesting as the Big Bang, or the origin of life, and this book is a clear and concise explanation of how it happened. Human culture was something completely new in the history of the world, and has evolved in a unique way. Darwin's theory of evolution can tell us nothing at all about this very strange process, that went far beyond any mundane struggle for physical survival by 'naked apes'. The picture of Stonehenge, built with enormous labour for no material reward, illustrates one of the central themes of this book - the fundamental importance of the human imagination to the development of science, that made possible the modern mastery of nature.

About the Author

C.R.Hallpike is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at McMaster University, Canada, a former Bye Fellow of Robinson College, Cambridge, and a Doctor of Letters of Oxford University. His previous books include The Konso of Ethiopia, Bloodshed and Vengeance in the Papuan Mountains, The Foundations of Primitive Thought, The Principles of Social Evolution, and The Evolution of Moral Understanding. He is currently preparing a volume of essays entitled On Primitive Society, and Other Forbidden Topics.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
AuthorHouse
Publication date
2008
Language
English
ISBN 10 
1438908334
ISBN 13 
9781438908335
Binding
Paperback
Number of pages
624