The Neandertals: Changing the Image of Mankind [Neanderthals].

Trinkaus, Erik; Shipman, Pat.

ISBN 10: 0224036483 / ISBN 13: 9780224036481

Published by Jonathan Cape, London, 1993

About this Item

Hardback octavo, dustjacket, very good condition (in very good dustjacket), pages faintly toned as common, minor edgewear jacket. Heavy, and extra postage may be requested to destinations outside Australia. . 439 pp. A first-hand narrative of the search for man's beginnings. A highly original contribution to our understanding of the way subjective wishes and irrelevant moral assumptions can distort serious scientific endeavours. The authors tell the whole Neandertal (Neanderthal) story with authority and anecdotal richness, from the days of Georges Cuvier to the latest researchers whose work with mtDNA has raised the possibility that we are all descended from a single African woman.

Seller Inventory # 27319

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Neandertals: Changing the Image of Mankind [Neanderthals].
• Publisher: Jonathan Cape, London
• Publication Date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0224036483
• ISBN 13: 9780224036481
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Seller catalogs:
  • ANTHROPOLOGY

About this title

Synopsis

In 1856, the disovery of the remains of Neandertal Man in a Swiss mountain valley forced scientists to face what Thomas Huxley called "The question of questions". What precisely was man's ancestry? Coming just as Darwin published "Origin of Species", Neandertal Man instantly became the focus of controversy and has remained so, in various ways, ever since. This book tells the whole story, from the religious crisis of the 1860s and its debate over ape-ancestors to recent arguments about the nature of prehistoric man (was he a peacable "flower child" or a brutish hunter?) and attempts to recover DNA samples from blood traces found on a Neandertal stone axe. Along the way we meet dozens of fascinating characters-archaeologists, charlatans, philosophers and scientists of every stripe.

Review

"A remarkable account of humankind, both ancient and modern, told with clarity, precision, and the narrative pull of a good novel." -- Jean Auel, Washington Post Book World

"Sketching in the lives of hundred of scientists and their discoveries, conclusions, blunders, and foibles...The Neandertals could stand as a textbook for a course in the history of science...Gripping." -- The New York Times Book Review