Discoveries: Human Origins

I read this little book in a day on my bus commute, it's a good introduction to the evolution of Homo sapiens. is is one of those topics I'm absolutely fascinated by; I read about our predecessors, and see their bones, and imagine what they must have been like. Human Origins gave me plenty of fuel for thought. The author describes the varying attitudes towards early anthropology and paleontology, particularly as it related to Christianity at the time. He discusses the attempts by some people to use religion to prevent any dialogue about evolution, and particularly human evolution (descended from apes? Scandalous!). Herbert also brings up some of the clumsy first attempts at examining bones found in quarries and elsewhere, to include some of the incredibly outdated information on various races. He then dives into tracing our family tree from early primates, to Australopithecines, then to Neanderthaler and Cro-Magnon, and finally to the earliest known specimens of Homo sapiens. The text is well written and is nicely punctuated by a series of illustrations in full color. Along with photos of key specimens, there are also some excellent artistic depictions of imagined reproductions of early human life, to include sometimes amusing, sometimes poignant examples from the 19th century. All in all this is a good introductory text. I'd recommend it for anyone from teen to adult who wants a relatively easy, but informative, read on the topic of the origins of humanity.

This short paperback includes an incredible amount of information about human evolution between its covers. Along with up to date text and many color pictures of reconstructions of ancient hominids, there are several first hand accounts of important discoveries of fossils. The perspective of the author emphasizes contributions of French anthropologists at the expense of scientists from other countires, and the author's placement of the earliest modern humans in the Middle East will be controversial. All in all however this is an excellent complement to other introductory material about human origins, and the illustrations alone are worth the reasonable price

This is a beautiful book --- especially for the beginner. Easy to read, lavishly illustrated, and small enough not to be heavy, it introduces the reader to various ideas we have had about our origins, Darwin's theory of evolution, and the discoveries of various fossil humans. The introductory illustrations are especially striking because they illustrate the way our species has evolved from ape-like beginnings. These illustrations also graphically show the way culture has evolved along with our bodies. I feel this book is invaluable for a student of biology or anthropology, or anyone who wants an comprehensible introduction to a fascinating but complex subject