From Lucy to Language Revised, Updated, and Expanded

Name: From Lucy to Language Revised, Updated, and Expanded
Availability: InStock
ISBN: 9780743280648

ISBN-10: 0743280644

ISBN-13: 9780743280648

Edition: 2006

Authors: Donald Johanson, Blake Edgar, David Brill

List price: $65.00

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In 1974 in a remote region of Ethiopia, Donald Johanson, then one of America's most promising young paleoanthropologists, discovered "Lucy", the oldest, best preserved skeleton of any erect-walking human ever found. This discovery prompted a complete reevaluation of previous evidence for human origins. In the years since this dramatic discovery Johanson has continued to scour East Africa's Great rift Valley for the earliest evidence of human origins. In 1975 this team unearthed the "First Family", an unparalleled fossil assemblage of 13 individuals dating back to 3.2 million years ago; and in 1986 at the Rift's most famous location, Olduvai Gorge, this same team discovered a 1.8… million-year-old partial adult skeleton that necessitated a reassessment of the earliest members of our own genusHomo. Johanson's fieldwork continues unabated and recently more fossil members of Lucy's family have been found, including the 1992 discovery of the oldest, most complete skull of her species, with future research now planned for 1996 in the virtually unexplored regions of the most northern extension of the Rift Valley in Eritrea. From Lucy to Languageis a summing up of this remarkable career and a stunning documentary of human life through time on Earth. It is a combination of the vital experience of field work and the intellectual rigor of primary research. It is the fusion of two great writing talents: Johanson and Blake Edgar, an accomplished science writer, editor of the California Academy of Sciences'Pacific Discovery,and co-author of Johanson's last book,Ancestors. From Lucy to Languageis one of the greatest stories ever told, bracketing the timeline between bipedalism and human language. Part I addresses the central issues facing anyone seeking to decipher the mystery of human origins. In this section the authors provide answers to the basics -- "What are our closest living relatives?" -- tackle the controversial -- "What is race?" -- and contemplate the imponderables -- "Why did consciousness evolve?" From Lucy to Languageis an encounter with the evidence. Early human fossils are hunted, discovered, identified, excavated, collected, preserved, labeled, cleaned, reconstructed, drawn, fondled, photographed, cast, compared, measured, revered, pondered, published, and argued over endlessly. Fossils like Lucy have become a talisman of sorts, promising to reveal the deepest secrets of our existence. In Part II the authors profile over fifty of the most significant early human fossils ever found. Each specimen is displayed in color and at actual size, most of them in multiple views. With them the authors present the cultural accoutrements associated with the fossils: stone tools which evidence increasing sophistication over time, the earliest stone, clay, and ivory art objects, and the culminating achievement of the dawn of human consciousness -- the magnificent rock and cave paintings of Europe, Africa, Australia, and the Americas. In the endFrom Lucy to Languageis a reminder and a challenge. Like no species before us, we now seem poised to control vast parts of the planet and its life. We possess the power to influence, if not govern, evolution. For that reason, we must not forget our link to the natural world and our debt to natural selection. We need to "think deep", to add a dose of geologic time and evolutionary history to our perspective of who we are, where we came from, and where we are headed. This is the most poignant lesson this book has to offer.

Book details

List price: $65.00
Copyright year: 2006
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication date: 10/17/2006
Binding: Hardcover
Pages: 288
Size: 10.25" wide x 12.00" long x 1.00" tall
Weight: 4.598
Language: English

Pioneering paleoanthropologist and winner of the American Book Award, DONALD C. JOHANSON founded the Institute of Human Origins in 1981, now located at Arizona State University in Tempe. KATE WONG has been covering human evolution forScientific Americanfor more than a decade. From the Hardcover edition.

Donald Johanson has explored the Great Rift Valley of East Africa for more than two decades, seeking clues to our ultimate origins. One of the most lively and controversial scientists working today, he is the author of five previous books, the host of the three-part Nova series In Search of Human Origins, and continues to lecture regularly. Known worldwide for his discovery of the Lucy skeleton, he is founder and president of the Institute of Human Origins in Berkeley, California, where he resides.

David Brill is an adjunct professor at the University of Tennessee's School of Journalism. His articles have appeared in "National Geographic Traveler", "Men's Health", "Backpacker", "Outside", & "Parenting" magazines. He is the author of "As Far As the Eye Can See", a collection of essays based on his experiences on the Appalachian Trail. He lives in a cabin in rural Tennessee.



Contents



Central Issues of Paleoanthropology


What is a Human?



The Human Creature



The Quest for Origins



Is Human Evolution Different?


Evidence



The Science of Paleoanthropology



The Early Human Fossil Record



Discovering Early Human Fossil Sites



Recovering the Remains of Early Humans



Dating Fossils and Artifacts



Climate and Human Evolution



Teeth



Proteins, DNA, and Human Evolution



Why is Paleoanthropology So Contentious?


Ancestors



Our Closest Living Relatives



The Last Common Ancestor of Apes and Humans



Drawing the Human Family Tree


Lineages



African Genesis



Early vs


Modern Humans



Eve, and Adam



The Earliest Fossil Evidence of Anatomically Modern Humans


Migration



Out of Africa



The First Americans



Peopling the Globe


Diversity



Defining Human Species



Co-Existing Human Species



Human Diversity Today



What Is Race?


Anatomy



The Size of Early Humans



Sexual Dimorphism



Gestation



Maturation



Evolution of the Human Brain



Reconstructing the Appearance of Early Humans


Society



Primate Societies and Early Human Social Behavior


Bipedalism



Evidence for Bipedalism



The Origins of Bipedalism


Tools



The Oldest Stone Tools


Customs



Hunters, Gatherers, or Scavengers?



Diet



Cannibalism



Fire



Shelter



Clothing


Culture



Burial



Art



The Origins of Language


Imponderables



The Problem of Consciousness



Will Humans Become Extinct?



Place of Humans in Nature



Encountering the Evidence


Ardipithecus ramidus ARA-VP-6/129, Juvenile Partial mandible


Australopithecines


Australopithecus anamensis,KNM-KP 29281


Adult mandible


Australopithecus afarensis


Australopithecus afarensis,A.L. 288-1


Lucy, Partial adult skeleton


Australopithecus afarensis,A.L. 333


Fragments of thirteen individuals


Australopithecus afarensis,A.L. 444-2 Adult cranium


Australopithecus afarensis,A.L. 129-1a+1b Adult female knee joint


Australopithecus afarensis,L.H. 4


Adult mandible Fossil hominid footprints


Australopithecus africanus


Australopithecus africanus,Sts 5, Mrs Ples, Adult cranium


Australopithecus africanus,Sts 14, Partial adult skeleton


Australopithecus africanus,Sts 71 and Sts 36, Adult cranium and mandible


Australopithecus africanus,Taung Child, Juvenile skull


Australopithecus africanus,TM 1517, Adult partial cranium and mandible


Australopithecussp., Stw 252, Adult cranium


Australopithecus robustus


Australopithecus robustus,SK 6, Adolescent mandible


SK 48, Adult cranium


SK 48, Adult cranium


SK 79, Adult cranium


Australopithecus aethiopicus


Australopithecus aethiopicus,KNM-WT 17000, Black Skull, Adult cranium


Australopithecus boisei


Australopithecus boisei,OH 5, Zinj, Adult cranium


Australopithecus boisei,KNM-ER 406, Adult male cranium


KNM-ER 732, Adult female cranium


Homo


Homosp., A.L. 666-1, Adult maxilla


Homo habilis


Homo habilis,OH 7, Juvenile male partial skeleton


Homo habilis,OH 24, Adult female cranium


Homo habilis,KNM-ER 1813, Adult cranium


Homo habilis,OH 62, Partial adult skeleton


Homo rudolfensis


Homo rudolfensis,KNM-ER 1470, Adult cranium


Homo ergaster


Homo ergaster,KNM-ER 3733, Adult cranium


Homo ergaster,KNM-WT 1500, Juvenile male skeleton


Homo ergaster,SK 847, Partial adult cranium


Homo erectus


Homo erectus,Trinil 2, Java Man, Adult partial cranium


Homo erectus,Peking Man, Adult skull reconstruction


Homo erectus,Sangiran 17, Adult male cranium


Homo heidelbergensis


Homo heidelbergensis,Bodo cranium, Adult cranium


Homo