A New Human: The Startling Discovery and Strange Story of the "Hobbits" of Flores, Indonesia
By Mike Morwood and Penny Van Oosterzee
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
In October 2004, a team of Australian and Indonesian anthropologists led by Mike Morwood and Raden Pandji Soejono stunned the world with their announcement of the discovery of the first example of a new species of human, Homo floresiensis, which they nicknamed the "Hobbit." This was no creation of Tolkien's fantasy, however, but a tool-using, fire-making, cooperatively hunting person. The more Morwood and his colleagues revealed about the find, the more astonishing it became: standing only three feet tall with brains a little larger than a can of cola, the Hobbits forced anthropologists and everyone to reconsider what it means to be human.
Morwood's work was no ordinary academic exercise. Along the way he had to tread warily through the cultural landscape of Indonesia—he has an embarrassing mishap with some hard-to-chew pork—and he demonstrated that sometimes the life of a real archaeologist can be a bit like Indiana Jones's when he risked his neck in an ocean-going raft to experience how ancient Indonesians might have navigated the archipelago.
Even more, Morwood had to navigate the rock shoals of an archaeological bureaucracy that could be obtuse and even spiteful, and when the Hobbits became embroiled in scientific controversy—as no find of such magnitude could avoid—it proved easy for Morwood to get nearly swamped with trouble. Finds were stolen and damaged, and the backbiting was fierce. But the light of science, once brightened, is difficult to dim, and the story of the indefatigable Morwood's fight to defend his find discovery is an inspiration.
Related to A New Human
Related ebooks
A New Human: The Startling Discovery and Strange Story of the "Hobbits" of Flores, Indonesia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Drifters on the Sea Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAustralians: Origins to Eureka Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMysteries of Easter Island Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKon-Tiki Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary Of "The Origin Of Humankind" By Richard Leakey: UNIVERSITY SUMMARIES Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsContested Country: Stories from Cape York Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSummary of Nicholas Thomas's Voyagers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGold and the Chinese: Racism, Riots and Protest on the Australian Goldfields Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAustralian History in 7 Questions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Australian Outback: The History and Mythology of the Land Down Under Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThrough Colonial Eyes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAmong the Islands: Adventures in the Pacific Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Orsello Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPeeps At Many Lands: Australia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Statues that Walked: Unraveling the Mystery of Easter Island Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Whales' Journey Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5First People: The Lost History of the Khoisan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLife of Marsupials Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDinosaurs in Australia: Mesozoic Life from the Southern Continent Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDinosaurs: A Fully Illustrated, Authoritative and Easy-to-Use Guide Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Last of the Nomads Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Walking Whales: From Land to Water in Eight Million Years Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Pearls and Red Tide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDecoding Maori Cosmology: The Ancient Origins of New Zealand's Indigenous Culture Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Niburian Sequence Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKoala: A Historical Biography Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUp over from Downunder: Mankinds Origins Re-Examined Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Source Book of Australian History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Biology For You
Anatomy and Physiology For Dummies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anatomy 101: From Muscles and Bones to Organs and Systems, Your Guide to How the Human Body Works Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fantastic Fungi: How Mushrooms Can Heal, Shift Consciousness, and Save the Planet Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Emotional Blackmail: When the People in Your Life Use Fear, Obligation, and Guilt to Manipulate You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dopamine Detox: Biohacking Your Way To Better Focus, Greater Happiness, and Peak Performance Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Your Brain: A User's Guide: 100 Things You Never Knew Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ (Revised Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Peptide Protocols: Volume One Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Obesity Code: the bestselling guide to unlocking the secrets of weight loss Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Will Make You Smarter: 150 New Scientific Concepts to Improve Your Thinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mother of God: An Extraordinary Journey into the Uncharted Tributaries of the Western Amazon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Woman: An Intimate Geography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Grieving Brain: The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love and Loss Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lifespan: Why We Age—and Why We Don't Have To Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jaws: The Story of a Hidden Epidemic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All That Remains: A Renowned Forensic Scientist on Death, Mortality, and Solving Crimes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Genius Kitchen: Over 100 Easy and Delicious Recipes to Make Your Brain Sharp, Body Strong, and Taste Buds Happy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOther Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Woman Who Changed Her Brain: And Other Inspiring Stories of Pioneering Brain Transformation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Crack In Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Suicidal: Why We Kill Ourselves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for A New Human
4 ratings0 reviews