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Ebook417 pages6 hours
The First Human
By Ann Gibbons
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
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About this ebook
In this dynamic account, award-winning science writer Ann Gibbons chronicles an extraordinary quest to answer the most primal of questions: When and where was the dawn of humankind?Following four intensely competitive international teams of scientists in a heated race to find the “missing link”–the fossil of the earliest human ancestor–Gibbons ventures to Africa, where she encounters a fascinating array of fossil hunters: Tim White, the irreverent Californian who discovered the partial skeleton of a primate that lived 4.4 million years ago in Ethiopia; French paleontologist Michel Brunet, who uncovers a skull in Chad that could date the beginnings of humankind to seven million years ago; and two other groups–one led by zoologist Meave Leakey, the other by British geologist Martin Pickford and his French paleontologist partner, Brigitte Senut–who enter the race with landmark discoveries of their own. Through scrupulous research and vivid first-person reporting, The First Human reveals the perils and the promises of fossil hunting on a grand competitive scale.
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Reviews for The First Human
Rating: 3.8372093255813953 out of 5 stars
4/5
43 ratings5 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A very interesting look at some of the most important hominid fossil discoveries of the last 15 years, and the paleoanthropologists who discovered them. Ann Gibbons is a correspondent for Science magazine, and has covered human evolution for more than a decade. She does a fantastic job in this book of writing about evolution in a highly accurate, easy-to-read manner, without overly simplifying the topic for a mainstream audience.
It is rare for an evolution book to go into detail about the turmoil amongst scientists, and Gibbons does so in an even handed way. We get to hear about the dangers involved in the hunt for the common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees, in regions subject to days-long sandstorms, bandits, and civil war. You also see how basic human emotions (ambition! jealousy!) and politics can interfere with the progression of science, especially in such a sensitive scientific topic. In fact, we almost hear more about the tensions in the field than the actual fossils themselves, which would be my only major complaint. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In this dynamic account, award-winning science writer Ann Gibbons chronicles an extraordinary quest to answer the most primal of questions: When and where was the dawn of humankind?Following four intensely competitive international teams of scientists in a heated race to find the “missing link”–the fossil of the earliest human ancestor–Gibbons ventures to Africa, where she encounters a fascinating array of fossil hunters: Tim White, the irreverent Californian who discovered the partial skeleton of a primate that lived 4.4 million years ago in Ethiopia; French paleontologist Michel Brunet, who uncovers a skull in Chad that could date the beginnings of humankind to seven million years ago; and two other groups–one led by zoologist Meave Leakey, the other by British geologist Martin Pickford and his French paleontologist partner, Brigitte Senut–who enter the race with landmark discoveries of their own. Through scrupulous research and vivid first-person reporting, The First Human reveals the perils and the promises of fossil hunting on a grand competitive scale.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This book is a fascinating look into the world of modern Archaeology. The author gives a good summary of recent finds and the ages/characteristics of each, as well as a window on the situation of competition and rivalry among archaeologists.After reading this overview, it is possible to read further on each find - I am eager to read _Lucy's Legacy: The Quest for Human Origins_ by Dr. Donald Johanson, which is on our New Nonfiction bookshelf at the library.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A very good and readable primer of where we are in the race to find the oldest hominid fossil. Incredible amount of new evidence just in the last ten years. Makes me want to fly off to Africa and search for old bones.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5After have read many books on paleontology, this book is fresh because it focuses on the paleontologists and their conflicts. Makes their lives interesting.