Synopsis
Argues that the discovery of one hundred thousand-year-old fossilized human footprints places the origin of human beings in southern Africa instead of the previously postulated eastern Africa.
Reviews
Popular books on human evolution abound. Berger, a paleoanthropologist from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, enters this competitive field with an engaging volume that discusses the fossils every bit as much as the scientists who discover them and interpret their meanings. Scientifically, Berger stakes out controversial new territory in claiming that the prevalent hypothesis that humans first arose in East Africa is false. Instead, he argues that the evidence points to South Africa as the original birthplace of our species. Furthermore, he asserts that Lucy, the famous fossil long thought to be one of our ancestors, is instead a member of a species on a terminal side branch of the evolutionary tree. While the average reader is in no position to determine whether Berger's views are correct, the information he presents is comprehensive and accessible. Berger also impressively demonstrates how, in the highly competitive field of human origins, large hypotheses based on small pieces of evidence can arise from preconceived biases as much as compelling data. Although his writing is occasionally clumsy and he casts himself in a larger role than his accomplishments warrant to date, Berger offers a great deal of absorbing material in this first-person account; this book is sure to entice those interested in human origins. B&w photos throughout. 6-city author tour. (June)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
In 1989, young American scientist Berger (paleoanthropology, Univ. of Witwatersrand, South Africa) discovered the 117,000-year-old fossilized footprints of a female human along the shores of a South African lagoon and conjectured that they might belong to humankind!s missing link. Going against the accepted theory that our ancestors originated in East Africa, Berger, after years of doctoral study and research, here challenges this assumption, using the unusual findings he made regarding hominid fossils found in South Africa. His A. robustus had a larger brain and a more chimp-like torso as compared with East Africa!s A. afarensis, which had a smaller brain and a more modern physique yet was long considered the ancestor to modern humans. Berger contends that the two are, at most, sister species. He deftly explores the evidence that humans originated in Africa but further expounds the belief that those beginnings were in South Africa and not East Africa. This provocative and enthralling book is highly recommended for all academic and larger public library collections."Gloria Maxwell, Penn Valley Community Coll., Kansas City, MO
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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