Grandfather's Tale: The Story of Human Evolution and Dispersal

Where did we come from? Who are our ancestors? How did we go about filling nearly overy niche on earth from the Arctic tundra to the tropical forests? This is the story of our evolution beginning in Africa around 6 million years age with a ground ape feeding on all fours to the upright, big brained ape that developed tools and technology, consciousness and language, kinship and culture, the use of fire and cooking, and most importatly, curiosity. How did we become the only animal capable of creating art, literature and music; science, philosophy, and religion; and, of course, sports? We certainly don't have all teh answers. Many theories are just best guesses at answering the problems of our past. However, science is making inroads into our past at an accelerating pace. Adding genetics, linguistics, climatology, ecology, sociology and many other disciplines to the basic studies of geology, archeology and anthropology provided a quantum leap in our knowledge over the past 20 years or so.The evolution of mankind is an adventure told by many scientists and authors who have developed the individual pieces of the story. These individual works make wonderful reading and are certainly worth the effort. What you won't find is a complete and in-depth book on the entire story. The Grandfather's Tale is told by these same scientists and authors and provides an overall view of our evolution and dispersal. It provedes the current answers to the questions posed above. The Grandfather's Tale shoul be a first stop on anyone's journey into manking.

Gene Lessard is a forest entomologist and ecologist with an insatiable curiousity for the workings of nature, and mankind's place in it. Gene lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico with Fran, his wife and sweetheart of 34 years, who recognized her big lovable "bull of the woods" Neanderthal heritage long before the geneticists confirmed her suspicions.