Getting Here: The Story of Human Evolution

Renowned anthropologist, author, and educator, William Howells, draws together here the latest from all today's sciences to tell the fascinating story of our evolution. Professor Emeritus at Harvard and author of Mankind So Far, The Heathens, Back of History, and Mankind in the Making, all of which have been widely translated, Howells has long been recognized as one of the world's foremost authorities and interpreters of human evolution. He is also known for his unique contribution of skull measurements to show relationships between peoples that are not otherwise evident. In 1992, he received the Charles Darwin Award for Lifetime Achievement. His latest edition includes a generous selection of superb illustrations showing fossils, hominids reconstructed, charts of human migrations, and other graphic displays of scientific data. Like many of his earlier books, Getting Here has been widely acclaimed as an introduction to human evolution for the lay reader as well as an outstanding college text.

Harvard physical anthropologist William Howells has written an excellent introduction to hominid evolution from the early australopithecines and Homo habilis, through Homo erectus with his hand axes, to Homo sapiens of today. Throughout this discussion, Howells contrasts the multi - regional continuity and replacement out-of-Africa models for explaining, in part, the rise of modern human beings. He pays special attention to those fossils, artifacts, and hypothesis that surround the complex Neanderthal history of our species. Numerous illustrations help to clarify the discovery, anatomy, and taxonomy of prehistoric ancestors. Of particular value to students as a basic text or reference, Getting Here is recommended for all anthropology collections. Readers interested in the topic should also refer to Richard Leakey and Roger Lewin's Origins Reconsidered in Search of What Makes Us Human ( LJ 9/1/92).
- H. James Birx, Canisius Coll., Buffalo, N.Y.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.