The Wisdom of the Bones: In Search of Human Origins Paperback - 1997
by Alan Walker; Pat Shipman
In 1984 a team of paleoanthropologists in northern Kenya discovered the most complete skeleton to date of a classic "missing link" between apes and humans. Now team leader Alan Walker and his wife Pat Shipman tell the full story of this epochal find, giving an unprecedented, detailed yet lively portrait of our earliest ancestors. Illustrations and photos throughout.
First line
August 22, 1984: Mac wasn't high-grading; he never does.
From the jacket flap
"Fascinating. . . . As engaging an explanation of how scientists study fossil bones as any I have ever read." --John R. Alden, Philadelphia Inquirer
In 1984 a team of paleoanthropologists on a dig in northern Kenya found something extraordinary: a nearly complete skeleton of Homo erectus, a creature that lived 1.5 million years ago and is widely thought to be the missing link between apes and humans. The remains belonged to a tall, rangy adolescent male. The researchers called him "Nariokotome boy." In this immensely lively book, Alan Walker, one of the lead researchers, and his wife and fellow scientist Pat Shipman tell the story of that epochal find and reveal what it tells us about our earliest ancestors. We learn that Nariokotome boy was a highly social predator who walked upright but lacked the capacity for speech. In leading us to these conclusions, The Wisdom of the Bones also offers an engaging chronicle of the hundred-year-long search for a "missing link," a saga of folly, heroic dedication, and inspired science.
"Brilliantly captures [an] intellectual odyssey. . . . One of the finest examples of a practicing scientist writing for a popular audience." --Portland Oregonian
"A vivid insider's perspective on the global efforts to document our own ancestry."--Richard E. Leakey
Details
- Title The Wisdom of the Bones: In Search of Human Origins
- Author Alan Walker; Pat Shipman
- Binding Paperback
- Edition 1st Vintage Book
- Pages 368
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher Vintage, New York
- Date September 2, 1997
- Illustrated Yes
- ISBN 9780679747833 / 0679747834
- Weight 0.76 lbs (0.34 kg)
- Dimensions 8.03 x 5.26 x 0.8 in (20.40 x 13.36 x 2.03 cm)
- Library of Congress subjects Homo erectus - Kenya
- Library of Congress Catalog Number 95037525
- Dewey Decimal Code 573.3
Media reviews
Citations
- Booklist, 12/01/2000, Page 687
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