Born in Africa: The Quest for the Origins of Human Life - Couverture souple

Meredith, Martin

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1610391055 ISBN 13 : 9781610391054

Editeur : PublicAffairs, 2012

Synopsis

Born in Africa "A lucid summary of the current scientific thinking on the origins of humanity. . . Meredith manages to assemble a cogent and compelling narrative from the occasionally messy history of paleoanthropology." --"The Washington Post" Full description

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

Africa does not give up its secrets easily. Buried there lie answers about the origins of humankind and the dawn of civilisation. Through a century of archaeological investigation, scientists have transformed our understanding of the beginnings of human life, although vital clues still remain hidden.
In Born in Africa, Martin Meredith follows the trail of discoveries about our human origins made by scientists over the last hundred years, as well as describing the history of scholarship in this incredibly exciting field. He relates the intense rivalries, personal feuds and fierce controversies that shaped the study and perception of Africa, and recounts the feats of skill and endurance that have illuminated thousands of years of human evolution.
The results have been momentous. Scientists have identified more than twenty species of extinct humans and firmly established Africa as the birthplace not only of humankind, but also of our own species: homo sapiens, the modern human. Scientific study has revealed how early technology, language ability and artistic endeavour all originated in Africa, and scientists have shown how, in an exodus sixty thousand years ago, small groups of Africans left their birthplace to populate the rest of the world.
We all have an African legacy, and in this fascinating and informative book Martin Meredith leads us back to the place where we have rediscovered our common human heritage.

Quatrième de couverture

Africa does not give up its secrets easily. Buried there lie answers to our questions about the origins of humankind.
Over the past century, scientists have been on a quest to discover where and how the human race was born. The results have been momentous. Experts have identified more than twenty species of extinct humans and firmly established Africa as the birthplace of Homo sapiens, the modern human. They have revealed how early technology, language and art all originated in Africa, and how humans from Africa spread out to populate the world.
Martin Meredith's fascinating account of striving to uncover our human origins unfolds like an epic detective saga, full of adventure, mystery and controversy. There are intense rivalries between scientists, personal feuds and fierce controversies as well as feats of skill and endurance. What stands out is not only the remarkable range of scientific discoveries that have been made, but the extent of the vast hinterland that remains to be discovered.
'An appealing account of human evolution and the fiercely competitive anthropologists who are unearthing our ancestors' remains and arguing over what they mean . . . The author does a superb job of describing the nuts-and-bolts of field research' Washington Post

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: PublicAffairs
• Date d'édition: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1610391055
• ISBN 13: 9781610391054
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 288