Born in Africa The Quest for the Origins of Human Life (Audible Audio Edition) Martin Meredith Joe Barrett Audible Studios Books
Download As PDF : Born in Africa The Quest for the Origins of Human Life (Audible Audio Edition) Martin Meredith Joe Barrett Audible Studios Books
Africa does not give up its secrets easily. Buried there lie answers about the origins of humankind. After a century of investigation, scientists have transformed our understanding about the beginnings of human life. But vital clues still remain hidden.
In Born in Africa, Martin Meredith follows the trail of discoveries about human origins made by scientists over the last hundred years, recounting their intense rivalry, personal feuds, and fierce controversies, as well as their feats of skill and endurance. The results have been momentous. Scientists have identified more than 20 species of extinct humans. They have firmly established Africa as the birthplace not only of humankind but also of modern humans. They have revealed how early technology, language ability, and artistic endeavour all originated in Africa; and they have shown how small groups of Africans spread out from Africa in an exodus 60,000 years ago to populate the rest of the world. We have all inherited an African past.
Born in Africa The Quest for the Origins of Human Life (Audible Audio Edition) Martin Meredith Joe Barrett Audible Studios Books
Since I enjoy archeology and the anthropological tales of Man, this was an informative and fairly interesting book. It can be a bit dry for some, since it's a relentless recounting of facts, dates and artifacts. But lovers of human history may find new information that they heretofore did not know.What the author does that's interesting with the facts is that he weaves the human elements of courage, competition, failure, misunderstanding, miscalculations and distrust into the 19th and 20th century scientists' rush to find and lay personal claim to the origins of Man. In most cases, old traditions about who and where we came from had to be broken and replaced with more solid evidence of the development of we homo sapiens.
As modern technologies, travel and excavation methods came of age, more and more contestants, all vying for fame and fortune in the middens and bone pits of mankind, began to emerge and conflict. Many a man's or woman's scientific reputation was challenged and sometimes destroyed, when the old guard of anthropological investigation refused to accept the realities of new discoveries and their meaning to old questions and answers about our human origins.
As the process of change took place in the modern archeological and anthorpological worlds, so did the rush to find more substantial evidence and solid theories of our human origins. The book describes the age old, human drive to find one's fame and fortune, in the name of science. Old ideas were crushed, as were some livelihoods and reputations. One could compare the modern scientists' competitions to the Ancients' competition, in their own battles of survival and populating the entire world.
Having lived in E. Africa; having roamed around in the ancient shadows of Mankind there, and having seen the Leakey's, original Oldapai Gorge "footprints", I was fascinated by some of the tales of this book. True, it got dry and pedantic in some parts, but it sought to bring to light, the history of Man and those who still strive to unlock the mystery of humankind's origins.
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Born in Africa The Quest for the Origins of Human Life (Audible Audio Edition) Martin Meredith Joe Barrett Audible Studios Books Reviews
The story line is two-fold the finds (bones) and the people who made the finds (paleontologists). The latter compete bitterly; the human disagreements among the paleontologists actually impact the other narrative line about the significance of finds and the story they tell collectively of human evolution. The point is now that it is the overall fossil record--many finds over many years taken together--that gives an arresting picture of human evolution. It was an extraordinarily careful and good book.
"Born in Africa" was more than just another run through the origins of humans. Other books I have read began with the earliest remains. This book takes the uncovering of this story in chronological order which in fact happens to be almost the reverse time scale with the earliest hominid evidence the most recent finds - a refreshing approach. It reads like a mystery novel uncovering the plot. Much on the human sides of the paleontologists involved - including the less pleasant disagreements, personality clashes and sneaky dealings. A bit tedious here, but welcome to real human beings discovering early human beings. An easy and gripping read.
This is the kind of book that deserves a very wide audience. Mr. Meredith takes a historian's perspective on the subject of the origins of our species, and this means that many people can benefit from this book. One of the vitally important points to take away from the reading is the fact that we are all descendants of Homo and owe our origins to Africa and the species that evolved there. . If a paleoanthropologist writes a book like this one it is likely to have a more narrow audience and include more technical jargon. Besides, the author of this kind of book has to have a more objective and balanced perspective, something that the people doing the actual research might have a difficult time with. I went through this volume very quickly. If anything, I wish it had been longer and gone into even more detail. I commend Mr. Meredith on the excellent job he did, and I will certainly explore other books he has produced.
I really enjoyed this book. It was very informative and interesting to see how the puzzle of evolution has progressed. Of course, there have been findings since this book was published, but it was still worthwhile. Aside from the content on evolution, it's interesting to read about how much politics play a role in science (like the Leakey's having control over what research was done in Kenya for so many years). How many decades have we been set back by people who block their rivals' finding from being given the respect they deserve? It's also amazing to think about how much we don't know and how much has been unexplored. So many important findings have involved a lot of luck. We have only skimmed the surface in hunting for fossils.
Look no further!
I read this twice through on vacation. It's a great read, and up-to-date, having just been released. I had been looking for something that explained all the finds and what they meant in the big picture of human origins. This book does that, and it also gives an interesting history of the finds from the first discovery of Australopithecus right up to Turkana Boy. As an added bonus it gives a wonderful short summary of the migration paths of the human family out of Africa.
Loved it!
Since I enjoy archeology and the anthropological tales of Man, this was an informative and fairly interesting book. It can be a bit dry for some, since it's a relentless recounting of facts, dates and artifacts. But lovers of human history may find new information that they heretofore did not know.
What the author does that's interesting with the facts is that he weaves the human elements of courage, competition, failure, misunderstanding, miscalculations and distrust into the 19th and 20th century scientists' rush to find and lay personal claim to the origins of Man. In most cases, old traditions about who and where we came from had to be broken and replaced with more solid evidence of the development of we homo sapiens.
As modern technologies, travel and excavation methods came of age, more and more contestants, all vying for fame and fortune in the middens and bone pits of mankind, began to emerge and conflict. Many a man's or woman's scientific reputation was challenged and sometimes destroyed, when the old guard of anthropological investigation refused to accept the realities of new discoveries and their meaning to old questions and answers about our human origins.
As the process of change took place in the modern archeological and anthorpological worlds, so did the rush to find more substantial evidence and solid theories of our human origins. The book describes the age old, human drive to find one's fame and fortune, in the name of science. Old ideas were crushed, as were some livelihoods and reputations. One could compare the modern scientists' competitions to the Ancients' competition, in their own battles of survival and populating the entire world.
Having lived in E. Africa; having roamed around in the ancient shadows of Mankind there, and having seen the Leakey's, original Oldapai Gorge "footprints", I was fascinated by some of the tales of this book. True, it got dry and pedantic in some parts, but it sought to bring to light, the history of Man and those who still strive to unlock the mystery of humankind's origins.
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