Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 15, 1994 TAG: 9405080146
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Reviewed by LARRY SHIELD
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In the past, I have been privileged to review several books described as companions to Public Television series. Each book has been magnificently produced, as has each television series.
This book - and the corresponding series - maintains the record. Paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson chronicles his view of the ascent of upright walking man from lope-along-on-all-fours apes using well written prose, photographs and line drawings. Subtitled `In Search of Human Origins,` the book begins with Johanson's discovery of Lucy, a skeleton he feels is the earliest link between man and apes. He then devotes a chapter to each of the seven major evolutionary adventures man traveled to our current, enlightened species, Homo sapiens.
Most interesting is the fascinating discussion of Neanderthal man. This quiet, meek ancestor has been tarred with a brush of bestiality by the misinterpretation of a few bones by a French anthropologist in 1908. That interpretation has been reflected in books and movies, placing Homo neaderthalensis slightly above J. Fred Muggs in abilities and brains. Johanson points out that Neanderthal man may have had spoken language, buried his dead in graves, worked wood, and mastered the are of making fire.
I found a single major and a single minor fault in the book. The major fault is that Johanson does not give enough credit to the work of Lewis B., Mary and Richard Leakey, paleoanthropolgists of immense distinction but with radically contradictory theories. The minor fault is that Johanson describes his `... fossil-hunting posture, knees bent, and arms folded behind my back ...` but never shows it in ANY picture. I really wanted to see this posture.
Maybe next time.
\ Larry Shield trains dogs and horses in Franklin County.
by CNB