The strange case of the rickety Cossack
Subtitle: and other cautionary tales from human evolution
By: Ian Tattersall
Edition: First edition.
Published: 2015
Language: eng
Number of pages: 244
ISBN-13: 9781137278890
Subjects: Paleoanthropology; Fossil hominids; Human evolution
Description: "In his new book human paleoanthropologist Ian Tattersall argues that a long tradition of "human exceptionalism" in paleoanthropology has distorted the picture of human evolution. Drawing partly on his own career-- from young scientist in awe of his elders to crotchety elder statesman-- Tattersall offers an idiosyncratic look at the competitive world of paleoanthropology, beginning with Charles Darwin 150 years ago, and continuing through the Leakey dynasty in Africa, and concluding with the latest astonishing findings in the Caucasus. With tact and humor, Tattersall concludes that we are not the perfected products of natural processes, but instead the result of substantial doses of random happenstance"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages [223]-235) and index.
Table of contents: title: Lemurs and the delights of fieldwork; title: Humankind's place in nature; title: People get a fossil record; title: Neanderthals and man-apes; title: The synthesis and handy man; title: Evolutionary refinements; title: The Gilded Age; title: Meanwhile, back at the museum ...; title: Turkana, the Afar, and Dmanisi; title: Molecules and midgets; title: Neanderthals, DNA, and creativity; title: Why does it matter how we evolved?