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Lucy, the Beginnings of Humankind: The Beginnings of Humankind Paperback – Illustrated, 15 Sept. 1990

by Donald C. Johanson (Author), Maitland Armstrong Edey (Author)

4.6 99 ratings

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"A glorious success...The science manages to be as exciting and spellbinding as the juiciest gossip" (San Franscisco Chronicle) in the story of the discovery of "Lucy"--the oldest, best-preserved skeleton of any erect-walking human ancestor ever found.When Donald Johanson found a partical skeleton, approximately 3.5 million years old, in a remote region of Ethiopia in 1974, a headline-making controversy was launched that continues on today. Bursting with all the suspense and intrigue of a fast paced adventure novel, here is Johanson's lively account of the extraordinary discovery of "Lucy." By expounding the controversial change Lucy makes in our view of human origins, Johanson provides a vivid, behind-the-scenes account of the history of pealeoanthropology and the colorful, eccentric characters who were and are a part of it. Never before have the mystery and intricacy of our origins been so clearly and compellingly explained as in this astonighing and dramatic book.

Print length

409 pages
Language

English
Publication date

15 Sept. 1990
Dimensions

15.24 x 2.69 x 23.5 cm
ISBN-10

9780671724993
ISBN-13

978-0671724993
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Product description

From the Back Cover

When Donald Johanson found a partial skeleton, approximately 3.5 million years old, in a remote region of Ethiopia in 1974, a headline-making controversy was launched that continues on today.

About the Author

Science writer Maitland Edey lives in New York City and Martha's Vineyard.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0671724991
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster; Illustrated edition (15 Sept. 1990)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 409 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780671724993
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0671724993
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.24 x 2.69 x 23.5 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 1,033,396 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 528 in Physical Anthropology
- 562 in Animal Physiology
- 723 in Palaeontology

Customer reviews:
4.6 99 ratings

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Donald C. Johanson
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Border Reiver

Our African Heritage

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 February 2015

Verified Purchase

It's not just the story of a phenomenal discovery that makes this book one of my all-time favourites, but the locomotive and social analyses of our transition from non-humans towards what we are today which makes this such a fascinating read. An essential book for anyone's library.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 October 2014

Verified Purchase

Don't really have to say much it's worth a read , good book , not crap by any means.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 October 2014

Good book thanks

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 February 2015

great

Interesting and easy to read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 May 2011

This is the first book I've bought on Anthropology, so I can get prepared for the course next year. This book was really easy to read and I found after a while I was actually reading for fun! It takes a while to get going into the actual story of Lucy - you are given an account of how Lucy was discovered, in brief, in the preface and then there are a lot of chapters about older anthropologists and lots of background information. Actually I found this the most interesting part to the story as it talks about the many people involved in finding hominid skulls and making progress towards what we know about hominid evolution today. However there are a lot of names and I have already forgotten a few even though I read it just recently, so you may want to read it again (and you'll end up engrossed all over again!

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Sally Walker

Totally engaging - a must read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 March 2011

On the back cover of the 1981 hardback edition that I have and that has been on my shelf for the last 24 years! there is a quoted review by Ashley Montagu which states: "This is absolutely the most enthralling book I have ever read on the discoveries - and their discoverers - during this century, of fossil humans and their forerunners. That it is co-authored by the discoverer of one of the most interesting of these forms adds both drama and authority to this utterly fascinating book." I echo that review. It is one of those rare books that you really do not want to put down; you quickly come to resent the intrusion of your life into your reading and when you have finished it you feel bereft.

This book is supremely engaging and a highly accessible account of the finding of Lucy (so named because during the evening of the day on which she was found the Beatles song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds was playing on a radio in the background), the world's oldest bipedal primate and possible ancestor of man. Again, as with finds made by the Leakeys, she was found by accident and could just as easily be missed and indeed had been missed for two years by people who had surveyed the same area previously.

Johanson sets the scene for us as to what fossil finds of hominids and ape-like creatures had occurred prior to Lucy. This is incredibly informative not just of the fossils themselves, but perhaps even more so of the nature of the people who had found them, how they had found them and the discrediting that some of the discoverers had to go through by the then so called experts in order to get their finds properly recognized for what they were.

What Lucy is and what impact her finding had upon the as then ancestral family tree of man, in particular the dates that had been previously ascribed, is detailed in a very entertaining way. We learn of the politics large and small both within the world of palaeoanthropology viz the dispute with Richard and Mary Leakey as to the dating of the first Homo and the world at large, in particular the over throwing of Haile Selassie and the impact that had upon the level of bureaucracy that had to be gone through just to get to the Hadar, Lucy's `homeland' in the first place.

This is a fascinating insight as to the lengths that are gone to and gargantuan patience that must be expended in order to clean the fossils of the rock that they are encased within, often taking many months. I know I would simply not have had the patience, and I admire tremendously those that have and do.

This an absolute must read for anybody remotely interested in this subject of man's origins. Although this book is now 30 years old it is important of course because it is written by the person who actually found Lucy, and also as a useful benchmark for what has come since. Johanson identifies the fact that the finding of Lucy created two black holes in palaeoanthropology: a lack of a fossil record between 2 and 3 million years ago and 4 million to 9 million years ago. I now look forward in subsequent reading to find out whether in the last 30 years these black holes have been filled in.

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Stephen A. Haines

A jewel to treasure

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 October 2005

The value of this book hasn't diminished with the passage of time. It's compelling story of the growth of paleoanthropology in the 20th Century remains unmatched. Johanson's role should be known to most, but this personal relation endures as a landmark for those interested in the development of humanity. He's given us a lucid story of the life and work of the paleoanthropologist both in the field and laboratory. He is candid in assessing other workers and himself in tracing the line of descent from ape-like creatures to modern humans.
He opens with a peerless overview of the key figures in the field, their insights, prejudices, successes and failures. The field was dominated by British research. The small German community of scientists held little challenge, and American researchers were nonexistent. Heady with victories that had left the Victorian Empire firmly established, the British stoutly maintained that intelligent humans were the product of the North European environment. Tropic peoples were torpid and apathetic. The harsher conditions of Northern Europe had forced increased cranial capacity, leading to intelligence. Brain growth, in their view, had preceded human bipedalism. If cranial enlargement was shown to be of British origins, so much the better. The Piltdown find was a prime example of that scenario, nearly universally accepted as fitting into the preconceived assumption.
When a tiny skull found in 1925 in South Africa indicated that a human ancestor walked upright over a million years ago, there was consternation. Modern human roots couldn't be African and bipedalism before intelligence seemed outlandish. The Taung Child, however, couldn't be refuted, increasing the attention to African origins. Louis Leakey led the campaign and his many striking finds captured headlines and brought notoriety. And funding. More importantly, the new discoveries at last made it possible to begin drawing lines of human descent. While the Leakey team disclosures pushed the age of human origins into a more distant past, it was Johanson's discovery of an unusually complete skeleton that rocked the world. Finding ancestral human more than three million years old unseated the Leakey team as the leading paleoanthropological group and catapulted Johanson to the top.
Johanson's account of making the find and his subsequent discoveries makes vivid reading. His outlook is modest enough, admitting to uncommon luck and the support of a talented team. He also shows the value of perseverance in his field. None of this detracts from the science and the struggle he and Tim White endured in presenting Lucy as a likely ancestor to us. The later clash with the Leakey family was disconcerting at a time when some unity was needed to establish the path human evolution has taken. All these circumstances are related without rancour, done in a highly effective homey style. Johanson's respect is deserved, both as a writer and field researcher.
The shining jewel in this account remains the description of a seminar given to Johanson's graduate students by Owen Lovejoy. Lovejoy, an expert in animal locomotion, gives the clearest brief account of the course of human evolution yet offered. In a mere twenty-some pages, he shows how humans departed from other primates in bipedalism, sexual and child- rearing habits leading to modern family and community relationships. If for nothing else, this essay gives this book inestimable value. It remains unmatched, and belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in our origins. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

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lmashaw@aol.com

Gripping account of a profession and of our origin

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 February 2000

Thin book takes us through the early days of Paleontology and explains the errors as well as the understanding of our origins. This is gripping reading for all with an interest in logical thought Its application to one science is observed and parallels can be seen in other sciences and business. I had not really grasped quite how long ago we started to walk on our hind legs til I read this. The illustrations could have been of better quality though.

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