Masters of the Planet
The Search for Our Human Origins
St. Martin's Press · Print & ebook · May 28, 2013
Fifty thousand years ago—merely a blip in evolutionary time—our Homo sapiens ancestors were competing for existence with several other human species, just as their precursors had done for millions of years.
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- Genres
- Physical Anthropology, Evolution, Paleontology & Fossils
- Published
- St. Martin's Press, May 28, 2013
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Start with this bookAbout this book
Fifty thousand years ago—merely a blip in evolutionary time—our Homo sapiens ancestors were competing for existence with several other human species, just as their precursors had done for millions of years. Yet something about our species distinguished it from the pack, and ultimately led to its survival while the rest became extinct. Just what was it that allowed Homo sapiens to become masters of the planet?
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Ian Tattersall, curator emeritus at the American Museum of Natural History, takes us deep into the fossil record to uncover what made humans so special. Surveying a vast field from initial bipedality to language and intelligence, Tattersall argues that Homo sapiens acquired a winning combination of traits that was not the result of long-term evolutionary refinement. Instead, the final result emerged quickly, shocking our world and changing it forever.
Why It Lands
Come here for
- clear-eyed human-origins framing
- classroom-friendly cultural context
Expect
- study-ready explanation
- straightforward, sustained nonfiction
Where it sits
| Paleontology & Fossils | 72% |
|---|---|
| Physical Anthropology | 68% |
| Evolution | 63% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Evolution
- How the Human Body Works
- Authors
- Ian Tattersall, Bob Souer, Tantor Media
- Publisher
- St. Martin's Press
- Published
- May 28, 2013
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Reading lane
- Evolution